I have heard many things about Elf Makeup, (or EyesLipsFace as it is formally known) some good, some bad, and being the curious creature I am, I decided to find out whether the hype about it was worth believing.
Its products are unbelievably inexpensive, with their regular line of makeup retailing at £1.50 for pretty much anything, and their studio line a little more expensive at £3.50.
Hmmmm.....I thought. Too good to be true surely...
but not one to dither, click click away at their online store, and hey we've got a haul blog to write!
So first of all here are all the products that I bought:
From Clockwise
- Warm
Bronzer
- Eyeshadow duo in Butter Pecan
- Mineral Face Primer
- Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph
-
Hypershine gloss in Blossom
- Blush in Peachy Keen
- Contouring Blush and
bronzer duo
- I also got the black mineral eyeliner, but forgot it in the photo
First Impressions... I ordered it all on Tuesday night, and by midday today (Wednesday) the post man comes knocking! 10 out of 10 for speedy delivery. I eagerly pry open the cardboard box and inside they all come in separate little black boxes.
Then onto the solid packaging, as you can see above the compacts are very similar to the
NARS packaging, only the textured rubber casing is replaced by cold, hard, shiny, plastic. So far so good.
The thing I was most curious about was the mineral face primer, it is one of the most expensive things on the site at £6, which is still
puurrty good if you ask me. I've heard good things, and I was in need of a new primer so Add to Bag indeed.
And I absolutely love it. It claims to combat oiliness, flaking from dry skin, as well as minimizing pores, fine lines, and evening skin tone. I have combination skin and it delivered on all of these fronts, while it creates a smooth velvety surface, to help with even makeup application with staying power. It works great with foundation, and even without, it creates a good base. Today I went for the
au naturale look and skipped on the foundation and concealer, donned a bit of this miracle worker with a bit of
bronzer, and presto I'm done! Of course it
didn't give any coverage, but it really helped in evening out my skin tone.
Next onto the
lipgloss and eyeliner. Both great. Eyeliner is surprisingly pigmented, and best thing is, it has a twist thing that brings the product up so that you don't need to sharpen it (I'm always on the lookout for these...it's not lazy, it's convenient). And the
lipgloss is nice, nothing spectacular in terms of colour:
It's pretty sheer, but it goes on very nicely, not too sticky, and it tastes and smells like caramel too which is always a bonus.
Onto the next lip product Natural Nymph, I was so looking forward to this....Many
youtubers claimed it was brilliant, a good dupe of
MACs creme
de nude. But oh the disappointment! Unless you are looking for a death warmed up look, this is a no go. It goes on blotchy and unevenly, even if i try to blot -and- dab apply it, it sinks into every little crevice, creating what looks like an old lady's cracked heel where my lips should be. Gross. However unlike many nude formulas this one, despite that fact that it
looks like my lips are about to shrivel up and die, is very moisturizing, and so I would not refrain from trying this lipstick in another colour.
Warm
Bronzer: I love this. It creates a really lovely warm glow, I like to swirl my brush over all four colours, and the best thing is depending on your skin tone or how tanned you are, you can pick and choose what colours suit you best. I like to use the lightest colour as a highlight. Keep in mind this palette is for medium skin tones, they also have a golden lighter palette and a cooler toned palette for lighter or darker skin tones. I also love the big mirror, good for on the go and a lighter handbag! One word of warning is this contains small gold reflects in it, so if you are a matte lover then maybe this isn't for you, or perhaps you could just mix it in with a different
matte bronzer, on places you would highlight.
This is the blush in Peachy Keen, and this is my favourite buy of the lot. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but it is absolutely beautiful; a subtle shimmery (not glittery) peach which is perfect for a fresh springtime glow, that will suit all skin types. If you buy one product from elf this should be it.
Eyeshadow duo in Butter Pecan, what you see is what you get in terms of colours. They are smooth, pigmented and blend well together. Lovely product.
This is the blush/bronzer duo palette, which first caught my attention do to its striking similarities to the Orgasm/Laguna NARS version (now I sadly believe to be discontinued). I would say this bronzer is alot better than Laguna as it is more pigmented, not quite as dark as Hoola by Benefit, but you really only need a tiny bit as it can look very muddy if you get too excited with it. The blush is also well pigmented and a really nice muted pink...however.......if I am to get picky about things I would say that the gold reflects in this are way too big and if it's sunny out, you end up looking like a disco ball come hometime. However this would create a nice glow for evening makeup.
SO! On the whole I think elf is definitely worth checking out, I was so impressed with nearly all of their products, and I think they are very good quality, particularly for the price you pay.
Unfortunately they do not have a store in the UK, I am not sure if they do in the US, however you can buy their items online at either http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/ or http://www.eyeslipsface.com/ depending on which of the two countries you live in. For all you USA dwellers, there is currently a 50% discount on all mineral products on purchases over $15!
Hope this has helped, and remember that you don't need to spend loads to look good!
What are your favourite beauty bargains? Or if you are an elf fan like me, which of their products are your favourite?
