Makeup Withdrawal

Showing posts with label e.l.f.. Show all posts

e.l.f. Eyelid Primer Review

Thursday, June 14, 2012

It's been a long time since the last time I tried an e.l.f. product. Lately, I've trying to be more thrifty and I've almost finished a tube of my beloved LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer so I thought I might give the $1 Eyelid Primer a try.

It comes in a small tube, with a doe footed applicator. I'm not a big fan of doe footed applicators for primers (curse you, old Urban Decay Primer Potion packaging!) but hey, it's a dollar. The beige fluid is much thinner and slippery feeling than my LORAC BtSEP. I've also noticed that it dries to a slightly noticeable finish, whereas the LORAC dries to nearly invisible. I'm tempted to let it dry out a little bit on purpose, I feel like it would work better.

How do shadows perform over the two? Let's let the swatches speak for themselves.

matte shadow

shimmery finish shadow

As you can see, there's actually a pretty big difference. The LORAC primer grabs a lot more color and really improves the look of the eye shadow. For the matte shadow, the e.l.f. Eyelid Primer kinda makes the shadow look more chalky. It's a tad better with the shimmery shadow, but still not as great as the LORAC.

The staying power isn't bad. My makeup wasn't as crisp as it was with the LORAC Behind The Scenes Primer, but it was still rather decent after 14 hours. I'm going to keep this one and I think I'll use it on lazy makeup days when I use just a single wash of shimmery color all over my lid.

Final verdict: It's not half bad, but it didn't work perfectly for me either. It's a dollar. Take a chance on it. Maybe it'll work really well for you, and if that's the case- fantastic! That's money saved, better spent on lovely things like a superb lipstick or a gorgeous blush.

One last thing- I know that e.l.f. makes another primer- one from their Mineral line. Has anyone tried that? Compared the Eyelid and Mineral by any chance?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Review: e.l.f. Eyeshadow "C" Brush

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

So after I reviewed the flat topped e.l.f. Powder Brush the other day, I figured I should also write about the "C" brush, also from the studio line.
This brush has synthetic black bristles, capped with a black ferrule and like the other studio brushes, a solid black handle.
First, I have to admit something. I'm prejudice against synthetic eyeshadow brushes. I am. Doesn't matter how soft they are, I just really prefer natural hair brushes to apply and blend powder eye shadows.

C brush on top, the $1 brush on bottom

That being said, this brush is pretty decent. I would like it a lot more if were denser. The way it moves across my skin (very soft and quite sturdy) makes me feel like e.l.f. could have packed twice the amount of bristles in it, easily. I still like this brush for apply cream shadows and for uses such as tapping on loose pigments onto a wet surface, but not really for regular powder eyeshadow. In fact, I much prefer e.l.f.'s other shadow brush, from the $1 line. I feel that this one picks up product more evenly (with the "C" brush, it tends to skip over my skin, leaving kind of a patchy look behind).
The good thing is that this brush doesn't shed, it's pretty sturdy. Though when I wash it, I always feel like it isn't rinsing cleanly, no matter what I use to wash it. It takes a long longer to dry than my other eye brushes (even denser, bigger ones).
In short, while I know that many others love this brush and that it's a good value at $3, I've got to say that I'd much rather have 3 $1 brushes from e.l.f.!
Special thanks to my friend Mae for giving me this brush!

Review: e.l.f. Powder Brush (Flat Top)

Sunday, August 1, 2010

I've seen so many wonderful reviews for this blush, and I'm happily joining in the ruckus. First, I'd love to comment on the cheap price- $3 like the rest of e.l.f.'s studio line. What a great deal! Where else are you going to find a brush this inexpensive?
It's got a nice solid feeling black handle, black metal ferrule and dense synthetic black bristles that have a flat cut across the top. When I say dense, I really mean "holy freaking crap dense", more so than any other brush I own.

Now, I want to briefly talk about how I usually apply foundation. Most of the time I reach for a skunk brush, whether it be my Studio Tools duo fiber brush, Sonia Kashuk Highlighting brush or even my Etude House or MAC 188 brushes (the last two being less frequent because they're smaller and take longer to apply foundation). Usually I use one pump of foundation on a clean glass surface and start stippling from the area I need coverage the most (cheeks and nose) and a quick sheer application on areas like my chin and forehead, just so that my face has the same finish all around. I don't swirl it to blend it together, 'cause I feel like that ruins the finish and also messes up the much needed coverage on my cheeks (lots of acne scarring *sad face*).

Gah, that wasn't brief at all. Well the point is, with the e.l.f. brush, I actually like the buffing motion at the end. Because the bristles are so incredibly soft and dense, it doesn't pull on the surface of my skin too much, causing neither 'pilling' (you know, where your foundation kind of balls up on the surface and is all gross looking) nor streaks. In fact it gives a sort of even soft airbrushed finish for me!
The only downside that I can think of with this brush is that because the hairs are packed together like chickens in a chicken factory (that simile made you sad, didn't it? Sure as hell made me depressed. I'll brainstorm happier similes like "a box of baby penguins" and so forth in my free time so that it doesn't happen again, I promise) that liquid foundation does tend to get really worked deep into the brush and it takes oh, an extra 25 seconds to deep clean it. I've been using it for about a month now, and despite many repeated washings, no shedding, bleeding or any other form of brush problems.
Also, you don't have to use this for liquid foundation, you could also use it for face powders. The nice thing about it is that due to it's flat top, you can get a nice even application of powder without a forming a big cloud of dust (you know, as you would normally swirl a big, fat, curved powder brush to get powder even on the entire brush). Basically, you can't lose with this one, especially not to try out at $3.

Special thanks to my friend Mae for giving me this brush so that I might try out its amazing properties!

E.l.f. Complexion Perfection Review

Friday, April 16, 2010

I'm a sucker for any product that promises to neutralize, I really am. I've been curious about this product in particular for a long time- the E.l.f. Complexion Perfection (hence forth known as 'elf' because I'm tired of typing the periods). This product is from their Studio line - you know, the one where everything is packaged in imitation NARS. It's a pressed powder divided into four quadrants, all pastel (which reminds me of Easter, baby animals and toddlers every time I open it). The powder is finely milled, scentless, and neither hard to get on a brush or overly powdery. I swiped each color individually, just to give you an idea of how it looks but be aware that I swatched it really heavily.

I tried using this power in a few different ways. First, on my bare face (cleansed and moisturized, of course) I applied it directly to my face with a small fluffy brush. I used the green around my nose where the skin is always red, a little bit of both the pink and the yellow under my eyes, where there's a bit of darkness. I didn't really notice any difference, except that there was now powder on my face (not really worth taking a picture of either).
Next, I tried the same thing on top of concealer and foundation. Voila! The yellow+pink combo underneath my eyes set the concealer nicely, and seem to brighten the area. The green around my nostrils helped tone down any remaining redness peeking through my foundation. However, my favorite use of this product is to swirl all the colors together with a big fluffy brush and apply it as a setting powder. I was also fascinated that all the colors mixed together made a sort of 'non color', if that makes any sense. No one shade was predominately noticeable over the others. That combined color helped brighten my face up (great for sallow complexions) and mattified the oily areas- I'll definitely be using this more and more as it gets warmer out. I did notice that on some of my drier areas, it seemed to accentuate the flakes though, so be wary if you have dry skin.

Yes, over applying this powder will give that ghostly pale pallor, so for the darkest skin tones- I wouldn't recommend this, I'd imagine it'd be more ashy than useful. On lighter complexions, use a lighter touch and you'll be all set!
Overall, an interesting product and at $3 certainly worth trying out. You get a large amount and thanks to elf being now readily available at Target, you no longer have to order online! (International beauty lovers will though :( )

Cheap Makeup High, Also Some Swatches

Friday, April 9, 2010

I love good deals. They give me a kind of high that I just can't duplicate in any other way. I went to the Dollar Tree again, and got some more stuff. I bought two more Moist & Matte Liquid Colors.I picked up another Charmeuse (a vibrant red) and Chiffon (a hot pink).
I really like these, because the color is really opaque and it doesn't dry out my lips. There is one minor drawback, they smell like nail polish. That can't really be good for your lips, so I wear lip primer as a sort of barrier.

I also bought six L.A. Colors Mineral Eyeshadows and am fairly happy with them. Here's some swatches. Notice how unlike the rest of my fabulous pictures, these aren't done in natural sunlight? That's because I really didn't think they were worth waiting till the next day and trekking outside for. The photos with and without flash pretty much do them justice.

Notes: I thought it'd be overkill to swatch each color four times like I normally do, with all the bells and whistles. Since I assume you are a benevolent reader and would like me to stay sane, I'll just generalize and say that these shadows look better with something underneath or wet. Black is a matte black with the tiniest particles of silver glitter, not really visible to the naked eye. In the last picture of wet shadows, you can see one sparkle. White is odd. It's like matte and pearly at the same time, which doesn't really make for the smoothest application. Beige is a shimmery champagne peach. Gold is a soft shimmery 20 carat gold. Teal is a really smooth, attention calling matte teal (as the name would suggest). Purple is a matte, ordinary violet. I sort of like the unimaginative naming scheme because everything is pretty self explanatory.

In particular, I'm rather fond of the Teal and Beige. Just due to the awesome color of the first, and the soft, champagney glow of the second (which could probably be great even as a highlighter). I think they'are a fantastic value, and I would highly recommend using all of them wet. Well, except for the White. It's just kinda weird.

I also raped Target today. Yes, that's right. They had the e.l.f. display finally up and yours truly took every last Elements compact left. All eight of them. Was that a little selfish? I honestly needed them- I had about 24 or so eye shadows in limbo ever since I stepped on one of my 28 slot palettes and destroyed it. Well, my sincere apologies to the people in the area of Voorhees and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. You have me to blame for your lack of compacts.
I also bought a single e.l.f. eyeshadow in Moondust, 'cause you know, taupes are my thing and I don't discriminate based on price. It's very soft but the problem is that on it's own it has very little color payoff and doesn't last at all. But pair it with NYX Jumbo Pencil in milk, and you've got a winner. Of all the taupes I own, this one is the least frosty. In fact, it's quite satiny in texture, with the tiniest bit of shimmer. This picture isn't blurred, honest. The shadow just really wants to crumble off my arm.

I also grabbed two more $1 eyeshadow brushes because they're so handy for swatching and for day to day use. The last thing that I found interesting and had to try out was the e.l.f. Complexion Perfection powder quad. I'll write a whole review about it, promise.

Cheap Finds + DIY Freestyle Palette

Saturday, March 27, 2010

So, while my fiance was at Best Buy, getting the last PS3 (which by the way, made him so giddy and happy that he tried to drive home with in his lap) I went to Marshalls, the Dollar Tree and Kmart, getting absolute beauty steals.
First stop, Marshalls. Here's the thing about stores like Marshalls and TJMaxx, in my area (Cherry Hill/Moorestown/Haddonfield, suburbs immediately outside of Philadelphia) these stores are disaster zones. Seriously. It looks like Fallujah after an offensive. I treat it as such too, I go in on a recon mission- look around, scope it out and get out as quickly as I can. I actually have no idea why I keep going back. Mostly, it's because I keep hearing things about NARS palettes and lipgloss sets that some luckly individuals stumbled upon (what incredible finds- that's like seeing treasure washed up on the beach!). Anyways, I wanted to try my luck again. After much digging around (and I mean DIG) this is what I did spot:
-Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily Shimmer Oil (Reg $35, spotted it for $19.99)
-Korres Hand Cream (discontinued, I believe- $6)
-Tons of CHI, Biosilk, bigsexyhair products (heavily discounted, seriously don't even go anywhere else to buy it)
I walked out empty handed, because I'm trying to stick to a habit of not buying what I wasn't looking for, but thought I'd give you a good idea at what's in store at the moment. On to the next store! Kmart it is!
Kmart is the only store I know of that actually sells e.l.f. cosmetics. Dollar General does carry e.l.f., but only the tools and brushes. I went in hoping to get a few empty compacts (no such luck) and some single eyeshadows and maybe a few other things. I grabbed the last two eyeshadow singles- Custome Eyes in Pink Ice and Dusk and All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade. I have a slight problem with that product being called Pink Lemonade- it's a bright, strawberry pink and I had expected it to be much more mild. I think it stems from the days when I wore Caboodles Lip Jelly Lemonade (do you remember that? It was so wonderful- smelled so good and tasted just like the real thing) and that was a semi transparent baby pink.
Anyways back to the story, disappointed with the lack of e.l.f. Elements compacts, I went to the Dollar Tree with the idea that I could probably make my own in mind. I spotted metal gift card holders. Perfect! I also grabbed a few stackable black mini crates and hauled four Sally Hansen lipglosses. Rumors of these glosses had been the reason why I had initially came to the dollar store and I was happy with the array of colors. I got two Smile Brightening Lip Treatments in Twinkling (dark lavender) and Luminous (dark spicy nude). Also, a Natural Butter Lip Shine Gloss in Bloom (berry) and a Moist & Matte Liquid Color in Charmeuse. This post is getting absurdly long, so I'll talk about those another time.

Here's the good DIY tutorial part:

DIY Freestyle Palettes
Materials:
-Magnets, preferably business card magnets (see pic). These were $7 for a pack of 25.
-Pen or Marker
-Scissors
-Metal gift card holders (Found at craft stores, dollars stores, etc)

1. Flip the metal holder over, and mark out on the business card magnet where you plan to cut it and it it to fit the holder. Round the corners and peal & stick the first magnet.

2. Trim the second one in a similar manner. Use the remnants of the first and second magnet to fill in the remaining gap.
It's a pretty self explanatory process, I have no idea why I decided to write out instructions.
Each one of the metal holders (3" by 5") holds 12 26mm round pans. That's right, 12! Or 4 36mm round pans and 5 26mms. Anyways, you get the idea- it's compact but holds a lot! And pretty too.
The best part? Each metal holder was $1 and two sheets of business card magnets was about $.50. Less than $2? Awesome.

That's all for the night, thanks for bearing with me! <3

All items featured in this post were purchased by me for my own use.

False Eyelashes Fervor (Introduction to Materials)

I am thoroughly obsessed with my eye lashes. It started when I was 10, and took a close look at my mother's eyes. Her upper lashes were sparse and were just like mine, stick lashes that stuck straight out. What really frightened me was that at the age of 45, she had NO lower lashes left at all. Now, I realized that I'll never have a luscious fringe of soft, dainty lashes that I can flutter to flirt with, but I really would like more than the five lower lashes that I've been stuck. Recently, a few lash growing serums have entered the market (even prescription Latisse) and I've started trying products like RapidLash (I saw it at my closest beauty store for $40, but it's cheaper online at places like Amazon).

In the mean time, I'm going to fake it, and talk about my love of false lashes.
I have a kind of kit for my brows and lashes, a tool box full of tons of false lashes and lash related accessories.

Today I just want to talk about some of the extras associate with falsies, and not the actual lashes and technique quite yet.

For Full False Bands:

First, and most important, the glue. If you're using cheap lashes (like ones found at drugstores or beauty shops) don't ever, ever use the glue that comes with it. It is almost always rubbish. I use DUO eyelash adhesive, which is the kind sold by MAC ($8) but you can find it at most any Walgreens or drugstore for around $6 (or online- Duo Eyelash Adhesive, Clear-White - .25 oz). It comes in two shades, Clear-White and Dark. Currently using the clear, but when I run out I think I'm going to switch to the dark stuff because I imagine it'd help blend the falsies in better. Pros? Cheap, it holds my lashes on all day, and does dry to a nice clear which is easily covered up by eyeliner. A small tube also lasts a really long time, been using mine at least 3 times a week for the last 6 months, no where close to running out. The cons? It smells kinda funky, like latex and fish, which is actually normal. It also contains latex, so for those with allergies- the brand Quo (Canadian, I believe) makes a latex free glue.

Now take a look at these odd gizmos. Those familiar with false lashes might recognize them as lash applicators and a lash stand. The pink one is from Andrea and it came with an Andrea starter kit for about $7. It is, in my opinion, worthless. It's a piece of cheap plastic folded in half. I actually found that when trying to put on lashes with it, it got in the way and made things harder. The e.l.f. one I like quite a bit (from the Hollywood Lashes Kit from e.l.f., $3). It's a clip, with rubber tipped edges so that it holds the lashes snugly but doesn't damage them. How to use this tool? Open the clip, place the lashes into the clip, let it clamp down gently and shape the curve of the lash band to fit your eye shape. It's great for beginners or those with shakey hands. This lash stand, also by e.l.f. is a MUST have if you plan on reusing your lashes. No kidding. I really struggled with reshaping my falsies before I found this cheap little thing (also in the e.l.f. Hollywood Lashes Kit). It looks simple enough, a small plastic arched form with two grooves in it. After I wash my falsies (I have a video on that, not the best quality, but you get the idea - here- ) I take them while they are still damp and set them in the grooves and add a couple of drops of so that water tension holds them in place while they dry. Last but not least, if you decide to reuse your lashes- you need a place to store them. Keeping them in their original boxes works just fine- but this is what I do to save space. I bought a cheap small storage box from the craft store, with separators (for things like beads ) and a packet of labels. Label each well, and ta da!

For Individual Lashes Clusters:

The stuff you need for individual lashes differs from the supplies needed for full bands. Individual lashes are actually supposed longer lasting than full bands, you're 'supposed' to get weeks of use out of them according to Ardell, who makes the glue necessary- LashTite. LashTite reminds me super glue, it really does. And like super glue, I found out that it can glue your fingertips together (an unfortunate isolated incident, I swear). So, take a look at the picture above. 1- LashTite, semipermanent glue that dries quickly to a hard glossy finish. 2- Something to put the glue on, I use scraps of aluminum foil. 3- A pair of tweezers. Not your good tweezers that you use for plucking but the cheap 99-cent kind you have lying around in a drawer somewhere. 4- LashFree (found at beauty stores like Sally's or online). Please, please do not mess around with individual lashes without the glue remover. I'm saying this from personal experience. They look great when you first put them on, but after a few days, they get a little wonky and they get bent into weird directions and you'll want to take them off. You can't just pull them off because they're glued into your lash line. Nothing you have at home will remove them easily (trust me, I tried- oils, hot steamy showers, makeup remover, nothing). I had a bald patch in my lash line for a few weeks as testimony to this fact. 5. Individual Lashes, I'll talk about these during the actual tutorial.

Alright, tune in soon for the next installments- in which I'll talk about the actual lash process!

<3, M

All products featured in this post were purchased by me, for my own use.

Grouchy Mini Haul

Monday, March 8, 2010

I felt like crap today, I really did. I woke up terribly nauseous and with really painful hormonal acne. At least, I hope it's just hormonal. So I admit, I picked up a few things today, as a sort of retail therapy. I bought a few more Wet'n'Wild single eyeshadows (review of them soon to follow, I promise!), a new Wet'n'Wild lipstick- Just Peachy (903C), two WnW nail polishes, Essie Matte About You topcoat, a few e.l.f. tools, Studio Tools concealer brush and some aloe vera gel.

So I pretty much ruined my no-buy (again). I'm a quitter. I tried to stick to some cheap things, but the problem is when you buy LOTS of cheap things, it adds up. It probably would have been cheaper to bite the bullet and order that LORAC that I wanted. But back to the mini haul.
I started out by running to Target (3rd time this week) to see if they had an e.l.f. display yet. No luck, but I did see that they had stripped the Sonia Kashuk display, so the new stuff will be in soon! I also noticed that they took down the Boots display, I'm guessing e.l.f. will grace that spot. I bought a ST concealer brush (clearance, $1.48) which I think will be great for my delicate eye area, because it's really tiny and soft. Almost reminds me of a lip brush. Also grabbed an Essie matte top coat- I've been really wanting matte polishes lately, but figured a matte top coat would be a better investment than buying a new set of matte polishes. How thoughtful of me.

Now, disappointed by the lack of e.l.f, I ended up at Dollar General, knowing that they carried of few of their tools. Snagged 2 brushes (flat eyeliner and small eyeshadow brush) and a couple extra false lash sets (not shown). The eyeliner brush is really too wide to use with my cream and gel liners, which I like to have complete and precise control over. Also grabbed a eyelash curler, because as soon as my Shu Uemura curler gets here, I'm doing a curler review.
Moving on- I spied a W'n'w display at my grocery store, that wasn't completely molested. I'm serious here, the W'n'W displays at Walgreens look like they've been ravaged by some cosmetics hungry creature- everything good is out of stock. I managed to grab a couple nail polishes, a matte lippie and some single eyeshadows.

So what did I do right today? I used a coupon at CVS and got free aloe vera, which I had really needed. I also sent off my package to a MUAer (I hope she loves those brushes I picked out for her!).

Swatches tomorrow, scout's honor.

One last confession. I completely lied. I did order that LORAC.

Is There Anybody as Excited as I am For These?

Monday, February 22, 2010

I'm really loving Target right now, honest. I recently picked up one of those famed amazing Studio Tools duo fiber brushes (more commonly known in the makeup world as a 'skunk') on clearance for $3.88. Although, I think it was red-tagged out because they're being discontinued, which does sadden me. But onto the more exciting news!

Sonia Kashuk 2010 Spring line! Are those brushes not gorgeous? I can't wait to get my hands on some, but my local Targets are always slow on stocking new items. I saw a picture posted by a fellow MUAer, and it made me a little sad to see brushes that were touted as 'natural' being wrapped in hard plastic packaging. But then I took a closer look, notice how the ad says 'eco chic' not eco friendly? Sneaky. None the less, the brushes look like they are beautifully crafted- just look at that round cut on the blush brush- and a tapering point too!
More great news about thrifty brush finds- do you remember during the last holiday season, there were some select e.l.f. Cosmetics items available at Target? It was mostly all from the $1 line, but also some value sets too. Well, e.l.f. Cosmetic's facebook confirmed that they would be releasing more items, and hinted that some Studio Line items would be available!

The Search for Cheap Plum Eyeliner

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

You know how Greek heros like Hercules had quests? Well my quest is to find the perfect smokey purple eyeliner under $5. Is it that unreasonable to hope that there is a beautiful plum out there, slightly shimmery but not too much smokey grey in it? Is it also too much to ask that this eyeliner stays on all day, doesn't smudge and happens to be waterproof?
I bought 3 different liners, and tested them out.

The first one is from e.l.f., I bought for a dollar. Now usually when I review a product, I leave a bit of room for the possibility that I might be wrong about a product and let the reader decide if it's worth the investments. This isn't one of them. This product is the single worst cosmetic purchase I have ever made. It's hard to draw a line with it- sure, it performs well when you draw on your hand, but when you actually use it on the eyelid, it tugs the skin quite a bit. At the same time, it's greasy feeling and fades off right away. Completely rubbish for an eyeliner. I tried to salvage it by using it all over my eye lid as a dark base. What a mistake! The next morning, I woke up with whiteheads on my eyelid. Whiteheads! Eyelid!
The next one, which is a step up (barely) is the Wet'n'Wild MegaChrome Eyeliner in Antique Amethyst. This one was about $2 dollars when I did a BOGO free with WnW products at Walgreens. It still was rather dull but this one was definitely creamier and didn't make my eyes break out.
My favorite one so far is the Ulta brand Automatic Eye Liner in the color Raisin. It's got great color yet I think the most appealing part is the waterproof qualities- once you apply this liner, it stays. No little purple rainbows even if your eyelids are greasy. The best part? I bought this at Ulta for a dollar during one of their sales (normally $7). So it is indeed to find a spectacularly pigmented eye liner in an interesting color that is still cheap. I highly recommend waiting to purchase colored eyeliners when there's a sale of some sort going on (no matter the brand- anything from high end cosmetics to drugstore makeup), also keep in mind the return policies- I like buying from places that let you return used makeup for any reason at all (it's why I love CVS!).

E.l.f. Haul (pt. 2) Makeup Brushes Review

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Yesterday, I went to General Dollar looking for some spray bottles (there's about 15 million uses for small spray bottles, I store practically every liquid I have in them) and found e.l.f. cosmetics there. I was pleased as punch (hey there, outdated colloquialisms) because I was going to order some of the brushes online for my sister anyways so I saved on shipping. I bought a large face brush, a bronzer/blush brush (it was packaged incorrectly in a eye blending brush package but says 'Bronzing Brush' on it), a small eyeshadow brush, a small eye defining brush. If you remember, previously I had ordered a mascara spoolie as well as a eyebrow brush/comb combo and found them to be very satisfactory.
Let's start out with the bad. When I opened the packaging, the brushes smelled simply awful. The bigger brushes (face and blush) were a weird maroon color- they've obviously been dyed and were all flattened (I fluffed them up for the pictures) .

I didn't want to wrap stinky brushes up and just send them to my sis, so I washed them with my homemade brush cleaner (see older post for recipe!). They immediately started to shed and bleed their dye when I lathered them up. I switched to cold water, and the water then ran clean. I placed them on a dish towel and the larger brushes actually bled on the towel. How attractive, I now have a dish towel that looks like I wiped a bloody knife on it. When they were halfway dry, I fluffed them up by gently tugging the hairs into the direction I wanted them to go. This actually worked great, I think I increased the face brush to 300% of it's original size. Also, I noticed that the hairs on all of the brushes were a little uneven, mostly on the larger brushes with more hairs.

What I really like about the e.l.f. brushes is that the eyeshadow brushes are of surprisingly good quality. They're soft and dense, though not as good as my Sephora or MAC brushes (I guess the appropriate sound here is 'duh!'). Though at a dollar each, I didn't have that high of expectations. They are a bit more flimsy- I put each brush to the test by trying to pull (lightly!) the metal band off where the handle meets the head of the brush. I succeeded, the eyeshadow brushes' head came right off. Don't worry, I glued it back together with Gorilla Glue, it's drying as I type and my sister will never know.
However, for people on a budget these are decent brushes and you just can't beat the price.
Cost: $1 a brush
Where: eyeslipsface.com or retailers such as General Dollar

E.l.f. Haul (pt. 1)

Monday, November 23, 2009

My goodness! I can't believe the things I got from e.l.f. I first heard of e.l.f. cosmetics while perusing through magazines. I couldn't believe how cheap their products were supposed to be, I was down right skeptical that I could ever like any of their cosmetics. Ugh, I can't believe I've missed out years of product enjoyment just because I was blinded by my prejudice- I thought costly always meant quality! But my cheap side won- I couldn't resist $1 makeup!
However, there are some down sides to e.l.f. products- here's my review on my haul.
I bought a little of everything- false lashes, cream eyeshadow, eyeshadow, mineral lip liner, eyeliner and some beauty tools.

First off, I bought a eyebrow grooming tool and a mascara comb for a dollar each. They look just like the brushes in my Sephora brush set, so it made me pretty happy. They are a little lighter in weight and upon closer inspection the quality isn't as good as my other brushes, but since they were a dollar each, I really can't complain. At these prices, I can afford to replace them quite often. I didn't buy any of the other brushes, but I did order some for my sister for Christmas so I'll be sure to post about them later on.

Next, the Duo Eye Shadow Cream. These were worth every penny and more! I bought Coffee & Cream, Eggplant and Olive. They are very sheer, but super buildable and highly pigmented colors. Each color also has a second color tone that shines through and makes it look wonderful. For example, the green Olive color has a gold undertone that makes it glow like you would not believe! The biggest problem is that they do crease and fade if you don't wear an eye primer. But with some Urban Decay Primer Potion on underneath, these cream shadows last all day. I especially like using these as a base, they help shimmery shadows stand out even more (the purple Eggplant color makes a fantastic plum smoky eye if you use it for a base!). However, I'm not sure how much I liked the glitter in the white part of Coffee & Cream, it was really fine and a nice gold, but glitter none the less. I thought it looked a little garish, but I guess using a little as a high lighter when I'm going out at night will add some interest around my face.
Eyeshadow Duo- It's very basic eyeshadow, and superb quality for the price. I got a matching Olive shade as well as a Butter Pecan. Nicely pigmented and the texture is really nice. It's hard to tell from the website but some of the shades are shimmery and some are matte. Butter Pecan consisted of two neutrals that were a very basic matte that will work great for day to day looks, especially for work. Again, if you want it to stay put, you'll use a primer of some sort.

Brightening Eye Liner- Ugh, not my favorite. I got this in Plum and I found that it was too hard and too oily at the same time. How's that possible? Well, it was hard to apply- it seemed almost like the liner needed to warm up next to my skin. With a little bit of force, I did manage to get it to work, but the color was too waxy- it didn't show up at all! It did show up on my hand, but I think the delicate surface of the eye area won't allow it to really pick up color. Even after going over the same like about 4 more times, I finally got a hint of color, but it wasn't well pigmented. It faded away within about 3 minutes of the application. That's not even the worst part, the next day I got a pimple on my lower lash line where I had used it! I'm not 100 percent sure that it's due to the eye liner, but it's pretty suspicious- oily product equals nasty skin. I've never had a zit in such a weird place before. However, I was determined to find a use for this product, I'm not one to even waste a dollar! I ended up shading my entire eye lid up to my crease and used it as a sort of base to a purple shadow. The best thing that can be said about this liner is that it comes with a sharpener... at least you can use that!

Eyeliner and Shadow Stick- This is a part of the Studio line. It's more expensive at a whooping $3. I'm half way in love with this product, but also half way wanting to cast it from my makeup collection. So I bought this in Pearl/Glow, the liner side being the pearl color, and the shadow side is a pinkish pearl, but to be honest, they look the same on skin. The liner is beautiful and creamy, I use it to highlight the inner corner of my eyes and it blends really well into the rest of my eye makeup. The shadow however, is pretty crappy. It has a lumpy consistency and somewhat tacky in feel. The quality of the product isn't all that great, the shadow keeps falling out. But, I do love the idea of the product and one end, but it probably isn't worth it for the price. I know, I know, three dollars, who cares? Well, I think I'd rather put that 3 dollars towards a MAC shade stick then continue to buy these.

Mineral Lip Liner- Got this in Peachy. I really should have read the reviews, it's actually a really bright coral color. It's a decent lip liner, but honestly- I'd rather buy something available from the drug store like Maybelline or Rimmel. Better bang for the buck. It does come in a nice twist up pen, but I'm too disappointed in what I received to want to try other colors, especially if they aren't true to their names/ the swatch shown online.

False Lashes- Fantastic! I can't wrap my head around the fact that they are a dollar a pair! I like the Dramatic black ones, they're pretty good quality. I can even reuse them if I want to, but they are pretty delicate. The eyelash glue that comes with it is somewhat dubious, I highly recommend to always use DUO Lash Adhesive. I put in another order for the Hollywood set from the Studio line, which is $3 for a pair of really wild looking lashes, a lash stand and a lash applicator. Again, I'd like to buy about 10 pairs of these lashes and at these prices, I really can afford to toss them out on a whim.

What really helps when buying e.l.f. products are the reviews from other people on the site. A general rule of thumb is that if it's 4.5 stars or higher, it's pretty great and well worth the price. 4 stars and lower, it's proceed with caution and buy at your own risk.
They also have mineral makeup which is a little more expensive but still very very cheap, and since it's 1/2 off right now, I'm going to put in another order for some, but I think I'll be buying it for Christmas presents, so I don't know if I'll get to review any. I will however, treat myself to some more and let you know how it goes!