e.l.f Haul & Reviews

So this post was supposed to go up last week and a bunch of stuff came up and I was away for an extended long weekend, so it’s finally going up now!  As mentioned in my New York City Travel Diary, I came across an e.l.f. studio store while in NYC and I picked up quite a few things and wanted to share them with you! I’ve been using all of these products out over the last couple weeks so not only will I be sharing my haul with you, I’ll be giving you my opinions of how well these products perform as well!

e.l.f. studio Contouring Brush – $6.00 USD (Top)

This brush is super soft and the bristles are densely and tightly packed, making for a perfect contour brush.  If you’re looking for an intense contour of your cheekbones, this is the brush for you!  I find I do have to be careful if I’m using this with a highly pigmented product as it can be too intense on my fair skin.  I’m no expert (not even close) at contouring and I don’t do it every day but for the odd time I do, this works fabulously.

e.l.f. Beautifully Bare Blending Brush – $6.00 USD (Bottom)

I’m totally loving this brush!  It’s super soft and feels like a high quality brush, at least in my opinion.  The short handle allows for some serious blending capabilities and I’ve been using it to apply both my liquid and mineral (loose powder) foundation.  It works really well for both, although I do find that when using it with liquid foundation, I have to be careful not to buff it into my nose, otherwise it settles into my pores.  That’s typically the case for me when using any kind of brush with liquid foundation though.  I’ve also tried it for setting powder and bronzer and it works really well for those too.  My only complaint – and it’s a small one, is that I find it really makes my foundation dry quicker on my face (compared to using other brushes) so I do have to work quickly with it.  But overall, the versatility of this makes it well worth the entire $6.00 I spent on it!

e.l.f Essential Shadow Lock Eyelid Primer (Sheer) – $2.00 USD

I’ve used many eyelid primers of all price ranges and theres only been a few that I’ve actually liked and did what they were supposed to do.  I have oily eyelids and I really need something that is going to make my eyeshadow stick.  Needless to say, I did not expect much from this given the $2 price tag.  However this is FANTASTIC!  It works BETTER than some of the high-end eye primers I’ve purchased from Sephora – it keeps my eyeshadow and liquid liner in place all day.  I’ve had trouble recently with nude shadows creasing on my lids (despite using a primer) but when I’ve used this I don’t experience that at all.

In terms of coverage, I definitely have some noticeable blue veins on my lids and I wouldn’t say that this on it’s own covers them up completely.  But once I apply eyeshadow they are no longer noticeable.  The only complaint I have is that I don’t feel like there’s a ton of product in the tube.  I typically have to dip the wand in a few times to get enough out to cover both lids.  But small potatoes considering its benefits and the price.  So impressed!

e.l.f studio Baked Eyeshadow Palette (California) – $10 USD

There was an in-store promotion when I visited that allowed you to purchase one of these palettes for $5 if you spent $20 in other products.  I had no issues spending the $20 so I figured I might as well give it a try, given that the price was right.  There were a three different shade options but I went with California which was mostly neutral, shimmery shades.

Unfortunately this wasn’t much of a win for me.  These are extremely powdery and it’s next to impossible to use with a fluffy brush as they just kick up a ton of powder – none of which sticks to the brush.  I have used a flat brush and patted them on my lids which seems to work better but that can make blending a little difficult.  They do apply smoothly but I find the shades to be pretty muted when applied dry.  You get a bit more pigmentation when they are used wet – either with plain old water, or I found a setting spray works well too.  There is quite a bit of chunky glitter in these as well so if you’re not a an of that, you probably want to stay away from these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must say however, I’ve grown to like wearing these to work.  Normally I shy away from wearing shimmery/glittery shadows to work but because these are less pigmented, I feel I can get away with it and actually create some nice looks.  Despite that, I probably wouldn’t repurchase this palette.

e.l.f Essential Instant Lift Brow Pencil (Taupe) – $2.00 USD

Okay, I must admit, I’m not big on doing my eyebrows.  I’ve only really started filing them in over the last few months and I was using a very basic eyebrow pencil that didn’t do much.  My eyebrows are very light and have a pretty decent natural shape so I just didn’t feel the need.  Until I discovered this!

This pencil is so easy to use – it has a creamy, yet slightly waxy texture that allows you to create very natural looking brows.  Love that there’s a spoolie on the end too – very convenient!  The shade on this might be ever slightly dark for me, although I did darken my hair for fall so I think it’s a closer match now.  That would have to be the one drawback however – there’s only 3 shades so there’s not much choice colour-wise.   Despite that if you can get one of the shades to work for you, I’d highly recommend giving one of these a try.  For $2.00 you can’t go wrong!   I will definitely be re-purchasing!

e.l.f studio Matte Lip Color (Tea Rose & Rich Red (not shown))

I decided to step outside of my neutral/nude pink lip product comfort zone and pick up two shades that I wouldn’t normally buy.  Tea Rose – a cool, dusty rose/maeuvey shade (that turns a little greyish on me) and Rich Red – a cool, cherry red shade.  I know, neither of them are wild and crazy but I’m pretty comfortable with my pink glosses so this was stretch for me!

I wore both of these a few times and was a big fan of the formula.  Normally I hate matte lip products – I have naturally dry lips so I can’t stand putting a product on them that is going to make them feel even more dry, patchy and papery.  These aren’t like that at all – they have a very comfortable, creamy formula.  I did find them slightly drying after an hour or so of use but it wasn’t anything that would stop me from using them again.

The colours were also highly pigmented and decently long-lasting.  I didn’t find they withstood eating/drinking but I’m willing to sacrifice having to apply them again rather then having them stay on and have dry, peeling lips afterwards.  The sad thing is, I appear to have lost Rich Red, which makes me sad because I received so many compliments while wearing it.  I’m hoping it’s in my car or under a pile of clothes somewhere.  Lastly, I loved how easy these were to apply – the pencil format makes it easy to define your lips and apply colour evenly.  Very happy with these!

e.l.f Studio Contour Palette – $6.00 USD

I have heard really good things about this palette so when I saw a few on the rack, I scooped it right up.  Included in this palette is 4 different shades that allow you to contour and highlight.  It is most definitely an excellent value – the pans are a great size and will definitely last you a while.  I think the shades work best for those with fair/medium skin but probably not for those with darker skin tones as the shades are not overally pigmented.

One of the things I’m not crazy about is how powdery these are.  Similar to the baked eyeshadow palette, these kick up a ton of powder when you go to load your brush up with them so you need to use them sparingly.  They do apply smoothly, however!    I do find the bronzer shades a little off for my skin tone – the one on the bottom left looks a little orange on my skin, while the bottom right is a bit too dark on me.  I can make both work if I use a very light hand however.  For $6, I’m not sure you can wrong with this though – from what I heard this is very comparable to some of the higher-end (aka much more expensive) contour palettes out there!

e.l.f Studio Baked Highlighter (Pink Diamonds) – $3.00 USD

I’ve just recently gotten into highlighting (I know, slow much?) and when I saw how beautiful this one looked, I knew I had to try it.  The colour looks gorgeous in the pan and it swatches beautifully but when attempting to apply this with a brush, it falls flat.  You need a dense brush to pick the product up and that can result in a bit of highlighter overload.  I also don’t find it lasts, so I wouldn’t repurchase this again.

And that was my haul!  I have to say that I was pretty impressed with most of these products.  Even the ones that weren’t fantastic were still not that bad, given their price tag.  The only drawback is that e.l.f products can be a little difficult to find here so I’m likely going to have to place an online order for any products I want to re-purchase.

What are your favourite e.l.f products?  Have you tried any of these?  Let me know below!

Thanks for reading!