Makeup Mondays, October 3rd, 2011

Haven't posted in a while! Sorry guys, I had a while of total loss of inspiration, but I think I'm gaining some back. So here I go, another Makeup Monday for you.

ELF Cosmetics, How Good Are They?
ELF (standing for Eyes Lips Face) is a makeup company known for their cheapness and wide range of products. I'm here today to tell you my personal opinion on ELF. Most of ELFs products are between 1-5 dollars, and are either considered "essential", "mineral" or "studio". Most of the single essential items are priced at $1. Mineral is, as you could probably guess, mineral makeup. Its a bit more expensive (~$3-$6). Studio makeup is... uh, well, its around the same price as the mineral, so I just assume its better quality makeup than the essential. They also have brushes, bags, and some other tools. 


I've had two separate hauls from their website. I was incredibly impressed with the price of both. I'll give you a rundown of what I have...

• 2 eyelid primers (both sheer)
• false lashes (natural)
• brush shampoo
• 2 all-over color sticks (spotlight and golden peach)
• tweezers
• essential lipstick (seductive)
• 2 shine eraser packs
• high definition powder
• 4 essential brushes (eye shadow, blending eye, defining eye, fan)
• zit zapper
• tone correcting concealer (ivory)
• 2 waterproof eyeliner pens (both black)
• single nail polish matte coat
• nail polish set in french manicure
• endless eyes pro mini eye shadow palette (limited edition)
• super glossy lip gloss collection (summer ready)
• tinted moisturizer (porcelain)
• 2 mineral lipstick (nicely nude, runway pink)
• moisturizing lip tint (pink)
• hypershine gloss (berry cherry) [this one was gifted to my by ELF]
• mineral eye shadow (innocent)
• 5 matte eyes shadows (chestnut, muted mauve, smoke, nude, charcoal) 

PHEW. Okay, so it was harder to find all that than I figured it would be, but I BELIEVE that is the whole list. Moving on!

Favorites?
Things that I bought on my second haul are among some of my favorites. The matte eye shadow, especially the nude one, is fantastic. I am not a huge fan of sparkles most of the time, so finding a cheap matte eye shadow that actually works was a breath of fresh air. I've yet to try my 3 new ones on my eyes, as I've only got them today, but the nude works amazing, and I actually use it as a powder concealer, and in small areas I find it works great (such as pimple cover). The charcoal is the other that I had bought before. It is PURE black, which is very hard to find, and it comes out beautifully. The only downside is, its INCREDIBLY messy. I did a swatch test on the new three (didn't take pics, sorry) and they seem to be good. 
The eyelid primer is the other thing I bought a second time around. It's just something essential that I don't think I could live without now. Its only $1 and it does its job perfectly. It comes in a few different shades, but I went with nude again. I may try something different next time.
The shine eraser is something I had bought two of first haul, and is one of my favorite items, for the sake that it is the same thing you purchase at a drug store for anywhere from $5-$10 for the same amount of sheets, whereas I paid $1 on ELF. 
Another one of my favorites that I didn't actually go back for (because I didn't want any more shades at the time) was the all-over color stick. I use the golden peach almost every day. It gives the perfect amount of color that I like, and it is super easy to use.
I can guarantee that both the mineral and essential lipsticks have fantastic color results. The only complaint I have about them is the color is very off in the pictures compared to what I picked up. I didn't find this so much with any other product. I'm lucky I'm not too picky with lip color, but I didn't get the colors I was looking for. My advice, if you're ordering lipstick from there, order a color that is a nice bit lighter than the color you want, and you will probably get a similar color.
When I picked up the mineral eye shadow today, I was amazed. It has better payout than the matte eye shadow, and the color I got (innocence) is perfect for what I was looking for.
Last in my favorites, the brushes. The brushes are how I came to find ELF, actually. I saw one of their brushes (the eye shadow one) in a dollar store here in town, and I bought it, for only a dollar. It was the single best eye shadow brush I've ever had, and I have 15 or more other eye shadow brushes. SO, that really says something. I decided to buy the other 3 brushes, and I use all of them almost every day I put on makeup. My former boss at work who also went on an ELF shopping spree also purchased a studio angled eyeliner brush which she is totally ecstatic about. I would have gotten one second time around but I have a very similar one from Avon that I love. While I'm on the topic about brushes, the brush shampoo is amazing as well. I didn't think there was that much powder clogged up in some of my brushes. It cleans the brushes SO well. I really, really recommend it. 


Least Favorites?
Fortunately, this list is much smaller than my other list. 
The zit zapper REALLY didn't do anything for me. I have severe acne, though. The product got good reviews otherwise so it probably works well for others. 
The other item that just doesn't do it for me is the limited edition palette. I do still use it, but you have to put on a lot of color to get the sort of payoff you want. Sometimes I find it sometimes doesn't spread too easy either. I have another palette from Icing which I like a lot better. 
The eyeliner is a hit and miss for me, in the sense that one worked amazingly and one hardly worked. They're the exact same eyeliner, and I'm really disappointed that only one worked, because it worked fantastically, and the other one hardly draws a line. My mom bought 2 liquid eyeliners from there too (a black and a brown) and she said they didn't work, so I'm not sure if I'd buy again because of how unreliable the buy is. 
Another thing I don't think I could buy again is the nail polish. The matte topcoat makes the lower layers of my nail polish moist again when it's applied on top, and it doesn't mattify. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. The white in the manicure set hardly has any color, I don't know if I've touched the other colors. 


Everything else I DO like, but I can't highlight every single product I bought, though I suppose I practically did. I took some pictures today of my makeup because I did it all in ELF products (aside from the mascara, notice I don't have any mascara from there. I use either Avon or Elizabeth Arden, and I don't want to stray from them. My mom got the mascara and she does like it. SO. Here are the pictures.

Eyes: 2 colors from the limited edition palette, liquid eyeliner, inner corner is mineral eye shadow in innocent
Lips: mineral lipstick in runway pink, hypershine gloss in berry cherry

Well, well, kiddies! Now you have the whole story from me. Overall, ELF is a good choice, but watch what you are buying on there. You may want to read the reviews before buying. Also, sign up for the newsletter! They often give good deal codes you don't normally get on the site.

I'll try to make sure I don't disappear for a few months before blogging again. Sorry this post is ridiculously long, hope you've enjoyed! Bottom line: go check out http://www.eyeslipsface.com, or go to the nearest store that carries their supplies, and check it out for yourself!