Happy hump day everyone! I have a massive ELF cosmetics haul for ye retinas this afternoon, I purchased these items on two different occassions so just to clarify I did not pick this up all at once lol (but it would be so easy to do so on that damn site!)
ELF had two different offers, one was a mystery collection of make up worth £20 with your order, the other was 50% off the entire order. ELF always have good deals going on so be sure to check, although they seem to have way bigger and better offers in the USA which is bloody annoying, AND I've seen a bunch of ELF products launched over there that I really want to try so hopefully they'll launch it over here soon! Has anyone seen the blush palettes? They look amazing but aren't available in the UK *dolphin tears*
anyway lets, crack on with it shall we...?
The lighter shade looks like a really pretty base for a pink, light, spring/summer look
I've heard that this bronzer/blush duo is a dupe for the famous Nars Orgasm blush and Nars Laguna bronzer. I personally can't give my opinion as I've never tried either of those products (cue violins) but I really love this. I was pleasantly surprised when the packaging was bigger than I expected! Usually with ELF it turns out smaller than you think, but this product is thin so it won't take up much room and it's literally all you need in one (unless you're a highlighter freak like me) and having pale skin I was worried by the colour of the bronzer but as you can see in the swatch it's has a very natural tone; it's obviously very dark but when applied with a light hand looks amazing. It does provide a perfect contoured and bronzed look at the same time. I've actually been using this over my Nyx blush in Taupe *le gasp* (but that's partially due to being too lazy to grab it)
I also wanted to try the ELF mineral eye brightener as I couldn't find the HD under eye powder (have they discontinued it?!) I was curious if this would act similarly. I feel like this is a great setting powder for under eye concealer, haven't had any issues, I don't feel it's brightening but I think the yellow undertone helps correct dark circles.
(cue violins - again) I've started to run out of my favourite primer, Shadow Insurance by Too Faced so I figured I best store that away to use on special occassions and try out a cheaper primer for everyday use and to be honest it works absolutely great. I love the doe foot applicator and I feel like my shadow still performs great and lasts throughout the day, I don't feel like the shadows are as pigmented as my Shadow Insurance, but it's a minor difference & this seriously cost like £1.50 or something so I'm not fussed.
I also wanted to create my own custom palette because I was so curious about their eyeshadows, plus they're only £1.50 each. I'm very impressed with all of them, particularly Truly Pink because I think cheaper brands struggle to get pastel shades with decent opacity and pigmentation, I think ELF pulled it off quite well. My least favourite is driftwood, I can't really pin point a fault I think it's just not for me, since this would probably go in my crease and I'm not a big fan of shimmery crease colours.
I am actually in love with this primer. If you're a big fan of that velvet/silicon finish GET THIS GOD DAMN IT. I do feel like my pores are less visible (and my face is literally a scene out of the movie Holes) and my foundation applies better, evens my redness and just does lovely things to the visage. Love it.
I took several pics of me swatching the ELF jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Fancy, because I wanted to show how it hits the light - such a pretty colour omg. If you're looking for a champagne pink base then this is it *in love*
I got these two in my mystery collection, I'm not a huge fan of lipglosses, I'm just more of a lipstick gal, but I have been using them on days when I want a natural lip for work or just being lazy lol. Dream is a very pretty colour though. I think Bare is pretty in trend right now as a lot of people are doing the brown lips and light skin look.
If you wanted to see the difference between the top lip stain from the Essential line that's £2.95 or the two bottom lip stains that are £3.95 from the Studio line, then here you are. I have drunk and eaten with both on, I think the more expensive ones last longer, the top one seemed to come off on the inside of my lip rather quickly. They all have matte finishes but I feel the bottom two are less drying, however as you can see the top, cheaper one applies more evenly, I did one coat of each, but you can build up coats on the bottom two. You also get a gloss option with the Studio lip stains, and there are a lot more shades to choose from in comparison to the Essential lip stain. I think I prefer the £3.95 lip stains but I still do really like the £2.95 because it does do the job and lasts, just not as long as the more expensive version.
I bought Velvet Rope from the Moisturising lipstick range, because I don't actually own a red lipstick that's orange based and I've been really getting into orange lips lately, it's very slightly more orange in real life than it shows in the image. I also got rosy raisin within my mystery collection, a real good 'my lips but better' shade for when you just want a little more colour.
I absolutely love these loose mineral eyeshadows, Angelic is a perfect inner corner highlight, it doesn't look very pigmented when swatched but looks so good when applied to the lid with a white base. Sweet actually goes really well with the Jumbo Eyeshadow base in Fancy, I've been wearing that combo a lot lately.
Restocked on my faves! The mist & set works great for anyone who is curious, apparantly works the same as Urban Decay setting spray! I also really like the brush cleaner but I've heard alcohol works just as good. I just have to be really careful not to get these two mixed up, I did once accidently spray brush cleaner all over my face lol.
And we're done! If you made it this far then please accept 20 Hayley points, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and hope you enjoyed! If you'd like a more in depth review or tutorial using any of the products I featured in this blog post then please do tweet me or leave a comment below!
Twitter - @missrenvoize
