E.L.F Primer Eyeshadow in Sexy Silver and How NOT to use it

E.L.F is a great brand - not cos they churn out products thats's an exact dupe of either a MAC or UD, but cos of the sheer variety of products and the quality of it compared to the price. 

Whenever I review an ELF product, I try to keep that in mind - and I hope I am being fair.

I honor brands like ELF that keep things affordable yet fun and of good quality. 

E.L.F primer eyeshadow is part of their Essentials line and retails for $ 2 and has 3 shades.

Check this out here - Link

Now if you went to their website, you can see that they advertise this product as an eyeshadow with a built-in primer.  

Just 1 coat - and you're good to go.. nice idea but, it doesnt really work that way....

The doe foot applicator makes it easy to apply the color on the lids.

Now , treat this like you'd treat a highly pigmented lip gloss.

So, clean out the wand of excess product before you apply on the lid. 

This will help you to apply the product without much hassle and clumping.

As you can see, Sexy Silver does live up to its name. Its a nice gun metal silvery gray color with a shimmery satin finish. 

On a white surface, you can see that it has a coffee brownish tint, but on lids its mostly silver. 

In the pic below, I have applied 1 coat and has slightly sheered it out as a base for another eyeshadow. You can see that it gives a metallic foil like effect.

Here, I've tried to increase the intensity to make it a single coat of eyeshadow - apologies for the shaky pic.

I wanted to show you how this works as an eyeshadow. 

So I wore it around the house for around 1 hour. 

The pic below is taken after 1 hour and a snarky comment from my husband to "remove the stuff pls"

 

As you can see, its all flaked off and kinda ugly.....

I think this proves that this is not your eyeshadow of choice from ELF.

Now how it really works is, as an eyeshadow enhancer.

Don't try this if you're expecting to extend the wear time. 

Use this as a base if you want to make your eyeshadow more shimmery..or just if you want to make the color pop out.

I'd suggest using this as a base for powder eyeshadows, and for night time looks. 

Overall: For $2, this does decent. Its an easy to apply product and works well as a base to highlight the eyeshadow. Just don't make the poor thing work on its own! 

Also, if you've the luxury of choosing from ELF, I'd suggest you go with their paint pots or creamy eyeshadows...

What Not To Buy: ELF Essential Total Face Brush [or something to scratch your back]

In case, you've bought  this total face brush , and is wondering how to use this best - I've some suggestions.

You might be thinking - let me throw this to the waste basket, it scratched my face more than my kittens ever did..

But wait, this brush is not completely useless. 

I'd say - dip it in a glue or starch, get it stiff enough and use it to scratch your back or wherever it itches.

Another use could be - as a face pack slathering brush.

Or may be, something to dust your laptop key board? 

How about using this to apply that marinade on the fish fillet?

Whatever you use it for, I would say - don't, please please don't use it on your face, unless you're Hulk and has a literally rocky face! Cos, this brush has the harshest, scratchiest, poking-on-my-nose-est bristles I've seen.

This brush is enough to make you a convert of Sigma or BDellium brushes, but since I've tried ELF Studio line of brushes, I know that ELF can do it right if they want to. 

But I guess for $1, they decided-  Hmm...lets make something that will force these cheapskates to buy the $3 Studio Complexion Brush.

So, if you would like to try a face brush, go for the Complexion Brush.Much softer and does the job much much better. 

In fact, I think ELF Complexion brush is a great powder brush to have.

I think the pictures kinda speak for themselves, so enjoy !

What Not to Buy: 2 Useless Lipglosses- E.L.F Super Glossy Lip Shine in Juiced Berry and Bonne Bell Lip Lites in Cherry Berry Kiss

I know - people may love sheer glosses, people may even love sticky sticky glosses, people can even love sticky no-color glosses - I know, I accept, cos in this wonderful world of ours, there is always someone who loves something [no, not going to sing a Dean Martin song here].

All I am saying here is - I don't. And this review, is for people who think like me & that is that a gloss that looks pigmented but is not and is also sticky is a waste of money. Do you agree? No? Then, well.. that's how life is! :)

Now going to the 1st offender, E.L.F Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF 15 in Juiced Berry:

Look at that glossy tube..look at that luscious color that it kinda promises...

Now look at the goop that came from it...looking like something out from a glue box.. I am being a bit harsh, considering ELF doesn't promise a lot of pigmentation. But still I feel kinda cheated. However, if it was just a reddish very lightly tinted gloss, I could've still used it to give a plumper look to my lips, but it is very very sticky!

Now that in my opinion, is too much. A no-color gloss that is a bit too sticky - is kinda totally unlovable for me. The point is, why would I waste money buying this useless stuff, when I can get better options if I pay a $ or more.. for e.g. Essence's gloss is $2 approx and they are superb. ELF has other glosses which perform much better. Also I think other shades from this same range has much better pigmentation than this one, which makes the stickiness almost bearable.

And now, presenting my second offender, a pricier Bonne Bell Liplites in Cherry Berry Kiss.

1st of all, the packaging is a bit unwieldy. The tube is longer and the wand is also weirdly longer than normal, making it a bit hard to apply. 

As with the ELF one, looking at the tube - one imagines a juicy glossy color. Also Bonne Bell promises to give some color and glossy effect but the highlight of the product is apparently the taste! 

Weird or what! Who buys a gloss for the taste? [If you're now thinking, "Well you did", I didnt! I didnt know this was being sold for its taste! Honest!]

Look how long that wand is!

The one thing I can say in support of this gloss is, it is not as sticky as ELF one. But thats it. Its a bit pricier than ELF , which makes it hard to justify buying a product that basically doesn't do anything for your lips. As with ELF, the other shades in BB LipLites seems okay, with some of them being claimed in Blog World as MAC dupes. So I guess I just got stuck with the loser of the bunch!

DISCLAIMER: If you have non pigmented pale lips, these may be good sheer gloss options for you. In which case, you might think I am being nonsensical. Even so, don't you wish its better to have a pigmented gloss you can wear sheer, than have a non-pigmented gloss that you cannot build up at all??

A Weird product: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Body Shimmer in shade Mystic Moonlight

Have you ever used a product and wondered if the company really thought things through? Like how the user is supposed -well- use it? I feel that frustration when I use shampoos with squeeze nozzles like hand soaps [I don't know about others, but when I shampoo I need some goodish amounts and I don't wanna keep squeezing] or when you see palettes with powder & cream products just side by side - how yucky is a lip color with black eyeshadow powder in it!

Anyways, this body shimmer by ELF is one weirdly designed product.

Here is what ELF has to say about the product in their website :

Create sexy, soft shimmer for a healthy looking glow that is lightweight and comfortable. Great for using on cheeks, lips, eyes, and decollete. The convenient twist-up design is easy to use for quick application. Simply glide on this chic shimmer for a sunless, gorgeous glow. 

Price: $3 USD for 0.35 oz

And what I have to say:  

"Nauthannen i ned ôl reniannen" -  Do you feel a thrill when you listen to this? I loved watching LOTR and Galadriel & Arwen kinda defined the word 'ethereal' for me. And why I said this whole story is - if you have the same ethereal complexion like Galadriel and have always wanted that elvish fairy sparkly look, this would be a great highlighter for you.

Mystic Moonlight - is a very frosty shimmery cool-toned silvery shade that leaves some serious shimmer behind on your skin. The shape is good for applying the product on the cheek directly - if it were a subtle highlighter, which this is not. Also, who wants to apply super frosty highlighter in such a wide swipe? The shimmer bar is pretty wide and a lot of product applies if you use this directly on cheeks. The product applies smoothly and is kinda okay to blend it out.

The super frostiness of this product makes it pretty hard to apply as a highlighter for any day wear, cos frankly I don't care to be a disco ball. The sparkly silver shade kinda makes it hard to use it at night also, cos the silvery shade grabs some prominence unless I really blend it in, in which case, all that shows up is the shimmer - which again turns me to a disco ball!

And using it on decollete - did you see the shape of it? How easy did ELF guys think it would be to swipe this across the decollete? It feels weird & applies weird! Also, the shimmer grabs on to hair, clothes and that turns super messy!

The only 2 ways I could use it is on eyes & lips as a highlighting shade. Now, for eyes, I like it. It looks pretty nice if I use it near the corners, beneath the brow bone and under the lower lash line. But, the point is - why would I buy this to be used as an eyeshadow, when I can buy - well,actual eyeshadows.

But on lips, well.. Meh! Its okay enough to apply on the cupids bow, but after some time, all that remains is shimmer. I tried using it in the center of my lower lips once, but I didnt really care for the texture and I am not a big face of using cheek products on lips [I don't mind the vice versa]. 

 Overall: This may be a good fit, if you are the super fair shade of skin color. If you like it, good for you. But me, I wouldn't really recommend this shade. I have a bronze-y shade that I am planning to try during summer. So lets see!

Drugstore beauty: ELF Essential Liquid Eyeliner in Midnight

ELF Essential Liquid Eyeliner in Midnight is one of those non-fussy yet superb performer from Drugstore. For $1, this is a product that delivers everything it claims - astonishing is it not?

What ELF says about their Liquid Eyeliners [from website] : "No more tugging or pulling on your eyelids with this easy glide Liquid Eyeliner. The smudge-proof liner is rich in color, creating a long lasting defined look. The fine tip brush creates easy and precise definition for natural or dramatic eye effects."



My Experience:

I agree with everything the brand promises with this product. This is a slightly thick yet very smooth liquid liner that is superbly easy to apply. With one swipe you get enough color for a light lining; the intensity can easily be built upon.



The color is a beautiful indigo blue that would look especially amazing on green-hazel eyed beauties. I can easily get a cat-eye or a winged eyeliner look with this liner. The eyeliner tip is very fine, soft & flexible, that makes any kind of designing a piece of cake.



As ELF says, there is no tugging, no smudging once it sets and it lasts for an average of 5-6 hours and more if used above primer or concealer. This is not waterproof, but I actually prefer my eye makeup to be non-waterproof for daily wear usage so that is fine with me.



Overall: I love this eyeliner and would recommend it to everyone, especially to those who are just starting to play with winged eyeliners.

Review: ELF Studio Matte Lip color in Coral

Hello Everyone,

Hope you are all doing great and having fun. I have been suffering a bit from Winter Blues [its been pretty bad here in Toronto] so like a good makeup lover I went and got some lippies. ELF has always been a favourite of mine - mainly cos they don’t test on animals and they have such nice prices, but I don’t always find ELF products here [sad!]. So when I saw this lippie at a dollar store here, how could I skip it?

ELF Studio range is marketed the higher priced and better quality versions of their regular essential line. They have sleek black casing and is usually around $3-$6 USD. Matte Lip colors are a not-so-chubby lip colors with creamy matte finish. Not many shades in this range, in fact no dark colors except for a bright red shade.

I like the elegant black packaging and the pencil-like casing. This makes it easy to apply the shade around lip contours. There is no strong scent or taste; staying power is okay- I got around 4-5 hours without any food.

Coral is a peachy coral, not a pinkish coral which is more flattering to our Indian skin tones. This gives a very creamy finish and sets to a satin-matte finish. Not a true matte effect but you can mattify this & increase the staying power easily by blotting over 1-2 times.

I am not a fan of this color as it kind of washes me out; this type of pastel shades are more suited to a paler and fairer skin tones. Also if you have pigmented lips [like me] then the color doesn’t show up really nice unless you conceal the original lip color.

If you like such colors, my suggestion would be to try and perfect your makeup as pale shades can easily show any uneven skin finishes.

Overall, this is a nice lip product for all you nude-lip lovers; if you are looking for a perfect matte, this may be tad disappointing though.

A dud product!! Review & Swatches: e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black

I got this eyeliner from local dollar store; there was only one shade there, the black color. I found more shades here in E.L.F website but somehow I don't regret not being able to lay my hands on that.

I got this a month ago and the swatch below should explain more than any words why I think this is a dud product from a favorite company of mine.

 The tip of the eyeliner pen is pretty unstable and kinda fans out when you try for a bit more precision.  But just look at the faded swatch and imagine trying to get use this on skin! And just after a month with hardly 2-3 uses!!

 

Let me add - I love ELF and I love many of their products; but this aint one of them! I think if you are looking for a low cost eyeliner pen, Essence cosmetics has much better options!

Lip stains to avoid – NYC Smooch Proof 16HR Lip Stain in Forever Mine Wine and e.l.f. Essential Lip Stain in Berry Blush

Lip stains to avoid – NYC Smooch Proof 16HR Lip Stain in Forever Mine Wine and e.l.f. Essential Lip Stain in Berry Blush

Today I am reviewing 2 lip stains from 2 popular drugstore brands – NYC [New York Cosmetics] and ELF [Eyes Lips Face].  I love both these brands and most of their products, but these lip stains are a no-no for me.

Lip stain is a trend that got major publicity with Benefit & their famous Benetint; Revlon followed with the much loved Just Bitten Balm Stains and then there are many Korean products inspired by the Ulzzang gradient lips [not a fan of this trend, looks weird to me]. The concept was to avoid layers of product like with lipstick or gloss but at the same time get the color you want resulting in a very natural 'stained' look.

I like lip stains as a product type but not every brand offers a great one; check my review of Joe Fresh's Lip stain in Berry here http://makeupandbeautytalk.blogspot.ca/2014/01/review-swatches-joe-fresh-lip-tint-in.html . The worst lip stain product type as far as I am concerned are, the ones that look like Sketch Pens – yet to find one that actually works.

NYC Smooch Proof 16Hr Lip stain [ http://newyorkcolor.com/products/lips/lipcolor/smooch-proof-16hr-lip-stain ] in Forever Mine Wine [approx. $4.99, may vary on sales] looks exactly like a berry colored sketch pen I once had. The color of the stain matches the color of the casing. I like the handy design and the idea of getting very contoured lips with precision tips like you do with felt tip eye liners. This is very easy to use – Shake once or twice before using and apply 1^st along the lip contours to define the lips and then fill in the color. It works very similar to a lip pencil. The problem is with the color intensity – it applies very patchy and it is difficult to get a very even colored look. Also there are no words to describe how dried up this feels on lips – should be a nightmare product for dry skinned ladies. The color is a very pretty berry pink shade and can easily give nice tint perfectly suitable for winter – if you can manage to get an even color! That is my problem with this product- it is supposed to be easy to use, instead it makes life difficult with patchy colors. Also, don't expect 16hrs, don't even expect 8hr – the best you can hope for [unless you don't plan to talk, drink or eat] is 3-4hrs. W.r.t other factors, this has no sharp scent, no discernible taste and does not irritate skin.

NYC - Left, ELF -Right 1

ELF Essential Lip Stain in Berry Blush ($2.00 approx) is even more of a fail than NYC – at least NYC lip stain had some color! This is a more reddish berry tint and would have been a nice lip color if it was more pigmented.  I got 2 uses out of this product and even then it was so sheerly tinted that it look around 3-4 swipes to get a decent color. I really can't understand why ELF brought out this product unless they felt that they didn't want to be left out of the whole 'tinted lip' game. The design is pretty similar to NYC but smaller sized. As with NYC smooch proof, this also doesn't have any scent or taste, does not irritate skin and dries lips pretty badly. Application gives a patchy color and doesn't last more than 2 hours. 

On Top – ELF Berry Blush [look how faded it looks!]  Bottom – NYC Forever Mine Wine

Summing up:

Pros of both lip stains:

1. Handy packaging – casing shows color of the product making it easier to select
2. Low price – both are drug store brands
3. Non scented, non-irritant, no bad taste

Cons:

1. Useless products  if you are looking for a stain that lasts more than 5-6 hours
2. Makes lips dry
3. Color applies very patchily

Overall: I wouldn't recommend these sketch pen type of lip stain- including Revlon's Just Bitten Lipstain+Balm, this type is a disaster and can easily put a newbie off lip stains for life! I recommend trying a liquid gloss-type version if you are looking to try lightweight lip stains – especially like Etude House's Fresh Cherry Tint. Another option is the chubby pencil or lip crayon type like Revlon's Just Bitten Balm Stains, Jordana Twist & Shine lippies etc that gives a 'lip-balm+stain' effect to lips. Both NYC and E.L.F has so much better products for the same price – so if you are looking for lip products from these brands, try NYC's liquid lip shines or ELF's mineral lipsticks.

Check my blog at - http://makeupandbeautytalk.blogspot.com/

Reviews: Avon ExtraLasting Mascara and E.L.F Lengthening and Defining Mascara

Today I am reviewing 2 mascaras - ELF Lengthening and Defining mascara and Avon Extra Lasting Mascara.

ELF Lengthening and Defining Mascara came as part of a set I purchased earlier. I got the Avon Mascara from India. To be honest, mascaras are not a favorite product of mine. I know I may sound weird – a makeup lover who doesn’t like Mascara!! But although I do try to get along with one, I find mascaras hard to use- not because I don’t like the effect but because for some reason it triggers my migraine.
I don’t know if it’s a reaction to the chemicals or if it’s something else, maybe I need to find a light weight mascara.In the meantime, I use my kajal stick to give a color to my lashes.

ELF’s mascara tube is narrower than Avon and most other brand mascaras I’ve seen.
I have used this 3-4 times but after that the formula dried up & I found it difficult to apply.
There are so many negative reviews about this mascara but to be honest, I kind of like it for a daily use [if it didn’t dry up so fast!].
The wand is a typical spiral wand and gives a very natural darkened lash look on applying a single deep coat.
The problem starts when you try a second coat to make it a bit more dramatic.
It starts clumping and goes all weird.

The color is jet black but this is not waterproof so don’t apply if you are going for a family movie!
Didn’t experience any irritation and for $1, I think this is an okay mascara.
Overall, liked this but don’t love it.

Avon’s Extra Lasting Mascara has a nice package design with Red lettering over the case.
I like the wand – it gives a very clump free application.
I only wish that the formula didn’t make my lashes so stiff that I worried that it might break like a cracker if I touched it! It did make my lashes look longer and fuller but the feeling that my lashes got starched was pretty uncomfortable.
Since this was waterproof it made the removal a bit difficult and slightly painful.
It also left the roots of my lashes very sensitive.

The color is not jet black, I would say brownish black.
I remember the price was around INR 200 on sale.
Overall, I don’t like this mascara although it does what it promises.

Review and Swatches: E.L.F Mineral foundation in shade Warm

You know when you see the expiry indicator [the one with the number and M sign next to the jar] and think "Yeah, well... how much can it harm if I just miss it by 3-4 months!" ? Well, the answer is - very !
And thanks to E.L.F's Mineral Foundation - the product which taught me this salutary lesson.

Now do not get me wrong- this is not a negative review of this product. In fact, I kind of loved it the 1st 2-3 times I applied it. It gave a beautiful finish ,medium coverage and I think this can be built upon. This product is only 5$ and though its a bit coarser than what I would ideally like, it blended out pretty well. Staying power was again average, around 2-3 hours in warm humid climate in day time and around 4-5 hours at night. Actually this is a great product for summer in India and any other warmer climate region, I should say.

The reason why I didnt use this much was the problem I have with all such jars - the floating effect of powders. It just makes me sneeze if I accidentally open it fast, I cannot use it in a hurry and I cant apply it with fingers like liquid ones. I wish there was an easier package design for such products but I havent seen any yet that doesnt give a messy result if applied in a hurry.

Anyways, I didnt use it much and after around 8-9 months after opening it, I applied it on my face and within 5-10mins my makeup looked greyish ashy color! I immediately cleaned it thinking that I accidentally mixed up my foundation with the black eyeshadow I was wearing. I got the same effect on re-applying and since I didnt suspect the foundation as yet, I put it down to the reaction caused by the hair removal cream I'd used an hour earlier.

When this repeated the next time I used this foundation, I took a good look at it and found that the powder had a slightly congealed look- like flour gone bad. I cannot really blame the product since I used it almost 3-4 months after the expiry date, so I guess you can take this as a message and check the expiry dates very diligently!

Anyways regarding the product, I give a thumbs up - this is a good mineral foundation to try, it has a nice brightening effect on face and doesn't look cakey like powder foundations - all for $5!! This can be applied wet if you mix it with a good moisturizer but I prefer to use my mineral foundations as they are. 

Swatches: E.L.F Complete the look makeup palette eye shadows

I got this beautiful kit from US through Neha, sweet girl I met through IMBB. This is one of my best purchases from abroad and I love the shades here. It has blushers, lip glosses and eyeshadows and I am only swatching the eyeshadows here.

Check ELF website here : http://www.eyeslipsface.com/studio/sets-and-palettes/palettes/complete_the_look_palette

Some of the eyeshadows are really beautiful espl the blues and greens, the blacks not so much and I love the range of light and nude shades for daily wear..

The eyeshadows below are swatched without any primers and they kinda crease easily without primers, but when worn with a decent layer of primers [or even eye creams :)] it lasts for around 3-4 hours, which is good enough!

The blushes are the best part of this palette while the glosses are the ones you can totally avoid!

Thats a swatch fest for another post  :)

You can buy this in India from Jabong [though at a hefty price!] link