A short review... ELF products

ELF (eyes lips face) is a cosmetic company that is giving high end items a run for their money. ELF is extremely cheap, easy to find (Target carries many items) and although some items are hits and some are misses, you never lose too much. I have yet to spend over $3 for any one item, including the brushes.

My review is going to be a short one, but I'll get to the other items as I use them more and can give feedback after numerous uses to give each one a fair chance.

Today, the first item I'm going to review is ELF's High Definition Powder in "clear". It is a decent sized product that should last quite a while - net weight is .28 oz and for loose powder it seems pretty big. I've been told you can use it before applying your foundation, but since I use mostly liquid foundation, I use it last, over my foundation and blush. This item is absolutely spectacular, I must say. I have issues w/ oil production, especially in my "t-zone". The first time I used the High Definition Powder, I thought, "what is with companies calling products 'high def' now?" Not sure what exactly that means, but what I do know is this STOPPED my face from becoming oily for hours on end. I applied it one afternoon at about 5:30 p.m., went out at 8 and I figured at about 10 I should make a run for the "powder room" and touch up. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not need a touch up. At all. My face looked fresh and was not in the least bit cakey. It had not settled into my pores and it did not look like I had powder applied. Some powders make you look very matte, which to be honest, I like. I've been kind of digging the "glowing" look though and hoping I could find something that provided that w/o making me look like I had an oil slick going on. This is it. It usually runs $6, but if you sign up on E.L.F.'s website, they will send out notifications when they have half off their studio product line. So, for $3, this absolutely can not be beat.

I give it a 10.

The next item for review is E.L.F.'s  eyeshadow "C" brush from their studio line. Normally, these run about $3, again, you can get it for $1.50 when they are on sale. The hairs are soft, somewhat dense and black. I really like that they are black b/c it's harder to see when they get strained from multiple uses with colorful eyeshadow. I washed mine first before use, which I'd recommend doing b/c I've heard sometimes the black will run a little bit from the dye used. This brush is easy to work with for placing shadow on your lid. I wouldn't recommend it for a crease brush, but for packing on shadow onto your upper lid, it works pretty well. The only drawback I could find in using this was the metal that holds the brushes hair sometimes bothered me. I could feel it if I put a little bit of pressure on it while placing it against my lid. Other than that, for the price, this brush does it's job. Definitely a good tool. I bought a couple of them so I'd have more brushes and not have to constantly wash them out to reuse the next day. I'd say the handle could have been a bit shorter but it wasn't really a problem, it's just a preference I have when I compare it to higher end brushes, like my MAC's. The price and quality make this a must have for someone not wanting to dish out too much cash for a shadow brush.

I give it an 8.5 overall.

My final review for today is E.L.F's Waterproof Eyeliner Pen. Regular price is $1.00. It's supposed to be waterproof, of course and easy to work with. Well, sadly, this is not either. It was hard to work with, the line was too thick, uneven and it was not "black" but the color seemed watered down, if you will. It ran (or bled) just a little bit when applying and the line became very uneven. What I was expecting was an actual dark black wet line to go on smoothly and dry quickly, but this required too many swipes and too much work. But hey, it was a buck. I had to try it. I think I should have opted for their liquid eyeliner, which I'm going to order next time and see how that works. This one will sit in my drawer and I'll probably let my daughter play with it. 

I'd give it a 3

Thanks for reading! Hope this helps. More to come soon. I made a HUGE E.L.F. order recently and have been playing with the products more each day.