Alrighty... I've had a little over a week to review some of the e.l.f. products I had purchased...
So far I've tried out the
Studio High Definition Powder, Mineral Blending Brush, and
the
Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, enough to write up a true review.
e.l.f. Studio HD Powder
I really like the packaging. I would never use the powder puff, but it serves as a great barrier to keep powder from slipping between the cracks when closed, I HATE THAT! The texture is ridiculously silky smooth! It is supposed to be great for all skin tones, but I would hesitate to use it on a client with a deeper skin tone than Beyonce (I usually use celebs as references for skin tones, versus foundation #s). It has no coverage whatsoever but it serves great as a "wearing makeup for about 5 hours max" setting powder. I would not recommend it for oily skin, mature skin, a humid environment, or if you plan on breaking into a heavy sweat. It is not oil/moisture absorbent and it tends to settle in even the finest of lines. Overall, it leaves skin with a natural satin finish. I will reach for it for clients that have annoyingly perfect skin, use as a sublte "bridal" cheek highlight, in place of a beauty powder (which I use to keep blush from getting blotchy), and for setting my makeup on any days when I'm only wearing it for a few hours.
It gets 3 out of 5 Moxie kisses and I'm still debating if I'd buy it again.
e.l.f. Mineral Blending Brush
I was happily surprised by this brush! Normally I steer clear of discount priced makeup brushes. I believe finely made makeup brushes, along with their steep prices, pay for themselves in the long run. Just think, the more you have to replace one, the less money you can spend on new stuff! Like I said in my prior post, I ordered it because it appeared to be the little sister to MAC's #222 brush, but when I received it, it was more like the #217. It grabs product well, its made of synthetic brush fibers, its well made (I tried to take it apart under hot running water-I know that's pretty psycho, but if a brush comes apart under that test it sucks), and it has multiple uses. You can use it for detailed powder dusting, nose contouring, concealer, and blending. The handle is not very long (the longer the handle, the easier the blending) so you have to work a little harder on your blending, but it works great for defining and concentrating color in the crease. I think I am going to buy a million more, especially because softer brushes, especially white/cream colored ones, take FOREVER to dry.
It gets 5 out of 5 Moxie kisses and like I said, I'm going to buy a million more!
Mineral Eyeshadow Primer
I was most excited to try the Mineral Eyeshadow Primer. I used the primer 5 separate occasions, we all know I'm a skeptic and I had to put it to the test!
The first time 2 times I applied it with my #252 MAC Brush (the orange larger sized firm bristle brush), big mistake! It has a doe foot applicator (which does nothing in terms of helping you apply it smoothly), so I added three small gobs of it and spread it out with the #252. Both times I used MAC eyeshadow over it, if anything is going to crease or fade you are going to notice most on your eyelids, so besides my other shadows, I packed Melon Pigment (frosty finish) on the lid one day and Brule (satin finish) on the other. Come hour 3 or 4 the creasing began...bOOOoo! I still wanted to keep trying it out because it was easy to blend over and wasn't fast drying nor did it made my eyes look "parched" like Urban Decay's Primer Potion. I figured I had to buckle and use my finger to spread it out (I hate using my fingers around my lid, it makes for premature wrinkles), but I was super surprised the primer smoothed out easily and evenly. Over the next couple of tries I was truly impressed, who would have thought it would work well doing the whole finger thing instead of a brush? I have abnormal eyelids LoL they are extremely sensitive, they tend to be dry towards the inner lid and surface of the brow bone and can get pretty oily in the inner crease. I would recommend this primer for any occasion on eyes that don't tend to get oily, or for combination type of eyelids for days when you won't be in a humid environment or sweating. I absolutely love this for more mature eyes and will be using this on my clients. Its also great because my shadow didn't fade. If I was doing a super colorful and pigmented look, I would layer a creamier primer over it (primarily on the lid). When I used it, the longevity was just as awesome as my "go-to" primer MAC's Paint in Untitled. Best $3 I've ever spent!!
It gets 4.5 out of 5 Moxie kisses and like I said, I'm going to buy a million more!
Sorry about the crappy quality of these pics, my camera was ruined by a Red Bull spill in my purse. *tear* So I had to use my web cam that came standard on my laptop. These were taken in the wee hours of my insomnia-tic mornings, after about 12 hours of wear. I couldn't believe this discount primer lasted!
I like to call this look the "Lazy Smokey Eye" LoL because its so easy and fast to do.
I used these products to create my look:
Face:
MAC Studio Moisture Fix (mixed with)
MAC Micronized Airbrush Foundation
MAC Studio Finish Concealer
e.l.f. Studio HD Powder
Cheeks:
Physicians Formula Powder Palette Bronzer for contouring
MAC Beauty Powder in Blush Of Youth for an "airbrushed" cheek
MAC Blush in Don't Be Shy for color on the apples
Eyes:
e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer
MAC Eyeshadow in Grain (on the lid), Tete-A-Tint (in the crease)
MAC Pigment in Fairylite (brow highlight), Gold Dusk (inner lid)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack as liner, blended into MAC Eyeshadow
in Print (not further into the crease, just to fade)
e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Golden (to soften the outer edges of Blacktrack)
Rimmel Maxx Volume Flash Mascara
MAC #3 Lashes
MAC Fluidline in Dipdown to define my brows
Physicians Formula Powder Palette Bronzer to fill in my brows
Lips:
MAC Viva Glam GaGa Lipstick
Smashbox Lip Gloss in Champagne
 |
| Please ignore both the "Thug Life" pose (was trying to show the majority of the lid) & the half-sucked-in lip (bad habit). Thanks! haha |
I really like the packaging. I would never use the powder puff, but it serves as a great barrier to keep powder from slipping between the cracks when closed, I HATE THAT! The texture is ridiculously silky smooth! It is supposed to be great for all skin tones, but I would hesitate to use it on a client with a deeper skin tone than Beyonce (I usually use celebs as references for skin tones, versus foundation #s). It has no coverage whatsoever but it serves great as a "wearing makeup for about 5 hours max" setting powder. I would not recommend it for oily skin, mature skin, a humid environment, or if you plan on breaking into a heavy sweat. It is not oil/moisture absorbent and it tends to settle in even the finest of lines. Overall, it leaves skin with a natural satin finish. I will reach for it for clients that have annoyingly perfect skin, use as a sublte "bridal" cheek highlight, in place of a beauty powder (which I use to keep blush from getting blotchy), and for setting my makeup on any days when I'm only wearing it for a few hours.
