So a wee while ago I finally placed an E.L.F. order from the UK site (and mistakenly thought it was coming from inside the UK) and had to patiently wait for the two brushes and two of these eyeshadows to show up.
**Side note - I'm not going to do a separate review of the brushes, but I got Pointed Powder and Flawless Face Brushes and they are top notch. I love them both. They are maybe a tiny bit smaller than I expected, they're both maybe comparable to the Real Techniques blush brush, but well worth the £7.50 they each cost **
So E.L.F. or Eyes Lips Face are a U.S. based makeup brand, completely cruelty free, and very affordable. Right now they are available direct from their website (UK or USA), through Superdrug and through some other bigger online retailers. I'm not sure if they're coming into Superdrug stores or not but I hope they do so I can go and swatch and play with things. They only announced they were coming to Superdrug within the past week or so, so if I'd been patient I could have just ordered from their and gained points too. Once they arrived and I'd had about a week to play with them, I decided I really liked them and when I was placing a LuxPlus order decided to pick up the other two colours they had available.
 |
| Top to Bottom: Liquid Gold, Molten Bronze, Rose Gold and Brushed Copper |
According to ELF's website "Wash this hydrating liquid eyeshadow over lids for a vibrant, metallic look (and an irresistible cooling effect). The formula is infused with Purified Water and Vitamin E to help hydrate". They retail for £5 each and are available in six shades, I have four of them.
So what do I think about them...
Packaging
They come in these tubes that I keep likening to lip gloss or liquid lipstick, but, in actual fact, are exactly the same as cream concealers. They are plastic but they have a nice amount of weight to them and don't feel cheap at all. I also really like the blue caps, I think they signify the Aqua Beauty range or something.
Application
So these come with a doe-foot wand, exactly the same as cream concealer, and that's what I use to apply them, although I guess you could wipe it on your finger and then apply with your finger tips or a brush. I actually like using the doe-foot, and I didn't think I would. It makes application really quick, which is great as I'm so lazy with makeup in the morning, but its not super precise, especially in the crease area. So if you want to do some super sharp cut crease look, I would recommend dabbing a brush onto the wand and using that instead.
 |
| Top to Bottom: Liquid Gold, Molten Bronze, Rose Gold and Brushed Copper |
How do they wear?
The first time I tried them, not very well. Every time since then they've been amazing though.
So the first time I wore these I wasn't really sure what I was doing as I hadn't ever used a product like this before, so I wouldn't take my one bad day to mean these are bad. I didn't prime my eyelid, applied a tiny bit of a soft, matte brown coloured powder shadow in my crease, wapped a bit of these on my eyelid and went about my day. That day was really hot and I was incredibly busy, squinting at computer screens and then trying to avoid the sun, and by the end of it my eyelids were a mess. It was creased by about 3pm and I was gutted, luckily I have hooded lids so the bunching up could only really have been seen if I closed my eyes.
 |
| Top to Bottom: Liquid Gold, Molten Bronze, Rose Gold and Brushed Copper |
Day two I decided to try again. This time I primed my whole lid with the original Urban Decay primer potion, put in my crease colour and applied the shadow. I then let it set for 10-20 seconds before very gently blending a tiny bit of my crease colour just along the edge of the shadow, to set it fully.
It did not budge all day. No creasing or fading and it looked amazing. Like I'd put in ten times the effort I had. I've tried this way of applying with the Bronze, Copper and Rose Gold, and it worked really well with all of them. The only reason I've not tried it with the Yellow Gold colour is I'm not sure if I'd like it on me or not. I'm quite cool toned and I'm not sure how it would look. Its also not nearly as opaque as the others and I don't know how many coats it would need to make it really pop.
I also know that Rose Gold and Brushed Copper look sheer in those swatches but they were done with only one coat and they do layer really nicely. Two layers of rose gold on the lid and then some really black winged liner looks amazing. I've tried liners from both ends of the spectrum over them too, Collection and Illamasqua and both applied fine and lasted amazingly, although the Illamasqua Precision Ink liner looked far better over the top (precise liquid verses clunky felt tip though).
Final thoughts
So overall I would give these a 8 out of 10, with there best points being their longevity, how easy they are to apply and the value for money. Probably the worst points are that the lighter colours are a little sheer, and that there's not a great color selection (the four "molten metals", a dark grey and a lilac). I would love to see a dark bottle green and navy blue in the same formulas as the bronze one, that would be so nice.
I would happily recommend these to anyone looking for a gorgeous, easy to apply, eyeshadow that packs a punch.
xoxo Scruffy
No comments:
Post a Comment