Elf Mini-Haul

• Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF15 – Watermelon
• Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick – Flirty & Girly
• Mineral Infused Face Primer – Translucent
• Mineral Eyeshadow – Caffeinated
• Clarifying Pressed Powder – Ivory
• Tone Correcting Powder
• Stipple Brush 84015
• Blushing, Bronzing & Blending Brush 1805
• Concealer Brush 1824

Hello my darlings!

I love ELF (Eyes, Lips, Face) as it offers some great high-quality products at incredibly reasonable prices. I paid their website a visit the other day and just could not help ordering a few of their amazing products. I ended up with quite a few items but I still have my eye on the Daily Brush Cleaner, the Brush Shampoo and the Corrective Concealer – I may have to pay them another visit soon! Here are a few of my first impressions of all the products I ordered:

I love the Chubby Lip Sticks from Clinique (here) so when I saw the Jumbo Lip Gloss Sticks on ELF I knew I had to test them out. I went for the colour Flirty & Girly which is a purple-pink shade. I really like this product as it gives a relatively matte finish with a slight glossy look. There is a touch of shimmer which I would prefer not to be there, but it is subtle. The colour is slightly lighter on application than you would expect but it is still beautifully vibrant. I think I still prefer the product from Clinique but for a cheaper alternative I would recommend this product from ELF.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Caffeinated Mineral Eye Shadow. I thought I was going to hate it when I opened the packaging because it looked incredibly shimmery, but on application it is actually quite matte. The product is a powder to begin with but when you apply it to you skin it becomes more of a cream-like consistency. It is a beautiful colour and I will most certainly be repurchasing this product. The only grumble that I have about this eye shadow is the packaging, because you have to shake the powder out onto your hand before you can use it. I would much prefer an open pot, in which I could dip my eye shadow brush.

I’ve wanted to try the ELF Mineral Infused Primer in Translucent for a while now but it always seemed to be sold out when I went online. On application the primer feels silky to the touch and leaves your skin feeling incredibly smooth. The product promises to reduce redness but I didn’t notice much difference in this respect. The primer also comes in other colours, such as green to further correct redness, which may be more successful at correcting skin tone than the translucent primer. My make-up applied evenly and smoothly over the primer, and stayed in place all day. Overall, I would recommend this primer but I would advise considering the other colour variations if you want it to target redness or generally even skin tone.

The Clarifying Pressed Powder is a throw-in-your-bag type of product. I would not use the powder in my morning make-up regime but it is perfect to use as a powder to touch up any shine that may appear throughout your day.

I am really disapponted with the Tone Correcting Powder. It doesn’t seem to noticeably even skin tone and the powder sits quite heavily on the skin so that it looks slightly caked on. ELF also do a concealer (find it here) in the same colour palette but they are more creamy than the Tone Correcting Powder, which I think I will be trying next.

I am in rather desperate need of some new make-up brushes as mine are most certainly on their last legs. Although I think MAC brushes are probably my favourite I really begrudge spending that much, so I have been on the hunt for alternatives at a more reasonable price. My friend recommended Real Techniques and Zoeva, but when I saw the above brushes on ELF I thought I would check them out. All of the brushes were incredibly soft but I still have mixed feelings about them. I was disappointed with the stipple brush as it was not effective in applying my foundation and it did not hold the powder well when I was trying to apply my blusher. However, this brush was good at blending my blusher after I had applied it with a different brush. The Bronzing/Blusher brush is an average brush. It applies blusher perfectly well and the slanted edge allows you greater control, but it is not the best brush I have used nor is it the worst. At such a low price I would recommend this brush as a good budget buy but it is not anything to write home about. I love the concealer brush – it is perfect! It is definitely my star buy from this ELF mini-haul.

During April if you spend £15 or more you will receive two free gifts; my two free items were the lip gloss and the eye-shadow.

Check out ELF here.

Have you tried any Elf products lately? What is your favourite budget beauty brand? What brands would you like to see a review of?

Lots of Love,

Hannah xx