For today, instead of talking about me, per say, I'm going to review a product I've come to love, even though I've only purchased it a few weeks ago.
As a wife on a very tight budget, who also is a little in love with make up, it's hard for me to justify buying something for myself unless I either have a coupon or have found a really good deal on it. That's what happened when I found Eyes Lips Face make up.
I'm really shocked that I was just now hearing about it, since, as Ursula put it, "I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain." I pride myself on my excellent ability to shop around and find the best price. I watch for sales, coupons and will even wait for something to maybe go on clearance before I even think about purchasing it. For this, I both thank and blame my mother.
There have been things that I've really wanted, but due to my frugal ways, I've missed out on it. But, I take that as a sign that I didn't really need it in the first place.
Anyway, I was on one of my favorite deals pages http://www.woot.com/ and saw someone post a coupon code for E.L.F. I'd never heard of it before, so interested, I hopped over to the page. When I saw just how inexpensive everything was, I was both concerned and very interested.
I began my research on it in a way that anyone would, by Googling it. The ELF website had reviews from customers, but I wanted to see if there were any complaints that weren't posted. I felt very confident in purchasing a few products, knowing that if I didn't like what I bought, it would only be 15 bucks down the drain. And with the coupon code 'Carolina' I was able to save half off my purchase, so the 6.95 for shipping wasn't a bad thing with what I was saving with the coupon.
I ordered one therapeutic conditioning balm in vanilla, nail polish removal pads, the blending eyeshadow brush, the Natural Radiance Blusher in Coy, slant tweezers, Super Glossy Lip Shine SPF 15 in Candlelight, nail polish in Nude, Chocolate, and Mint Cream, the dual pencil sharpener, the quad eyeshadow in Brownstone, the Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 in Ivory, the concealer in Ivory, the eyeshadow duo in Berry mix and the Eyelid Primer for a grand total of 14.95, with half off the normal price. For all the I received, I couldn't pass up the price.
We'll start with the nail polish. The colors, all true to the website, are beautiful, albeit thin. The Mint Cream is a little closer to blue than green and the Nude looks best with a single coat, though it does take a few coats to get a nice even layer with the bright colors. It can get a little chunky in the bottle, but if you shake it a few times, it's not bad. I would HIGHLY recommend putting on a top coat, so to make the paint last longer and to help with the fact that the polish chips fairly easily. This product lasts only a few days without a top coat, but it can last up to two weeks with one on.
Chocolate, Mint Cream, and Nude
Three coats, two coats, and one coat of polish
Three coats of polish with a top coat.
The tinted moisturizer was one of the things I had been looking for, with the summer approaching. I don't like the heavy feel of foundation in the summer, so I usually wear a tinted moisturizer when it's hot. I now wear this product frequently, in love with the way it feels and smells. I know the whole smell thing is a little weird, but this product has a unique smell of sweet oranges, which makes it even better on. It goes on light, stays on all day and leaves you feeling fresh. The color is almost as light as the makeup feels, but gives me just enough coverage to make my skin even. I put it on and was outside all day in the sun and didn't burn at all! I didn't even need to put additional sunscreen on at all during the day. I also recommend this product as well.
Top is the Eyelid Primer, middle is the moisturizer, and the bottom is the Tone Correcting Concealer.
The little dot in the moisturizer and the shiny next to it is it rubbed in, nice and clear.
The Tone Correcting Concealer is a great product, but takes a second coat to really provide good coverage. While it isn't thin, it just needed a little more product to correct my redness. It has the same sweet orange smell as the moisturizer, which is very unique to the ELF line. I love it and will use it in conjunction with the tint above.
The first is the concealer, the shiny spot is it rubbed in.
The conditioning balm in vanilla is as amazing product much like Softlips, but with a shine. It goes on smooth and lasts long enough to only need a coat or two every few hours. It's not too thick that it clumps and no so thin that it won't stay on. It's kissable and even with the slight shine, my husband doesn't feel so bad using it. And for a dollar price, I prefer it to Softlips. I will make a point to order another one the next time I place an order.
The radiance blusher in coy is a darker than I usually go, but it's still very pretty. I will be sending this off to my mother, who prefers the darker shades of blush. But I still enjoy the consistency of the product and how bright it is on the cheeks. I'll order a different color next time, but I would recommend the product itself.
The Eyelid Primer is a wondrous find for anyone who loves the more expensive products like Eyeshadow Primers from Urban Decay or Smashbox. You need very little product to really get the entire lid covered with product. I only dip the brush once for both eyes. I actually prefer this to Urban Decay's product, which I used fairly often. For a dollar, this product is a steal, and works better than anything I've ever used as a primer. Although it doesn't have the same sweet orange smell, you use so little of it that you don't even notice the makeupy smell.
The first is eyeshadow with the primer first, the second in shadow with no primer and above that is the primer by itself.
The eye shadows, both the quad and the duo, have brightly colored pigment that lasts an incredibly long time. With a primer, I wore the shadows without any creasing or major loss of color. The colors, after 6 hours of wear, were still what they had been when I originally put them on. Can be used either wet or dry, depending on the look you are going for.
Last, but not at all least, are the tools, including the tweezers, blending brush, sharpeners and nail polish pads. The slant tweezers are better than any I've tried in the past and for the price, once they aren't sharp you can toss them and by another pair. The blending brush does exactly what it says, though I don't know how it differs from the more expensive three dollar version. The nail polish remover pads are AMAZING! They smell like heaven, without the horrible awful distinct acetone. Although only one pad per hand is about all the use you can get, they work as well as any thing else I've used. They are great, but you don't get enough. Again, for a dollar, you can always order more!
The best thing about ELF is the pretty much flat rate prices across the board. The normal line is a dollar, with the studio collection 3 dollars and the mineral collection 5 dollars. I've only tried the normal line, but my next purchase will be of some of the mineral line. I'm interested to see if the coverage is similar to that of Bare Minerals.
Whether you are on a budget or not, this stuff is worth buying. And with the plentiful number of emails from the company once you do buy, the deals never end. You can always get a good deal from Eyes Lips Face, but when you sign up for their website, you can make a good deal even better.
