elf Cosmetics Haul / Brand Review

I haven't tried any elf products for ages, but they had a few offers on recently which meant that I couldn't resist putting in an order or two. I really wanted to try out a few of their skincare and primer products, which I have never tried before. The Pore Toner Balm (£7.50) caught my eye as I have never used toner in a balm form before. Have you? This is kind of a lazy girls product as I don't even have to dampen a cotton pad. Result. It has a lovely cooling effect which I really like. The Natural Glow Lotion (£9) with Aloe in Brightening Rose is one of those "YouTube Made Me Buy It" products (I think it was Jessica Braun (JAM Beauty89). It gives a lovely glow to my skin when used under foundation and gave me a lovely dewy look. The Hydrating Face Primer (£7.50) is great to use on my dry skin to keep my skin feeling moisturised under foundation. This is a silicone primer. Finally, the Prep & Hydrate Balm (£9) is another stick balm that stops my skin feeling dry. All these products helped me achieve a dewy look and left my skin feeling super hydrated. Overall, I really liked these products. They aren't super cheap, but elf always have free gift offers on that make for a better deal.

I bought a couple of the long lasting lustrous eyeshadows in Toast (a shimmery gold colour) and Soiree which is a metallic berry colour. They are a bargainous $3 each, but are sadly only available on the US website. They have a mousse like texture, so they are really easy to apply with your fingers. I applied them over the Shadow Lock Eyelid Primer (£3). I have oily eyelids, but the shadows stayed put on my eyelids. I also bought some Line & Define Eye Tape (£3) which really help with applying eyeshadow and liner on my hooded eyelids.

There are some great brow products which are also great value. The Ultra Precise Brow Pencil in Neutral Brown is very similar to my Anastasia Brow Wiz, but is much cheaper (£6). The Brow Pencil in the same shade is softer and has a thicker tip, but still works well (£3). Both of these products have spoolies on the other end. I really liked the wax pencil that you can apply over the brow pencils to tame those stray hairs that stick out (well mine do anyway). This worked perfectly and did not smudge my brows. I got the clear version, but only the tinted version appears to be available on the UK (and US websites) costing £4.50.

I haven't tried the Naked Prism Eyeshadow Palette as I gave it to my sister, but it had some lovely neutral colours, so would be great for travel. I paid £10 for it, but it's currently on sale for a bargainous £3.20. The Hydrating Under Eye Primer is great for moisturising that delicate area around your eyes, before applying concealer. It normally costs £4.50, but is currently on sale for £1.44. Finally, the Makeup Lock & Seal (was £4.50, now £1.44) is a useful product for those of us with oily eyelids and hooded eyelids that struggle with creasing eyeshadow. You simply add a couple of drops of the liquid product to the mini container that's included and dampen the brush with it, then mix it with the eyeshadow and apply it as normal with the brush. It helps to lock in the makeup and increases the intensity. It definitely helped to prevent my eyeshadow creasing up.

I'm not sure why I bought the Clear Lip Lacquer as who needs another clear gloss but to be honest I used it over the Matte Lip Color in Berry Sorbet and it made a lovely coloured lip gloss. It went over the lip color really well without messing up the application and it looked great. This is currently reduced from £3 to 96p. I also liked the Berry Sorbet colour as a matte lip colour as well. This is currently reduced from £4.50 to £1.44.

The Lip Exfoliator in clear and rose are great products that you just apply like a lipstick and massage in circular motions and then remove with a cotton pad soaked with water. The first time I used the rose one I dampened my lips like it instructs you to and it didn't really do anything. I tried again with dry lips and it worked like a treat. I'm not sure why one is clear and one is rose as I can't really see any difference when it's applied and it doesn't smell any different (but that may be my rubbish sense of smell). This product is currently reduced from £4.50 to £1.44 although I can't find the clear one online.

One thing I wanted to highlight was that elf does has a tendency to over package products and the lip exfoliator is a great example of this. First of all does a lip exfoliator really need a box? Second of all does said box need to be double the size of the products? The answer to both is NO! I would like to see makeup companies use way less packaging in the future, Wouldn't you?

I am really pleased with the items I bought from elf. I really enjoyed trying them all and the prices are pretty decent, so I would buy from them again. This is a cruelty free brand and they use ingredients that are paraben free. Let me know if you have any recommendations?