My recent ELF haul

I haven't ordered from ELF in quite a while, mostly because I only order when there is a promotion on Facebook, and I haven't visited it until about two weeks ago. The Mother's Day promotion (free shipping) caught my eye and I started filling my virtual basket immediately. I feel kind of guilty that nothing in my order was actually for my mum- but then my mum doesnt use anything except a bit of lipstick and black eyeliner, and I have already given her eyeliner as a present.

One of the first items I have decided to buy was the famous ELF HD Powder- I heard many glowing reviews about its airbrushing, mattifying, pore diffusing properties, and my skin was in dire need of this powders magic, lately it was very temperamental. Dry cheeks with massive pores, oily chin/forehead and sensitivity to most cleansers I used. My go to foundation (Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum) highlighted the patches of dry skin and my mineral foundations(both ELF and Bare Escentuals) looked a bit cakey, so I stopped using these.
I still needed something for light coverage and oil control, and ELF HD seemed to fit the bill perfectly. And who wouldn't say no to a bit of airbrush in a pot, as I have heard someone describe it as?

I like the way its packaged - its simple and it looks far more expensive than the price tag would suggest. The little puff is well made and  the ribbon is securely attached to it. I use the puff to pat some powder on my face and then buff it in with my Bare Escentuals little brush. The powder itself is white and very, very fine- at first it looks like you dusted a bit of flour on your face, but as you start blending it into the skin it dissapears.
It mattified my t-zone easily, and I think it made my pores look less like holes in swiss cheese. It didn't get rid of them and give me a porcelain doll look, but my skin looked a lot better if not flawless. Would I buy this again? Yes, because it performs well and does the job for me, without a hefty price tag.
I also ordered two items from their mineral range- a lipstick in Cheerful Cherry and eyeshadow in Outdoorsy. I adore their eyeshadows (more on that later) annd wanted to buy Outdoorsy for a long time (it was released in US sometime ago, along with four others, but it wasn't carried by Elf UK at the time)- its blackened green base with gold flecks looked awesome in other people's swatches and I thought that it would make a killer liner for green and brown eyes.

Cheerful Cherry the Lipstick has arrived smudged at the top and broken at the base, which left me a bit dissappointed- I quickly emailed ELF customer service and they were very apologetic and told me I could send them the pictures of damaged item rather than send it back, and after I emailed them the photos, they replaced it swiftly- I sent the pics on Thursday afternoon, and received a replacement on Saturday. I was very impressed by their customer service, they were very polite and acted very quickly. The lipstick costs less than my lunch normally does (which is why I call ELF my lunchtime brand sometimes), and I wouldn't have pursued matters further if they didnt reply, but it would still have put me off the brand!
I also ordered two Luscious Liquid Lipsticks, which I consider to be the best lipglosses I ever used, for their soft, moisturising, slightly sticky formula that keeps my lips moisturised and soft. The name is misleading as they are not lipsticks, but they are very pigmented for a lipgloss, and most of their shades are flattering on me
I ordered two of my favourite shades, Cherry Tart- a soft berry colour, followed by Pink Lemonade- a pretty light pink colour with gold shimmer running through.
The last addition to the basket was a lipliner from their regular line, in a vampy, wine red shade called Bitter. Its nothing special as far as lipliners go- medium softness, good pigmentation, average longevity. I liked the fact that it came with its own sharpener, which was very good.
Swatches (please excuse my hairy arms ;)):

From top to bottom- Cherry Tart, Pink Lemonade (I think the gold shimmer particles are just about visible in the picture, but its very subtle on the lips), Bitter and Cheerful Cherry.

Outrageous swatched above. It looks nice enough when dry, but how awesome is it when wet? Freaking sweet, as a certain character would say :P


Overall, ELF impressed me again, this order was full of stuff that ranged from awesome to hot, and I would gladly repurchase most of the items I bought. Sometimes, ELF products can be a miss, and swatches/descriptions on the website are often inaccurate, but its a great value brand that delivers good quality items at a small price tag.