Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My ELF collection - part one (pic heavy)

ELF, or e.l.f. or elf, or however you like to write it, has not been easily available in Australia in the past - the US site doesn't ship here. I discovered yesterday that we now have an Australian ELF website, though it's kind of rubbish. Actually, there's no "kind of" about it - it's rubbish. The range is very limited, and the prices - while they may seem super cheap at $3.99 for most products - are almost four times the price of the same item in the US, so it's still the same old gouging going on. You can also buy ELF from Crush Cosmetics, but again the prices are jacked way up and the range is fairly limited. I usually buy mine from Nonpareil Boutique, whose range is getting bigger and bigger all the time.

The thing about ELF is that it's extremely hit and miss. Some products are great (for the price they are, at least), and others are just crap. It's trial and error finding which is which. Anyway, blah blah blah - let's look at some pictures. I was going to do this in one mega post, but it's a bit too much so I'm breaking it up into two.


Eyes

Duo Eyeshadow Cream clockwise from top left: Mocha Swirl, Butter Pecan, Olive.

I want to love these, because the lighter colour in each duo is lovely (the browns are a bit - well - poopy). However, they're crap - they're really greasy and they crease like a mofo a minute after you apply them. Such a shame.

Mocha Swirl

Butter Pecan

Olive

Brightening Eye Color from left: Luxe, Hazy Hazel.

There are a couple of colors in these I  quite like, but nothing I don't have dupes of somewhere. They're not that great - chalky and powdery, though they do come up better with a primer under them. For $1US each, I'm not really bothered that I spent the money on them, but I wouldn't buy any more.

Luxe on bare skin


Luxe over NYX White Eye Base

Hazy Hazel on bare skin

Hazy Hazel over NYX White Eye Base

ELF Studio Eyeshadow in Amethyst.

Now this I like. I had another one somewhere but I can't find it - I probably gave it away in one of my decluttering fits. Anyway, this is a bit murky on bare skin, but wearable - with a primer the color comes up really nicely.

From left: Amethyst on bare skin, over NYX White Eye Base. 

Nails

ELF nail polish from left: Champagne, Punk Purple, Sunset, Berry Pink


Champagne, Punk Purple, Sunset, Berry Pink.

These are like any other cheap nail polish - they're okay, nothing speccy, and they chip on me pretty quickly (though all nail polish chips on me pretty quickly so I'm not holding that against them). I didn't buy any of these - I think they were all given to me by Jacquie. They're not really something I'd buy myself.

7 comments:

  1. agree with you on the cream shadows. they greased up the minutes it's applied. really want to like them because they're so cheap.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, such a shame - they have some really nice colours.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mm, really wanted to see what the cream shadows were like. Now I know not to buy them. Have you had a go at their Studio line Cream Shadows? I'm afraid they'll be greasy and creasy too. Colors look quite nice though...

    ReplyDelete
  4. The colours look real pretty. Pity the formula ain't great.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Saint Jean, I haven't tried the cream shadows - I didn't even know there was such a thing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bought a couple of the cream shadow duos before I saw this post! :(
    I'll give it a go anyways on a casual day out to test drive 'em. Might only be good for a base on the lid before a pat of powder eyeshadow, or for dry/mature eyelids.
    I don't see any Follow link on your blog :(
    Do you have Bloggers or Bloglovin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, I don't know what happened there - the follow thing is there now. Weird!

      However, I no longer update this blog except for very occasional NYX swatches. I have a new one here:

      http://yearofthetightarse.blogspot.com.au/

      Delete