My first and favourite purchase was the Tone Correcting Powder.
The powder is split into four pastel shades, but comes out translucent on the brush (you can see this in the bottom right picture). It's perfect, makes your skin completely matte, once blended. The mirror is also huge which is really helpful. The powder was only £3.95, and I would buy it again in a heartbeat - it even beats my previous favourite powder, one from Soap and Glory. I would thoroughly recommend this.
One product I'm not too happy with is the HD Blush, in Diva.
This is potentially THE most pigmented product I have ever come across. The tiny drop you can see in the picture turned into what you can see underneath when blended. I have had to redo my whole face makeup on various occasions just because I put too much on - it's really difficult to blend into the skin. When blended perfectly, it looks gorgeous and lasts the whole day, but I can't risk putting it on in the mornings since I don't have the time to redo it in the likely case it will go wrong. I wouldn't recommend this.
I also got a set of 5 blushes, which range from great to abysmal.
The brushes I got (from left to right) were:
- Total Face Brush
- Bronzing Brush
- Brush Comb & Brush
- Defining Eye Brush
- Lip Defining Brush
All the brushes shed easily, are rough on the skin and not great, particularly the face brush. The bronzing brush is pretty good for contour and gives a nice line, and the brow brush is actually pretty good, as is the eye brush. It's particularly great for blending, and picks up a lot of product. The lip brush however picks up next to no product, and as you can see, it frays easier than any of the other brushes. It was £4 for the set, but I think I'll stick with Real Techniques brushes, because even though they're more expensive for even one
brush, it's important to get the brushes right.
Next up I got the liquid eyeliner.
This is AMAZING. The pigmentation is gorgeous, and it makes applying winged eyeliner a dream. It's a great consistency, and the brush is really thin and the perfect width. My only problem is the cheap packaging, and that I think it's going to run out pretty soon, but for 98p, I have no complaints. It's brilliant.
Next up was a Jumbo Lip Pen in Pink Umbrellas.
I like this, but as a lip balm. It claims to glide on like a lipstick (which it does) but that it gives a shine like a lipgloss. Afraid not. It barely comes up, as you'll see on the swatch. It gives a light pink shimmer, but that's the extent of it. The twisting motion that screws the product up has already broken, and the packaging has rubbed off. Not a thumbs up from me.
Next up was the infamous Eyebrow Kit.
I got this in the shade medium, which I think is the right shade for me. The little brush is great, and the mirror is perfectly sized - if I'm honest, I'm too sure how to use it, and therefore I can't give much of an opinion on it, but the consistency of the cream shade on the left and the powder on the right seems great. If anyone has experience using this, please let me know!
I've crammed the next few products into one picture to save time for you and me, but this is the Brow and Eyelash Clear Mascara, the Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon and the Long lasting LUSTROUS eyeshadow...
The brow and lash mascara is great - for £1.95 I'd definitely recommend it - my eyebrows are crazy but it manages to more or less tame them. As a mascara for your lashes, it doesn't make that much of a difference.
As for the eyeshadow, it's not pigmented, and I wouldn't use it all over my lids, but for the inner corner I can imagine it working quite well, although not for much more.
The eyeliner crayon is certainly waterproof, and impossible to take off - does anyone know if you can use this in the waterline? It doesn't glide on that easily which is why I think it would be better in the waterline.
And finally, the Essential Makeup Collection. The thing that truly made me broke.
So, that was all from my huge haul - what are your favourite and least favourite things from ELF? Let me know!
