Thursday, November 25, 2010

Modest e.l.f. Haul

Tempted by the recent Oxford Jasmine's video featuring her collection of e.l.f. products, I decided to place my first order with the company to try some goodies I'd been eyeing for the longest time (especially their Studio line brushes and mineral lipsticks).


First off, I have a little rant regarding my order: before placing it, I scoured the interwebs trying to find a coupon to save on shipping, which was more or less 40% of the total price of my order. Alas, none of them worked, so I resigned to paying full price ($6.95 FYI). Who knew that about 2 hours after the order has gone through, e.l.f. would send me a coupon code for 25 cents shipping? That really pissed me off.

Another thing that pissed me off was that it took 13 days for my order to arrive. It was packed and shipped 6 days after placing the order and then took another 7 to deliver. I ordered a palette from Hong Kong about the same time and it arrived earlier. I mean, e.l.f., really? 13 days?!

These difficulties aside, I'm quite happy with my goodies as only one item turned out to be crappy. Here's what I got and my initial thoughts:

1. e.l.f. Flat Top Powder Brush ($3)
Number one on my wishlist. I agree with everything that's been said so far about this brush. It is pretty amazing. I haven't washed it yet, so I can't say anything about that, but it being made of taklon should guarantee great results with both powder and cream formulas. It's also dense and stiff enough to help blend cream and liquid foundations in nicely. Get yourself one of those if you don't have it already!


2. e.l.f. Mineral Lipstick in Rosy Raisin ($5)

Again, I've heard so many good things about e.l.f. Mineral Lipsticks that I just had to try one. First of all, I really like the design of a cardboard box it came in: simple and elegant and much more luxurious feeling than the usual e.l.f. plastic packaging. The formula of the lipstick is a bit harder and more waxy than most of the lipsticks I own, which also means the pigmentation is more on the sheer side, but buildable. I don't think it's a bad thing though: the lipstick gives a very natural, soft effect, wears for quite a long time and doesn't dry my lips out. The shade I chose, Rosy Raisin, is the perfect neutral lip color for me - a brownish pink with no shimmer. I imagine it becoming a staple in my collection.

3. e.l.f. Liquid Eyeshadow in Sultry Satin ($1)
Unfortunately, there's nothing sultry about this product. While the champagne shade looks promising in the packaging, in transfers on the lid as a patchy, chunky glittery mess with no pigmentation. The only good thing I can say about this is that it dries quickly and stays put. I'll be passing this one to the younger members of the family.


4. e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss in Flirt ($1)
I quite like this sheer peachy pink. A bit sticky and not the most long-lasting, but I like the brush-on applicator and vanilla-candy scent. I'd be definitely more inclined to repurchase the e.l.f. lip gloss rather than its Clinique equivalent (Vitamin C Lip Smoothie Antioxidant Lip Colour) retailing for $17.50.


5. e.l.f. Custom Eyeshadow in Moondust ($1)
Smooth and pigmented brownish taupe. For your enjoyment, I've swatched it beside MAC Satin Taupe and Inglot no. 402 Pearl eyeshadows - it's a touch more brown than the MAC shadow and a bit darker than the Inglot one. But still, pretty close, and the cheapest of the bunch too.

Given my experience, my advice for online shopping at e.l.f. would be to 1) definitely wait for some decent coupon codes, 2) shop very cautiously and not be fooled by low prices. And that's the moral to this haul, lovely blogettes :) Happy Thanksgiving weekend! x

10 comments:

  1. Great advice and nice haul!! :))

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  2. Thank you, hun! I was just thinking both of these lip products are more like your shades, I usually go for something bolder :) x

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  3. I have a tip..avoid shipping all together and pick them up at the Target at The Landing in Renton! I haven't found the extended line at any location other than that one..but they do have the studio line as well as the normal one...:) x

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  4. Sorry about the shipping cost and they often take a long time when it comes to delivery. That's just how they are.

    Rosy Raisin looks lovely on your skin tone and I like that gloss too.:D

    ***** Marie *****
    allthingsmarie.com

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  5. @fantastic: I've seen some bits and bobs in Target in Factoria, but nothing I wanted to try (plus the prices were quite a bit higher). I'll have to check the Rention location though! Thanks for heads up :) x

    @Marie: I guess I wouldn't have been so annoyed if I knew that in advance! Thanks, sweetie x

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  6. Haha. I love your rant about how long they took to get to you! Though do agree, 13 days! Why so long?!

    http://emmalondonuk.blogspot.com

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  7. I guess Marie is right, it's just how they are. Another interesting thing is they just sent me an email for Black Friday with the subject line: '50% off + free shipping!'. Well, it turns out, it's buy one get one 50% off, meaning it's in fact 25% off, and the free shipping is only on orders above $30. I hate such misleading marketing practices.

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  8. I have a feeling that the elf in the US is separate to elf UK. I think it's like a franchise. I've certainly not had problems with slow delivery in the UK. Two weeks is poor considering you paid almost 40% on your shipping!

    I do think elf has some gems though. I really like Rosy Raisin. I really like their HD powder too. You have reminded me that I meant to order the flat top brush. The eyeshadow looks very pretty too.
    Jane x

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  9. I think it must be separate... such a shame we don't have the lovely Oxford Jasmine here!

    I like the lipstick a lot too and I also mean to try the powder at some point. Also, they just came up with a new set of eco brushes, I'd love to try those! But I guess generally speaking, their Studio and Mineral lines are better quality then the original $1 range...

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  10. Good job! I'm waiting for my first elf products right now! Among them is the Rosy Raisin lipstick. I've been looking around for a neutral everyday lipstick. So thanks for the picture, it's nice to see how it looks like on cute lips as yours :)

    Love
    klumpelil.blogspot.com

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