A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from ELF, asking me whether I'd be interested in picking out a couple of products for a review. Obviously, I said yes! As much as I love high end make up and feel like you often do get what you pay for, there is no denying that there are absolute treasures to be found among budget brands if you know what to get. And I'm here to tell you what to get, so let's check it out!
First up, the ELF blush in Candid Coral, €5.
The ELF blush comes in packaging identical to NARS' blushes, which is cool because ELF's products are a LOT more affordable. Candid Coral is a muted peachy coral with a soft, gold toned shimmer and some micro glitter you only see in direct sunlight. It reminded me a bit of one of my favourite blushes, Benefit's Coralista. Let's compare!
While the colours look clearly different in the pan, they are suuuper similar when swatched! Coralista is more pigmented and has more sheen, as you can expect from a €33 product when you compare it to a €5 product, but you can absolutely get the same look out of the ELF blush if you layer it up a bit. Great budget buy!
I love a blush that's on the sheer side, pigmentation-wise, and has a good amount of shine in there, so Candid Coral is a winner for me. It lasts nicely and I still have colour and shimmer on my cheekbones at the end of the day when I wear this one. Thumbs up!
Another blush, but from the ELF baked blush line: Peachy Cheeky, €5.
Baked blushes are such eye candy, right? The shimmer, the swirls of colour, that curve, I love it all. Another warm, rose gold peachy colour - I guess I have a type? But I was most excited when I swatched this because it seemed to be a DEAD ringer for my ALL time favourite blush, Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani's Hush from their blush palette, and I have been searching high and low for a dupe because Hush is limited edition. See for yourself.
Can you tell the difference? Because I sure as hell can't. Of course, they are different in use - Hush is softer, buttery, more powdery, and you only need one swipe of product while ELF's Peachy Cheeky needs a bit of building up, but again, for €5, you really can't complain. I love how the neutral-cool highlight pops on my cheek, it really is the best blush to perk up my face when it needs a healthy glow.
I'm in love! Lasting power is also good, I still see the glow at the end of the day when I take of my makeup.
Another baked ELF product: their baked highlighter in Blush Gems, €5.
Apparently, Blush Gems is a dupe for MAC's Soft and Gentle, and I can definitely see the similarity when I google swatches. However, I don't own Soft and Gentle so I can't compare, but if you do and you're looking for an affordable dupe, this one might just be it.
Blush Gems gives a POPPING champagne highlight (reads more cool toned on my skin tone) that can be used subtly or built up for the effect you see in the pic above. Again, a total stunner product from ELF! I've been using this one a lot over the past week because, duh. It's gorgeous. And once again, lasting power is great.
Now, the ELF mineral infused face primer in clear, €8.
Confession time: I do not generally use a primer. I don't see the point, I've never used a primer that made a huge difference as to how my makeup looked and how long it lasted. However, people keep telling me that primers are awesome, and I've heard many people being super into this ELF primer so I figured I should give it a whirl. Disclaimer: this bottle looks big but it only contains 15ml of product, which is something people have complained about. However, the amount of product is clearly listed so I think that's the buyer's problem.
The primer looks like a clear gel, and I can cover my entire face with one pump. It feels slippery, like silicones, soft and pleasant. Let's see how it performs.
I don't know if I see a real difference, but I did feel one: I needed less foundation on the side of my face that had primer, because the foundation just glides on effortlessly and goes on more smoothly. That's a pretty nice plus if you have an expensive foundation, or one that dries down really quickly. When it came to wear, I didn't notice one side of my face looking better at the end of the day, but I do use a super long wear foundation (Revlon Colorstay) so the difference might be more noticeable with different foundations. I'll have to get back to you on that!
Conclusion: nice product, not a must have for me but it might be for you.
Conclusion: nice product, not a must have for me but it might be for you.
Finally, I picked the ELF High Definition powder, €8 for 8gr.
The powder comes in a rather big and bulky container, with a kind of cheap powder puff. However, those are the only negatives I have to state with regards to this product, because I absolutely love it! The powder is colourless, which is the best way to set your foundation and battle oily skin throughout the day without adding pigment (and cakeyness) to your face. It is also super finely milled, and I apply it with a big face powder brush to set my foundation, leaving my face a bit more mattified, but in the demi-matte way of a velvet finish. You can see the effect in all the face shots featured in this post.
It definitely helps my foundation last longer - I used it with the Guerlain lingerie de peau foundation that tends to get oily on me super quickly, and I had no issues with the foundation anymore. Total winner, go get it!
And that's that, I hope my review was helpful. Any questions or ELF product recommendations: shoot!
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