e.l.f. Reviews, Pt. 1

Hello!

Hope everyone had a nice Monday and that your computer didn't freeze up from all of the pictures in the last post. I sure hope not, because we have a lot again for this post! =)
*To save room in this post, please reference the swatches in the previous post*
**REMEMBER click to enlarge! =)**

Yesterday I tried to maximize the amount of e.l.f. products I could wear on my face. Here is a pic of what all I piled on:

























Corrective Concealer Palette
Eyelid Primer
Plumping Lip Glaze
Nail Polish
Tinted Moisturizer
Natural Radiance Blusher
Studio Under Eye Concealer and Highlighter
Essentials Brightening Eye Color
Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder
High Definition Powder (not pictured)
Liquid Liner in Plum (not pictured)

Full face:

Face~ without HD powder

























Face~ with HD powder























First of all, let's discuss the high definition powder.
On the second picture, your eye probably went immediately to the right side where you can obviously see the powder. This wasn't noticeable in the mirror, but for some reason the flash really showed it. Eek! After a quick once-over with my fluffy face brush to collect any extra powder, this went away. (Mostly.)

This comes with a fluffy poof applicator, (which I LOVE!) but I'm wondering if a brush application would be better than with the poof.. hmm..

Poor Nicole Kidman though.. she had to figure this out the hard way. =(


























You know, you'd think that celebrity make-up artists would take a flash-picture as their final step in the make-up routine... just to make sure. Aww.

Anyhow~ this powder has the same effect at Make Up For Ever's HD powder, with one big exception: MUFE's stays put all friggin' day. When you apply it, or even just test it on your hand, it almost leaves a silky film that really lasts, in a good way! e.l.f.'s didn't have this feeling and faded after a few hours.

Also, both HD powders promise to be invisible and not change the color of the make-up underneath it. In real life it is undetectable, but as you can see in my picture, it lightens your face. So odd to me!


Tinted Moisturizer!

(See pictures above~)

I was pleased with this tinted moisturizer. I wanted to test it out as a true tinted moisturizer, so I didn't apply any lotion/primer/anything before putting this on. It was very hydrating- possibly too much for oily skin- but for my combo/oily skin it quenched any dry spots. Though, it did feel a bit heavy at first.. it almost oxidizes some after a few minutes and then that feeling is pretty much gone. Like magic! For a tinted moisturizer, it really has a lot of color to it! At first I was a bit shocked, but, as I said before, it settled in after a few minutes. My mother even commented that my "skin looked really nice," not, "Oh your make-up looks nice." Score!

I normally use a moisturizer specifically for combo/oily skin which helps control the oil around my nose, so I didn't expect too much in that department from this. Good move, since I had that oily feeling after a couple of hours. So, I blotted and went on my merry way, haha!


Concealer time!

To make the most of today (in terms of reviews), I used the double-ended want on the left, and the palette (using the pink+concealer) on the right.

Pre-HD powder:










With HD powder:












Pretty nice, huh?

So how did they wear?
My first complaint with both of these products is that they are so creamy that they immediately gathered in that little crease below my eyes. Boo. So I was kind of checking for that all day.
That being said-- the creaminess also made it look so natural! The concealer and highlighter wand (left side) has the most natural finish of any concealer I've used. It was truly impressive. I'm thinking this + the mineral eye brightener might be a power duo... hmm!! I will try this tomorrow! =D


After 3 hours:





















Still some powder around my "beauty mark"-- what??
































After 7 hours:


























































Plumping Lipglaze!




















With this gloss, you first apply the clear end to plump, then the other end for color. I felt like I did get some plumping action from this gloss, though it really only lasted about an hour. I don't know if this is good/bad for plumping glosses, but hey for a chemical reaction I'd say it's alright, haha! The color was nice, the gloss a great consistency, and the color stayed for a good 3 hours! I'm not certain on the amount of pigmentation because the color I chose is a lighter pink.

The only downside was that it had a weird smell.. I honestly can't even really place it.. just.. unappealing. So if you're a "smell" person, I'd steer clear.


Healthy Glow Bronzer and Natural Radiance Blush!

Now, the time-lapse pictures above can be used to see ALL of the products, but I want you to notice the cheek color, specifically. Notice how they did. not. budge. I mean, I was super impressed by how well these colors stayed! I figured the bronzer would be the first to go, but it really held in there!

The bronzer is shimmery rather than matte~ matte produces a more natural sunkissed color, and is great for contouring, while shimmery is well, eye-catching and less natural but still pretty! Matte vs. shimmery to me is really a personal preference-- either look great. In the compact this looked like a gross color, but on it was quite lovely!

The blush, on the other hand, was quite scary. The consistency of this blush is like that of eyeshadow, and thus highly pigmented. I had to use an extremely light hand to apply~ which can be a plus in that a little goes a long way, but also a downer because it is so so easy to overdo it and look like a clown. Eek! It also looked very powder-y, and with the advances in blush looking so incredibly natural, this was a bit of a let-down. Staying power: yes. Prettiness? Not too much.


Overall Staying Power:

Eyelid Primer/Eyeshadow/Liquid Liner:
- My eyeshadow did not crease, which I credit to the primer. Good job!
- However, it did fade over the day. Fail, shadow.
- Liner did not move or fade. At all. Good job! (Even though I applied it horribly, bleh.)
Blush/Bronzer:
- Both stayed exactly where I put them, even with changing shirts three times and taking a hoodie on and off. Good job!
HD Powder:
- Was gone after only a few hours, and I felt oily after 2. Fail, powder.
Tinted Moisturizer:
- Stayed all day, and looked better as the day progressed! Though I did feel oily around my nose.. 50/50.
Concealers
- Stayed for at least 8 hours. (Though- I did not wear sunglasses, and had to wipe carefully to smooth where it gathered in creases.) Good job!
Lip Glaze
- Color was still on after 3 hours and a Fruit Roll-up. Good job!


What do you think?! Leave me some thoughts, I'm so interested in what you think!!
Also, if you can't/don't want to comment on here, please email me at BeautyMaven8@gmail.com =)

Until next time--
~Beauty Maven

PS Terrica~ nail polish tomorrow! Wanted to give it a couple of days of wear. =)