ELF Haul from 20% sale

Wow, it's taken me so long to actually get on and write something for this blog. I promise (even if only to myself) that I will post regularly.

Anyway, I recently ordered a fair few things from ELF. I've had a couple of their products before and not been overly impressed. This time I decided to do my research and see what other bloggers thought. In most cases this has worked but not in all... 32 Basic Palette, I'm looking at you. I'm just going to list what I bought with my first impressions and later I'll do a more detailed posting of various items with swatches.

Super Glossy Lip Shine spf 15 - Watermelon

 Quite nice colour. A fairly opaque peachy MLBB and not too sticky. Liking it so far.

Plumping Lip Glaze - Fire Coral

Less fire, more warm peach. Plumping effect comes from peppermint and doesn't last too long. I'm undecided on whether I like this.

Luscious Liquid Lipstick - Cherry Tart

 Loving it! It's hard to layer but it gives a gorgeous semi-opaque satin finish.  Quite a muted red but I like it. Seems to last fairly well too.

Mineral Lipstick - Cheerful Cherry

 Number 1- It isn't cherry. Not even close to cherry. It's also not exceptionally cheerful. However Doubtfully Cheerful Not Cherry is a great shade. It's quite satiny, not thick (something I prefer with my reds to avoid clown mouth) and lasts a reasonable amount of time for this chain smoking tea swilling lip licker.

Studio Lip Stain - Bombshell

A peachy nude, opaque and acts very like a longlasting lipstick. It isn't a stain at all but more like Max Factor's lipfinity range. I was worried when I opened this as the doe foot applicator shed gummy fibres. The gloss makes the colour wear off very quickly but without it... well, I love it. It's matte, so very on-trend right now, isn't overly drying and a nice shade.

Nail Polish - Cranberry

 Gorgeous shade that I've been lusting after for ages. It's a reddish purple berry and has a satin,finish. Takes 3 coats to become fully opaque. It chips relatively easily and takes an age to dry. It doesn't quite live up to my hopes but the colour nice and a great transition from winter darks to summer brights.

 Eye Shadow Brush. Defining Eye Brush. Blending Eye Brush

I've had some basic ELF brushes before and been pleased by the quality. These are no exception. They shed a little and the blending brush had some weird white powder but a quick wash sorted that out. Soft and dense with right level of weight in the brush handle for me. I'm planning on buying more of these. £1.50 each and miles better than most budget brushes.

Studio Eyeshadow C Brush

My first brush from the ELF Studio range. It reminds me of my Gosh eyeshadow brush although this brush head is slightly longer and not quite as dense. Quite heavy handled. I'll use this mostly for packing colour onto the lid. I don't love it though.

Studio Cream Eyeliner - Metallic Olive. Cream Eyeliner - Black.

 Both creamy with great colour. Black is a dense glossy shade. The olive is swoonworthily gorgeous- a mid-toned golden green with a definite metallic shine. I need to use these more around my eyes to judge but first impressions are good. The free brushes they came with are predictably dreadful and have ended up in my son's art kit.

Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil - Boldly Bronzed. Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil - Grassy green.

 Both are fairly pigmented and creamy but the quick swatches suggest they aren't the longest lasting. Reserving judgement till I've used it around my eyes a few times.

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - Plum

First impression isn't good. The colour is quite watery, the nib is longer than is useful and I was hoping for more of a distinct plum rather than blackened plum. It is definitely water resistant though as my swatch is still on my hand several handwashes later.

Studio Single Eyeshadow- Pebble

First impression- MEH! Awful pigmentation. I was hoping for a lovely matte/satin taupe and instead it's a chalky, muddy, unpigmented and very disappointing shadow.

Studio Makeup Mist & Set

I'm a big fan of Urban Decay's Allnighter Spray but it's bulky, hard to get hold of and not exactly cheap. Mist & Set comes in a much handier bottle for transportation. It also seems to be rather good on first use, with a few reservations. It makes my skin look less chalky after powder and helped my foundation last longer. However, it suggests to apply your full face of makeup then spray. I did this then... ARRRGGHHH! My mascara ran everywhere. Kung Fi Fi Panda! Also, it muted the metallic eyeshadows I was wearing. Next time, I'll use this before I apply my eye makeup.

Studio Cool Bronzer

 I've been hunting for a new contouring powder. Matte bronzers are next to impossible to find on a budget so this seemed perfect. There are 4 matte shades and I can see 2 that will be very useful for contouring. The other two are probably too dark for my skin tone (The reason that Sleek's contour kit was useless to me). I've used it today and it seemed to work well. (edit- this is now one of my HG items)

Everyday Basics - 32pc Collection Palette

 This is the one item I can conclusively say I dislike. Hate. 32 utterly useless shades. Powdery, chalky, unpigmented, many similar colours. The packaging is lightweight and flimsy. This is the reason I've avoided buying ELF much in the past. If I'd been able to test this I'd never have bought it. I'll persevere to see if I can get some use out of it but I'm tempted to depot all the shadows and press my loose shadows into it instead.

Dramatic Lash Kit

I haven't opened them up yet but these look long. Really long! I'm a bit scared of them actually.

I'll buy from ELF again. Most products were good budget buys and the service was exceptional but I'm going to avoid the eyeshadows in future. All of those products cost me just over £40. Any comments or recommendations for me for my next ELF haul?