Review: Elf Daily Brush Cleaner

Good morning my loves,

I thought I'd do a review on a product that I really want to share with you all. 1 - Because it's so cheap and works wonders and 2 - Because I haven't heard much of a buzz about it within the beauty community, and I think it deserves it! Product in question? Elf's Daily Brush Cleaner.

I'm a bit lazy when it comes to cleaning my brushes, I know that's pretty gross. But the whole shampoo and sink routine becomes a bit of a chore. I used to own the MAC Brush Cleanser, which I loved because it meant I could just clean my brush effectively and quickly after each use.

The first thing I noticed (and loved) about the Elf Daily Brush Cleaner is the packaging. It comes in a very sleek black, transparent bottle with it's own spray top! That was an issue I had with the MAC Brush Cleanser... it didn't have a spray top, so I had to dispense it into my own spray bottle. I think by having a spray you can save yourself from wasting product, and it distributes it over the brush well.

So how well does it work? Well, here is a dirty brush with about a weeks worth of blush. I thought I'd use a duo fibre brush to show you as the white bristles tend to stain so easily. I'm looking at you MAC 187!

After about 2-3 spritzes of the Elf Daily Brush Cleaner and a wipe on a towel, this is the result. Almost as good as new I would say! It dries basically straight away which is handy if you want to clean an eyeshadow brush because your blending brush is getting a bit grubby, you can clean it and then continue straight away.

The MAC version deifnitely smells a lot better, I think (although it is quite chemical), the Elf one doesn't really have a scent and I think it works exactly the same. I don't think either of them are better than the other. However, the Elf one is obviously much cheaper. This is how the figures work out...

Elf Daily Brush Cleaner - £3.50 for 250ml

That's £1.40 per 100ml.

MAC Brush Cleanser - £8.50 for 233ml

That's £3.64 per 100ml.

I think the maths there is correct! Haha. As you can see, you get more product for Elf from less than half the price. I really recommend the Elf version over the MAC. Elf also do a brush shampoo that I'd like to try :)

Have you tried this product?

NATALIESLOVEx

Elf Luscious Liquid Lipstick - Baby Lips

Hello cuppycakes,

So I'm slowly but surely getting through the swatches from my Elf haul, again I can only apologise... this month is a bit crazy for me but my usual blogging will be resumed shortly. I miss doing face of the day's! But I've basically just kept it simple with a winged liner most days, which doesn't make for a very exciting read, lol! So anyway, I've swatched one of the 'luscious liquid lipsticks' today, the shade baby lips.

So the 'liquid lipstick' comes in this long, clear (cheap) plastic looking tube, which twists at the bottom to release the lipgloss from the sponge applicator. I actually really like these types of applicators, I just which the packaging was a bit nicer... but what can you do for £1.50??

So I did a close up of just the lips, as well as a full face shot because I think people find them more useful - sorry I look so moody!! To me, this isn't a 'liquid lipstick', when I hear that phrase I think of a very thick but creamy formulation... this is basically just a gloss.The colour of this is quite sheer... a very light baby pink. This is swatched over the top of concealer to blank out my natural lip colour because my lips are naturally very pigmented...almost red! The formula isn't at all sticky, which is quite surprising and the gloss does stay glossy for a good amount of time - 3 hours and it smells very minty. I love minty smells! The only downfall for me is that the colour payoff isn't great, I like a lot of pigmentation in lip products as my lips are so dark. However, this could be a blessing for those that just want a pretty pink sheen on their lips :)

natalieslovex

Elf Mineral lipstick - Rosy Raisin

Hi loves,

So it's been a while since my Elf haul, but I promised swatches/reviews and I'm sticking by my word! It's taking me a while because I'm in the middle of A Level exams, which are practically taking over my life so I apologise :) So this is the lipstick in question...

The Elf mineral lipstick in the shade, Rosy Raisin. First of all, I really like these lipsticks... they're £3.50 with sleek packaging. This is a really pretty, but natural, peachy nude and these lipsticks are quite creamy and moisturising. Staying power is not so great but you can't go wrong with £3.50!

So these are the swatches, pretty true to life for once! They have a whole wide range of colours from nudes-brights, so definitely go and check them out if you haven't... they're definitely worth it, even if they do need another application after about 2 hours - which isn't actually all that bad. They don't have a scent which is good for those who are sensitive to fragrances. Hope this was helpful for some of you, have you tried Elf mineral lipsticks? What's your favourite shade?

natalieslovex

Elf haul

Hello sweets,

I've been craving an Elf haul for well before Christmas, but I thought with some of the money I got I'd put in a sneaky little Elf haul ;) Of course, up to £30 for free delivery... companies really suck me in with free delivery! Makes me feel like I've saved money, which is entirely not true but I never learn! I'll start with the usual line (the £1.50 line, with white packaging). 

I ordered one hypershine gloss, which is the top product, in the shade 'Mauve', and as you can see... not very mauve! The bottom two items are luscious liquid lipsticks, the middle shade is 'Baby Lips' and the bottom shade is 'Strawberry'.

So what's the difference between the hypershine gloss and the luscious liquid lipstick? Well the hypershine gloss is the one on the far left, and the applicator is a brush. Whereas, the luscious liquid lipsticks have this spongy type applicator... what are these things called?!

ALL £1.50 EACH

I also ordered a eyelash + brow wand and a brow comb and brush... mainly to pad out the order to get it up to the £30, but also because I've been using the brow comb on the end of my Rimmel brow pencil for far too long, and it's a state. Plus they're so cheap!

BOTH £1.50

Eyebrow Treat + Tame in 'Medium', studio line £3.50

Mineral Lip liner in 'Peachy', mineral line £3.00

Mineral Lipstick in 'Rosy Raisin', mineral line £3.50

Mineral Blush in 'Bliss', mineral line £3.50

Nail Polish in 'Desert Haze', £1.50

Superglossy Lip Shine in 'Candlelight', regular line £1.50

Make up mist, studio line £3.50

Daily Brush Cleaner, studio line £3.50

Really impressed with the packaging of these items, feels really expensive and looks sleek! Really excited to see how these two compare to the MAC products... I'm hoping they're going to be better because they're loaaaads cheaper!

Swatches/reviews are on their way! But if there are any products that you particularly want swatches and reviews for I'll try and get them up first. What are your favourite items from Elf?

natalieslovex

Review: Elf's HD powder

hey everyone,

im gonna do a review today on a product which i havent stopped using ever since i got it. i actually got it a while ago, but never got round to posting a review - which it most definitely deserves! and thats the elf high definition powder.

first thing - i love the packaging. it's black and looks really sleek, and much more expensive that it actually is. it's one thing to not look cheap, but it doesn't feel cheap either. which is always good! only thing i dont like is that its opaque do you cant really see how much powder you have left.

okay so you open it up and it comes with it's own powder puff, type thing... which i never use - i find i get a better finish and control with a brush. it also has a sifter which is great and i think every loose powdered product should have one!

as you can see (and probably already know) it appears as a white powder, but i promise you this does go on translucently and doesn't leave you looking a bit pasty. this makes it ideal for every skintone, and avoids trying to work out which online swatch will work best for you. the main appeal of this powder is obviously the 'high definition' which i take to mean as 'this will make you look flawless and airbrushed' maybe high hopes? but i really do think this makes a difference to the look of my skin. although it may not be a drastic difference, it sort of gives a 'soft focus' to your skin... which make any blemishes look less obvious.

at first i was worried about this powder making me look a bit cakey, but it does the opposite! if you've gone a bit powder happy, this reduces it, making skin look smoother and more natural. not to mention the velvety touch it brings. i apply this over the top of all my make up - foundation, blush bronzer etc. and it just makes it all stay there for longer than it usually would. i apply it with my elf powder brush as it's a dense brush and applies just the right amount to my skin (i pat it on then buff). this powder is a bit messy and you usually end up in a white cloud, but it's so worth it!

you can get this from the elf website for £5, bargain! everyone needs to try this :) if you have any questions just pop the below!

natalieslovex

Review: Elf Powder Brush

Hello ladies and gents,

Today I'm gonna do a review on a product that there's been a lot of raving about, and I can confirm that the raving is backed up by this fabulous brush! Of course, it's Elf's Powder Brush...

This brush looks very sleek in it's shiny black packaging, as do all of the brushes from the Studio line and can be bought for £3.50.

This is a flat top brush, with densely packed bristles. There are so many uses for this brush and I absolutely love it - it's so versatile and such good quality for a few quid!

This amazed me when I used it to apply my liquid foundation, which I usually use my MAC 187 for. It does an equally good job as my MAC brush, if not a bit better... dare I say? Because the bristles are so densely packed, it really buffs the foundation into the skin, give flawless coverage, as well as a kind of 'skin' finish. Which is what we all strive for.. make up that looks natural and as if it is our own skin, right? I love this for liquid foundation application and found it very easy to apply.

Another use is bronzer and blusher, as well as contour. This is good for apply Sheertone blushes, I find I need to dip my brush in a few times when using a Sheertone blush such as Pink Swoon... but with this brush it seems to pick up a lot more of a the product giving desired colour. You can also use the edges of this brush to contour the cheeks, and then use the top to blend it out - which is great!

But, what I've been using this for most frequently is using my HD powder. It packs on enough of it to give the wanted affect, but then buff it out so well... making sure the cakey, powder look stays at bay!

I cannot recommend this brush highly enough, you can definitely find a use for it no matter who you are, and is so cheap!!

Natalieslovex

Review: Elf Kabuki Face Brush

Bonjour bambinos,
Yup I'm hitting you with the second Elf review, again... for another brush. This time, the Kabuki Face Brush.

This is one of the brushes from their studio line and is actually available for £5.00 whereas the others are £3.50 I'm not too sure why... It's quite small and compact, so perfect for slipping into your make up bag leaving plenty of room for more products. The hairs are synthetic and are vegan friendly if that's something that is important to you - which is great.

There are plenty of bristles, which are loosely packed and not very dense at all. I think this is greaaat thing as it makes for very quick application! The brush is small enough to give a flawless application of bronzer as well as highlighter. However, my favourite use for this brush is applying powder. Because the bristles are flimsy it covers a large area in one go, leaving a non-powdery finish on the skin. It's also very good at blending out over-done blush or bronzer.

There was absolutely no shedding whatsover from this brush - something that I was certain was going to happen. It washed very well, again with no shedding at all and kept it's shape perfectly. This is by far the softess brush I've ever felt! Even after many uses, many washes it's been left as good as new, and so velvety.

Before this I was using the Boujours kabuki - terrible, terrible, terrible! Nobody purchase it... it doesn't wash properly, sheds a hella lot and looses it's softness. But this Elf Kabuki is a great little brush and for £3.50 you can't go wrong!

Natalieslovex

Review: Elf Small Angled Brush

Morning treacles,
So it's been a while since my last Elf haul so I've had time to try out all of the products I ordered and I thought it was about time I put up some reviews! So the first one up is the Small Angled Brush. Which looks a little something like this...

I originally ordered this to apply the cream eyeliner I also got from Elf, and although this does a good job at applying it, I'd probably recommend a thinner liner brush. Although fair do's to this brush, it does apply the cream eyeliner well.

I think the best use for this brush is for applying shadow/wax whatever you use onto the brows, it gives amazing control and evenly distributes the shadow or wax. Another great use I've found for this is applying an eyeshadow on the lower lash line (or upper). It really grips onto the shadow and prevents fall out for even the powdery of eyeshadows.

There was absolutely no shedding from this brush and it washes well - no dye appeared in my bathroom sink. However, I did find when using this for eyeliner, the bristles gathered and clumped together after one use. But once washed it returned back to it's normal state.

You can get this brush from the Elf website for £3.50 and it's a really good quality brush for many purposes. I would especially recommend it for those who are looking for a good brush to apply eyebrow products. If you have any questions then please feel free to leave me a comment below :)

Natalieslovex

Swatches

Hello ladies (and gents?),
So I recently did a small boots and elf haul which you can find here. And I promised some swatches and also reviews on some of the products. Most of the elf products I want to do in-depth reviews for, such as the HD powder... so I need to carry on using that for a bit longer. But things like the blush and 17 eyeshadows I can do quick speed reviews, which will probably be up in a few days because I want this post to be short and sweet :)

17 Solo eyeshadows

I'm not normally someone who picks up sperate eyeshadows - I'll usually just buy palettes or trios, but I couldn't resist these! I picked up 2 colours, both from the neutral spectrum suprise, suprise! These are currently on offer: 2 for £6. Massive bargain for the quality, pick these up! I will be doing a review on these little guys, as I'm gonna pick up some more, so if you're interested keep a look out for that :)

17 Trio

More nudes, sorry! Once again I'll do a more detailed review soon :) But in this trio you get a nude colour, warm brown as well as a cool brown. These retail for £4.99

Natural Collection lipstick

This is a lipstick from the moisture shine lipstick at natural collection, it's a really baby pink nude, althought i was expecting this to be slightly nuder, I'm still very happy with it :) Annnd they're only £1.50!!

Elf blush

So this is the blush from elf's studio line in the shade 'Gotta Glow', which obviously is more of a highlight shade. And it's exactly that - the perfect highlight! Watch out for this in FOTD's :)

Elf Cream Eyeliner

I love this stuff already! The cream eyeliner from elf. I can already tell without using it so far - this stuff WILL NOT budge!

Hope that helps a little for those that wanted to see colours and things :) And I promise there will be reviews coming up soon girlies!

Natalieslovex

Elf & Small Boots haul

Hey cupcakes!
So I had a little spend on the Elf website as there were a few things I wanted to get, and I thought £30 worth of products for free delivery? I'm on it! And I've also been into Boots to pick up an item I've been longing for, as well as checking out some of the 17 shadows as there's been such good things said about them recently! :)

Kabuki Brush |£5.00|

Tone Correcting Concealer |£1.50|

High Definition Powder |£6.00|

Cream Eyeliner |£3.50|

Powder Brush |£3.50|

Small Angled Brush |£3.50|

Blush |£3.50|

Eyebrow kit |£3.50|

Trio 'In The Nude' |£4.99|

Solo Eyeshadow 'Mardi Gras' 'Walnut Pearl' |2 for £6.00|

Natural Collection Lipstick 'Apple Blossom' |£1.50|

Look out for swatches and reviews guys! If there's anything you want me to review first, just let me know :)

Natalieslovex

Review; Elf Blush/Bronze Duo

Hello cupcakes,
I just have one more product that I ordered from Elf to review.. so here goes!

Elf's Blusher and Bronzer Compact

I've been after the sleek contour and highlight duo foreverr, but my Superdrug always seems to run out! I thought this might be a good (and cheaper) alternative. Another item from the Studio line so costs £3.50

The blush is a very pretty peach/pink/coral colour. However... it does have gold glitter in it that does tend to fall out quite a bit. But nothing a bit of MACs Fix+ won't sort out! This duo is extremely pigmented - especially the Bronzer so you have to be careful as you could end up looking a bit muddy, lol. Not a good look! On the flipside though... there's no orange tones so that's a plus. And although the bronzer does have glitter it really isn't noticeable at all compared to the blush, and I can use this as a contour.

I wasn't as impressed with this as I was the bronzer... because there are glitter particles in this, it tends to be a bit gritty, which is something that really bugs me. I also found that if I loaded a bit too much of the bronzer on my brush - it would be really hard to blend out. All in all though, it's pretty good. It isn't something that I would repurchase though as the other bronzer is really fantastic and I would probably order the warm bronzer next time in place of this. Not at all bad though! :)

I know that a lot of people like this... did you? Did you find it a bit too gritty like me? 

Natalieslovex

Review; Elf Bronzer

Hey :)
I had to share this with you, so thought I'd put up a review of a product I'm using almost daily!

Elf's Golden Bronzer

Elf also do a 'warm' bronzer, and I really didn't know which one to choose. I'd seen quite a lot of reviews and swatches of the warm bronzer so really wanted to try this one out to see what it's like...

This is from the studio range at Elf so these are little bit more *pricey* - pah! At £3.50. I really like the studio range more simply because the packaging is alot more sleek and NARSesque! If you're looking for more of a contour bronzer - I wouldn't recommend this one. It's very shimmer (but no too shimmery) so doesn't work well as a contour, well for me anyway - I much prefer matte colours to contour. It does make the most amazing highlight though - either over blush, top of the cheekbones, bridge of the nose, brow bone and the list goes on! The powders are really pigmented and you can use them seperately for a desired look or mix them all together to make such a beautiful colour! The powder itself isn't chalky or powdery at all, it's very much soft and silky, almost velvety! Lol. It really is so nice to work with and blends so well.

I really do not have one bad thing to say about this product! Apart from... I wish Elf would move to UK stores!!!

Have you got the warm bronzer? What do you think of it... is it better for contour?

Natalieslovex

Review; Elf Shimmer Facial Whip

Morning lovelies!

Thought I'd just review a product that I'm really liking from Elf.

Elf's Shimmering Facial Whip

This was yet one of my many impulse buys, and tbh I really didn't have high expectations. I mean, £1.50? Somethings got to be wrong. Just shows how much I know!

This product has the same sickly sweet citrus smell as the All Over Cover Stick, it's not something I like but like I said before... once it's on your skin you really can't smell it at all. This has a really nice sheen to it - no shimmer particles so you won't be looking like a disco ball. I've been using this a as a cream blush and it's been working really well. It's very pigmented, so doesn't work well as a highlight. It stays on for pretty long without loosing colour - but does loose a bit of it's sheen. The colour is really buildable... but you do only need a tiny bit for a lot of colour payoff.

The only thing about this that I kind of which was different... is the consistency. Before you blend it properly and it warms because of fingers, it's quite thick. Once blended it's resonably light. But when blending it feels quite thick. I've only used my fingers for it as I feel like if I were to use a brush it would be really messy and a little bit sticky :/ Other than that this is another great £1.50 from Elf! They're really going up in my estimates! Lol.

Anything else you want to know? Let me know below! I'm a poet ;)

Natalieslovex

Review; Elf Color Stick

Hello ladies :)
A request for a review was asked for about this product - and of course I'm only happy to do so :) *click these pictures - much better detail*

Elf's All Over Color Stick

This product is for eyes, lips and cheeks. I have to say I have only used it on my cheeks though...

The first thing that I noticed about the product was the very strong citrus scent. Not a fresh, orangey smell but a very, very, sweet and sickly one! I'm not too much of a fan - but hey ho, you can't smell it once it's on the skin. As you can see it's got a sheen/shimmer to it, which I absolutely love. It's just the right ammount... not too shimmer and just gives a really nice sheen. Something I adore about this product is the buildable colour... you can use a very tiny ammount to get a very subtle hint of colour, or you can build it up and it won't look cakey. It's incredibly easy to blend aswell, so don't be afraid to use a lot of it to build the colour and worry about whether it's going to blend with your skin. I've been using very lightly as a highlight on the apples of my cheeks, and also as a cream blush alone or as a base. It's such a beautiful coraly-pink and the colour really does change depending on the light it's in, this particular colour is called 'pesimmon' but there is a range to choose from.

The only thing that lets this down... is the packaging! It's a bit naff isn't it? But come on... it's £1.50!!! This product truely impressed me - it was a bit of an impluse buy so I really didn't think it would be all that great - especially with the tiny price tag. I urge everyone to get this, even if you don't like it - it's only cost you £1.50.

If you want anymore info or have questions just comment and I'll make sure to reply! Do any of you guys have this? Love it? What are your opinions?

Natalieslovex

Elf swatches and review

Hey guys!
So, swatches of the two mineral lipsticks I ordered from Elf have been requested, and of course, I'm more than happy to do them. After all, the whole reason I started this blog was to fulfil requests and share products with you!

Elf mineral lipsticks, £3.50 each

As you can see... 'nicely nude' isn't nicely nude at all lol, it's more of a hot pink. But I'm not too fussed as it's still a pretty colour. I thought when I swatched these on my hand they were the other way round... but nope. So be careful because on the Elf website the colours and names are deceptive.

I'm really impressed with these lipsticks - especially for the price! The formula is really creamy, goes on smooth, pigmented have a nice sheen. I did find them a bit drying though (as I find most lipsticks are). I really recommend these, there's a variety of colours and they're good quality also.

Elf eyebrow kit, £3.50

My eyebrow kit is in medium. You can get light, medium or dark. The darker side is wax and the lighter side is a powder. First off, I really like the packaging. It's slim and can fit nicely in your make-up bag and it's really quite NARSesque!

The kit comes with this mini, double ended brush. The angled side for the wax, and the other for the powder.

I do like this kit, however from using it I've realised that I prefer using pencils, I just don't think wax is for me really. I found that it was quite hard to pick up any wax product... I don't know if this is the wax itself, or the brush. I also only use the wax because using the powder along with the wax made my eyebrows really dark.

It's really easy to use, the angled brush is perfect for filling in eyebrows. The wax holds up really well all day, and it doesn't give your eyebrows that weird hard, crunchy effect. If you're a fan of using wax for your eyebrows this is a great buy! I will carry on using this, but I would dsay I prefer using a pencil, simply because I find it quicker. Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways lol. I really do like this, I think it's a fab buy for £3.50!! I'll just put some swatches for you guys below.

If you have any other questions, pop a comment below! :)

Natalieslovex