L. Cederkin Writes…What do you think about e.l.f. Cosmetics? They claim to use the same formulations as “name brand” products but because they don’t charge for marketing and packaging so their products are a lot cheaper.
The Right Brain Writes Back:
For those of you not familiar with e.l.f, it is NOT a North Pole based toy company owned by Will Ferrell. e.l.f. really stands for eyes, lips, and face and it’s a web-based cosmetics company that claims to use the same ingredients as the “major” brands.
Can this be true? Sure, e.l.f. products may be formulated with the same basic ingredient technology as more expensive brands, but that’s not really the point.
Beauty Brains bottom line
As we Beauty Brains have said many times before, you can’t tell the quality of a cosmetic product from price alone. You can find very good cheap products and really crappy expensive products out there. If you like the quality of e.l.f. products and if you can find the shade of lipstick or eyeshadow that you like, then BUY it! There’s no reason to spend more if you’re satisfied with a product that only costs $1.
But if you’ve decided that you can only go out in public wearing M.A.C.’s Vegas Volt lipstick ($12.50) or that you wouldn’t be caught dead without Girlactic’s Pink Glam Eye Powder ($14) then you go girl! There’s nothing wrong with spending more money on an expensive brand. It’s really a matter of your taste. Just realize that with the prestige products you may be paying more for brand name “sorcery” than functional science.
What is your favorite inexpensive cosmetic brand? Leave a comment and let the rest of the Beauty Brains community know what products are a real deal.
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I’ve tried these products, and they are hit-or-miss. Some are true winners, and others are garbage. My only tip is that you should buy as much as you can in stores like Target and KMart, because the company is notorious for their poor shipping practices. If you can’t find it in stores, order it one at a time online so you aren’t out much if they lose it.
I haven’t tried ELF cosmetics but I do like Jordana sold at Walgreens. Great eyeliners and lipliners for little little $$$$
That’s great, it’s too bad you didn’t answer the question that was asked of you. (and compare the elf formulations to name brand formulations)
i have tried e.l.f. cosmetics and i can tell you personally that not all products are made the same and in this case, i will assume the price matters. all pencils,whether for lips or eyes, are dry and almost unuseable. as is their liquid eyeliner. BUT they do have some good products you just have to weed them out. the drawback is their shipping rate.
i love the brand NYX! it’s really cheap (cost only a few bucks more than elf) and it’s of great quality!
Wet n Wild has excellent products. I love their eyeshadow palettes especially.
Hello Guru, what enticed you to post an article. This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for this subject last Thursday.
Hi, Can i take a one small photo from your blog? Thanks!
hi,,, i want to try the elf’s products, i’m using maybelline’s products, the concealer of maybelline is better than in elf… maybelline has a high quality and if you apply it, it actually looks natural and not heavy
I’ve heard bad things about the website– long shipping, overcharging to credit cards, etc.. But you can find these products in some stores. I bought their mineral foundation kit. It doesn’t make a huge difference to my face but then, neither does the much, much more expensive brand. It also came with a bag and a brush that’s actually really nice. I’ve bought cheap discount cosmetics at cheap discount stores and been plenty happy with them. Although I’ll never submit to sharp pencil eyeliners. Ouchy.
I switched from ElF to sheer cover cosmetics. The basic line of $1 products is good for the money, my favorites are the lipglosses. They come in a variety of colors and actually last for quite some time, but these can be bought at Target.
When ELF had the 75% off the mineral line promotion, I bought every color of eyeshadow, blush, mascara, lipstick, eyeliner there was.
The mineral lipsticks are dry, and look nothing like what is being displayed; your lips will take on the appearance of being shriveled up. . If you don’t mind putting a clear gloss over it, then you will be just fine. The blush colors are very nice, but the plum color would make a better eyeshadow than blusher.
As for the foundation, and concealers, not only does it take more of the makeup to cover flaws, but the texture is a bit gritty. Not only that, but the concealer, foundation and the bronzer all come in the same sized containers.
When I switched to sheer cover, I opted for 3 months worth. At first it seemed pricey, but what they give you goes a long way; a wonderful cream mineral concealer, and it does not take much of the foundation for even coverage. They also give you a compact to fill with your face powder, that has the cream concealer included, and a mini kabuki brush to go with it. The bronzer from sheer cover gives you a healthy glow, not a shiny face, you get much more than what has been listed. I do love ELF’s mineral eyeliners and mineral liquid eyeliners, they go on easy, and stay on all day.
Their mineral eyeshadows are very nice, but do not last very long, even if you use a primer, and their colors are so limited.
I do recommend their studio line, all of the products are fantastic, and you would pay so much more for what they offer in the store, even without a coupon.
This has been a long entry, but hopefully it covered most everything, and was a fair observation. have a great day
I absolutely love elf products. Of course, the regular
products suck, but the studio line is amazing.
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