e.l.f. 6th Anniversary Sale Haul

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e.l.f 6th Anniversary haul.

This post has taken me ages to publish. I have been working on it for a couple of weeks. I have no idea why it has been so long—maybe I’ve been too excited about my recent Target haul—-but here’s the review.

e.l.f. recently celebrated its 6th anniversary this past July 6th. The cosmetics company commemorated the event with a blanket 60% discount on all products—not that deceptive BOGO 50% deal they claim is a 50% off sale. While not as good as the elusive 75% off promos, the sale allowed me to try the few remaining e.l.f. products that either previously out-of-stock or items with price tags higher than I wanted to pay…or just never got around to ordering.

With shipping included, I paid about $35 USD for my haul of 17 items. The total is a little higher than normal due to the purchasing of a couple higher end products.

Mineral Lip Gloss

Update: This product has been discontinued and is no longer available for purchase, but you can still find my full review for the lip glosses here.

I love e.l.f.’s lip glosses. While not as good as their mineral lipstick, or other vegan lip glosses, they’re good in their own way. e.l.f. carries a few pink shades, but after trying Pageant Princess—a blue undertoned colour that doesn’t work well for my skintone–I’ve chosen to stick with the neutral colours. In retrospect, I should have purchased a few more shades during the sale. Oh well. There’s always next time.

e.l.f. Mineral Lipstick in Au Naturale,
Bare, Trendsetter, Pageant Princess, and Daring

Au Naturale

Very pretty. Sort of like a lighter version of Trendsetter. In the bottle, the colour resembles a light rosy-beige gold (if that any sense) and is different than what I’ve seen in other product photos from consumers online. Like all of the e.l.f. mineral glosses, the colour is very sheer. Au Naturale is a very light shade on the lips and has a noticeable shimmer finish.

I find it on the light side when applied to the mouth. If I had to choose between this and Trendsetter, it would be the latter.

e.l.f. Mineral Lip Gloss in Au Naturale and Bare

Bare

After ordering Daring in my last haul, I didn’t know what to expect with Bare. The former had turned out to be a very vibrant red shade with lots of glitter—not exactly how it looked on the website. Once opened, I was pleased to find Bare is a sheer, natural colour. I hesitate to use the terms “beige” or “brown”, because I feel it’s misleading, but somewhat true. The shade is somewhat between Au Natural and Trendsetter, minus the shimmer.

Bare is more of a lip colour enhancer, rather than a lip colour. Great for a neutral look. It applies similar to Enough Talk, Kiss Me, a lip gloss from the Everyday Minerals On the Reef, Coral Collection.

e.l.f. Minerals Eyeshadow

Update: This product has been discontinued and is no longer available for purchase, but you can still read my full review for the shadows here.

The jars have remained the same, but the boxes have changed slightly since my earlier order in May.

Despite the heavy shimmer, I really like the e.l.f. Minerals shadows. To be honest, I prefer this eyeshadow line to Everyday Minerals or No Miss, the two other loose minerals powders I’ve tried. These shadows are vibrant, much easier to blend and don’t rub down or morph into a different colour, as EDM shadows are wont to do.

During the 10 Free Shadows promo e.l.f. had back in May, I had been unable to get several of the eyeshadows I really, really wanted–Earthy and Royal, being two of them. I made absolutely sure to get these two this time around, as well as the two new matte shades.

e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow in Innocent, Enchanting, Earthy, and Royal

Innocent [Matte]

I decided against ordering Angelic in this order, because I feared it would be too overpowering for me due to its white colour and shimmer. Instead I went with Innocent, a recently introduced, matte beige shade.

It’s very pretty in the jar, sort of a egg-shell or off-white colour. Of the four shades I purchased, I am least happy with Innocent. I think it’s too light and chalky–and if I feel it’s light, I’m not sure well those with more moderate skintones will find it. Unlike the other e.l.f. eyeshadows–including those with matte finishes–I had difficulty applying Innocent evenly on my eyelids.

Enchanted [Matte]

I couldn’t get a good feel for this shade, but for a $1.20, I decided to go for it. It’s very similar to Kayak from Everyday Minerals, so of course I love it!

I hope that doesn’t frighten too many readers. It’s lighter than Kayak and more of a taupe colour. It’s also matte, whereas Kayak has a light shimmer.

e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow swatches in Innocent, Enchanting, Earthy, and Royal

Earthy [Shimmer]

I’ve been on a search for a really good, deep vegan green mineral (or anything else) eyeshadow. I’ve tried many of the shadows from EDM and most from e.l.f. and didn’t find what I was looking for. Earthy looked like a good candidate. The swatches I saw on the Internets appeared a very deep green. It’s not.

While not what I wanted, this is arguably one of the most pretty green vegan eyeshadows out there. It’s a very wearable shade of green that compliments my yellow-undertoned skin very well. It has a noticeable dark, possibly black, undertone, so be careful when applying to not rub down the shadow.

Royal [Shimmer]

Since purchasing the EDM Lavender Haze eyeshadow kit, I’ve been intrigued by purple shadows. My entire life, I’ve stuck to greys or browns. After trying purples last year, I haven’t always felt it was the right look for me. Royal from e.l.f. looked very pretty and for the standard price of $3 USD, I figured it was worth a try. Since I knew I was unlikely to wear it on a regular basis, I didn’t really consider it until the 10 Free Eyeshadows promo. Unfortunately it sold out before I ordered.

The first time I saw the name, I assumed it was a blue shadow (e.g., royal blue). It is, in fact, a gorgeous and wearable (at least for me) dark purple. I recently ordered a few purple shades from EDM and didn’t like any half as much as Royal.

It is fairly dark, so it’s probably more suited fro a night look or applied to the crease.

Studio Mineral Infused Face Primer

I almost purchased this when it was first released, but chose to go with the High Definition Powder (which I almost never need due to my dry skin and lack of photographing sessions). I read varying reviews for it on Makeup Alley, with most stating that it was too oily for their skin. Indeed, the liquid feels a lot like baby oil smeared on the skin. I figured it would work well for my dry skin, but alas, I believe it makes my face drier. To be fair, I had run out of my usual super-duper moisturizer and relied on another product with far less moisturizing “oomph”. When I try it next time, I’ll use it on properly moisturized skin and avoid my typical dry areas to see if that helps.

e.l.f. Mineral Infused Face Primer montage.

The packaging is pretty slick, at least for a plastic bottle. As usual, e.l.f. exploits the magnification of a round bottle with thick walls to inflate the appearance of product. It’s not as bad as the Plumping Lip Glazes, but there’s obviously less product than it appears.

I don’t think I will repurchase this product at full price. Certainly at 60% or 75% off. I would have to first compare it to something like the Smashbox Photo Finish I’ve heard so much about, to see if $6 is a fair price.

Studio Lip Balm SPF 15

Update: You can find my full review for all of the Studio Lip Balms here.

A very last minute addition to my haul. The lip balm comes in a stylish metal tube, same as the new Studio Concealer everyone seems to hate. The tube is really nifty, but much smaller than I anticipated. Like other e.l.f. lip products, I think you’re mostly paying for packaging and less for product. Due to the size, there isn’t as much product as I expected.

e.l.f. Studio Lip Balm SPF 15 vs. e.l.f. Mineral Lip Gloss

The reason I threw this in at the last minute was because I happened to glance down at the reviews and noticed the word “minty”. I’ve been searching for another lip product that has mint, but without the misleading packaging of the Plumping Lip Glazes or Studio Minty Lip Gloss. I suppose whatever mint product e.l.f. uses in their lip glosses must be expensive because of the minty products have less content than other lip products companions.

The wax is a translucent, yellowish-white with a firm waxy texture, very unlike e.l.f.’s Therapeutic Lip Balm.

e.l.f. Studio Lip Balm SPF 15 shown with product fully extended

When taking everything into consideration, it’s a good product, though I’m not fond of the ingredients and I can’t tell where the SPF 15 claim comes from. I’m not sure I would recommend paying full price. I think I still prefer the Merry Hempsters lip balms for roughly the same cost–and much nicer ingredients. However, the metal case is very slick and stylish. For $1.20, I probably should have bought two.

All Over Colour Stick in Golden Peach

I thought I had ordered the Shimmering Facial Whip in Golden Peach, so I was a little surprised to find the All Over Colour Stick instead. I think I decided against the Shimmering Facial Whip because it’s messier. Something like that.

e.l.f All Over Color Stick in Golden Peach, Persimmon, and Pink Lemonade

I’ve attempted to order Golden Peach twice before, but in the end, decided against it. I figured I should buy it while it was on sale just to see what it’s like. It looks peachier on the website than it is in person. On the skin, it looks like the name implies is and is pretty. I use it as a highlighter on my cheekbone. It works much better for me than the other two shades I have (Pink Lemonade and Persimmon).

Nail Polish

I’ve been leery of buying more e.l.f. nail polish. While the colours are pretty, I found they chip more often than similar dollar products. I have a drawer full of the same shimmery, dark red shade in a variety of hues. I also never wear nail polish and when I do, it’s on my toes…and I wear sandals infrequently (I do a lot of cooking—if you haven’t noticed—and cleaning so I quickly discovered that polish and frequent hand-washing don’t work together).

There is that additional pesky problem that I never know what shade I’m ordering from e.l.f. and for $1, that bothers me.

e.l.f. Nail Polish in Cranberry, Rosy Raisin and Innocent

Nonetheless, I decided to pick up some of the new polish shades for 40 cents a pop. A couple of the newly introduced light shades were out of stock, but enough of the shades I wanted were in. My one regret was not grabbing Red Velvet. _(=_=)_

Innocent

Of all the light shades recently introduced, this was the only one I could really see myself wearing. Smokey Brown and Desert Haze are just a little too intense for me. I did see a photo of someone wearing Mint Cream that looked nice, but it was out-of-stock at the time.

Innocent looks weird in the bottle, but is kind of similar to Nude, only with more coverage. I might wear it on occasion, though I like nail polish with a little more colour.

Cranberry

This was the colour I thought I had when I ordered Sunset (which, by the way, is a lot more accurate after the site redesign). This is a great pearlescent, red shade. Of course, it looks like all of the other red polishes I have, but whatever. Nice to finally find the colour I like on e.l.f.

e.l.f. Nail Polish in Cranberry

I had a devil of a time photographing Cranberry in the bottle. Almost all of my photos do not correctly depict the red shade or the pearlescence. The image above was the closest I could get.

Rosy Raisin

I was surprised by this shade. It’s not what I expected (due to an inaccurate website image), but is a really great shade. Rosy Raisin looks red on the site, but it’s more of a magenta or wine colour.

e.l.f. Nail Polish in Rosy Raisin

Studio Brushes

I finally got around to ordering more of the Studio brushes. All are vegan, or put another way, consist of nylon bristles. I am not very fond of the brush design, but I bought more because they work really well. Recently, I’ve been disappointed by Everyday Minerals brushes that look very pretty, but are lousy at holding product.

e.l.f. Studio Brushes: Kabuki Face Brush, Powder Brush, Complexion Brush,
Blush Brush, Contour Brush, Small Smudge Brush

Small Smudge Brush

This brush is itty-bitty. Probably should only be $2 or less. o( ^_~)o You can use it for detail work around the eye, as a eyeliner smudger or as a lip detail brush. I got it primarily as a brow brush. I find the traditional brow brushes to be too inexact and wanted something smaller. The bristles are surprisingly stiff, especially compared to similarly sized brushes from the $1 line, but the brush works well.

Complexion and Blush Brushes

I’ll review both brushes at once. I have really come to love my Studio Powder Brush, so I decided to order a couple of different large Studio brushes. I thought it would be good to have a rounder version of the Powder Brush and had wanted a smaller Blush brush than my EcoTools Blush Brush. Both were much smaller than I expected, particularly the blush brush.

e.l.f. Studio Brush comparison

The size of the Complexion Brush is fine, even if it’s far smaller than the Powder Brush, but the bristles are flimsier than I prefer. To me, the Complexion Brush works better as a traditional Blush Brush.

The Blush Brush works far better as a highlighter, than as a blush brush. It’s simply much smaller than any blush brushes elsewhere. If you’re looking for a blush brush from the e.l.f. Studio line, you’re better off with either the Complexion Brush or the Kabuki Face Brush.

Kabuki Face Brush

I admit I’ve loved the Studio Kabuki Brush since it was first introduced. The white bristles with a black top is, oh, so cute. I had read many negative reviews before ordering, so I was nervous. When I opened the box, it looked empty, but discovered e.l.f. packages the brush in the bottom section of the box.

e.l.f. Studio Kabuki Face Brush

This is such a great brush. From the reviews I read, I didn’t expect it to be as large and fluffy–or maybe it’s just because I’m shorter and smaller than most and things seem bigger to me. I figured it would be about the size of my Everyday Minerals Long Handled Kabuki (sans handle), but it’s substantially larger and fluffier. I’ve love using the Kabuki Face Brush for powder. The bristles are super soft and the powder applies evenly. It is on the large side and hence not useful for blush, like my EDM LHK. I couldn’t be happier with the Kabuki Face Brush.

Soothing Bath Gel in Vanilla Coconut [DC]

Update: This product has been discontinued and is no longer available. You can find my Throwback Thursday post about the bath gels here.

(Not pictured, because the bottle went straight to my shower.)

Lastly, I decided to pick up a bath gel. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the bath products, but when I think e.l.f., I don’t think about much else besides cosmetics and tools.

In retrospect, I really should have picked up a few more bottles. Not because I think the bath gels are anything special, but because I have a difficult time finding cheap, vegan bath products. I only paid $1.60, so that was a great deal.

The scent is fine; I don’t totally love it, but I choose Vanilla Coconut because I’m not into overwhelming floral or fruit scents.

Images

Final Thoughts

Pros: Great deals, pretty shades
Cons: Some Studio brushes not so good, some products have questionable ingredients

Overall, I’m fairy pleased with my order, particularly with the e.l.f. Mineral Lip Gloss and Eyeshadow products. On the other hand, I’m becoming more and more bothered by some of the ingredients e.l.f. uses.

Otherwise, I don’t have much else to say that hasn’t already been mentioned in this post.