So the other day I get a text from my mom saying there’s a huge elf sale going on in CVS at the mall. There were no signs or explanations but she said she was scanning the prices of some elf cosmetics and they were ringing up super cheap. Like, some of this stuff was $0.25. A quarter.

  So, knowing my love for all things makeup and a good deal, we ended up getting so many things. Are most of these excessive? Yes. We have no control when it comes to a good deal. A lot of these things I’ll probably end up giving to friends, family or using for when I do other people’s makeup, but I thought I’d share all of the things I got along with a miniature review. This post is huge, there are so many things–bear with me! Let’s get started with the elf cosmetics haul & review!

The Breakdown

Here’s a list of what I got and what I paid! The original prices range from $1 to $6 and I didn’t pay more than $1.50 for any product. I have multiples of a few of the items, but I’m listening them once. I will be reviewing them all in this order down below (except for the HD concealer).

1. elf Smudge Pot – Aint That Sweet ($0.75)
2. elf Smudge Pot – Cruisin’ Chic ($0.75)
3. elf Eyelid Primer – Pearl  ($0.25)
4. elf Eyelid Primer & Liner Sealer – Natural  ($0.50)
5. elf Flawless Eyeshadow Quad – Smoky ($0.50)
6. elf Flawless Eyeshadow Quad – Beautiful Browns  ($0.50)
7. elf Flawless Eyeshadow Quad – Tantalizing Taupe  ($0.50)
8. elf Tone Correcting Powder  ($0.75)
9. elf HD Powder – Shimmer ($1.50)
10. elf Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter – Fair ($0.75)
11. elf HD Lifting Concealer – ($0.75) **This was way too dark for me, I won’t be mentioning it later on.
12. elf Concealer Brush – ($0.50)
13. elf Smudge Brush – ($0.50)
14. elf Lip Balm SPF 15 – Pink ($0.75)
15. elf Lip Stain – Crimson Crush ($0.50)
16. elf Lip Stain  – Hot Tamale ($0.50)

Quick Reviews & Swatches

I put all of the swatches into one shot because, truthfully, there wasn’t much to swatch. I didn’t swatch the eye shadow palettes because my arm doesn’t have enough space and truthfully, I’m a little lazy.  

elf Smudge Pots Review

  These are incredibly smooth and almost have an oiliness to them. I think they’d be a great eye shadow base–I didn’t notice creasing when using “Ain’t That Sweet” as a base for my shadow. The biggest downside is the packaging–it’s almost impossible to get product out of the jar unless you have tiny fingers and no fingernails. This is not a product for girls with long nails like me, *sigh*.

elf Eyelid Primer Review

 I’d used the nude colored eyelid primer before many times but I didn’t even know the Pearl one existed. Personally I’m a fan of thicker and creamier primers, but this primer gets the job done. Great quality for the price, I would recommend for someone who likes shimmery shadows. If you have oily eyelids, this would not be the best for you.

elf Eyelid Primer & Liner Sealer

 This was my holy grail eyelid primer when I was in high school–I repurchased this at least four times. Although now I use the Maybelline Color Tattoo creams as my primer, I do occasionally use this when I’m feeling more matte. The primer is amazing. As for the liner sealer, honestly…I’ve used it like once or twice in the four years I’ve been using this product. It’s not bad  it’s just not necessary. Huge pet peeve when products put unnecessary add-ons to products. You’ll never see me buy a double ended lipstick or whatever they’re doing with these multi-tasking things.  

elf Flawless Eye Shadow Review

I own a lot of elf shadows and palettes from my beginning years of makeup. Are they decent? Yes. Can you get better eye shadow for around the same price? Absolutely. The strips of shadow are so thin that it’s hard to fit a decent brush into the colors. The “Base” and “Lid” instructions on some of these should totally not be followed–they are kind of wrong in my opinion. Darkest color does not go over a light color on the lid with a lighter color in the crease…what? The lighter color never goes in the crease that’s make-up 101. They’re not bad, but if you want something in this price range you’re better off with Wet n Wild shadows.  The best is Beautiful Browns, though, I can see myself using it now and then.

elf Tone Correcting Powder Review

By far my FAVORITE product. I’ve always wanted to try this and it’s freaking awesome. You swirl around the colors and sweep it on your face. I’ve been using this instead of my usual face powders and it makes my skin so smooth and matte. I don’t really have discoloration on my face, but it does make my freckles less noticeable. Does that count? I kind of want to keep all of these for myself, I think I got like four. Oops.

elf HD Powder Shimmer Review

I used to have the regular HD Powder that was translucent but I literally lost it.  I have no idea where it is. How do you lose a powder the size of your fist? Anyway, have you guys ever heard of leg contouring like the VS models do? I wanna use this for that. If it doesn’t totally fail I’ll post about it. The packaging is really nice and solid. The package says to apply this all over your face but unless you want to look like a disco ball shat on you I really wouldn’t do that. This is really beautiful, I would use this as a highlight or for strobing.

(My cat was using the makeup as a bed, precious.)

elf Under Eye Concealer & Highlight Review

 Usually elf face products like BB creams, foundations and concealers totally don’t work for me. I was going to say they just suck, but some people like them and I’m trying to be fair. They usually have an orange-tinge and don’t blend. This was actually pretty good. The concealer is a little sheer, but the highlighter is great and blends easily. I’ll probably use the highlight way more than the concealer–I have better concealers. See what I mean about duo/double-ended products? Blah.

elf Concealer Brush & Smudge Brush Review

 I’m hugely a fan of elf brushes (except for their essentials face brushes, not a fan). These are both great brushes. The concealer one probably won’t get much use, but the smudge brush is a great dense shadow brush.

elf Lip Balm SPF 15 Review

 This is so freaking moisturizing. It is so creamy and smooth. It has a glossy finish, which is not my personal preference because I’m all about matte, but it’s amazing. It doesn’t last incredibly long, but it lasts a fairly good amount of time and is very moisturizing. I think I prefer this to Burt’s Bees. I definitely prefer this to Maybelline Baby Lips. God, I hate Baby Lips.

elf Lip Stains Review

 These feel like trying to put a Sharpie marker on your lips. They go on extremely patchy and take forever if you want even coverage on your lips. The point of the tip doesn’t really work efficiently so you have to use the sides of the tip and it’s confusing and difficult to use. I had to layer colors over these to hide the patchiness. BUT, I will say, they last a long ass time and aren’t too drying. I had the stain with a Revlon Just Bitten color over it and it lasted for hours and hours. I was impressed. The Tamale color is also super orange-y and I’m probably never going to use it unless I’m doing some sort of Halloween or avant garde look. Whoops.   

 So, there you have it. A huge elf cosmetics review. So many things. Have you tried any of these elf products/would you want to? Let me know in the comments!