Elf Baked Highlighter & Blush and Highlighter & Bronzer Duo Review

I haven't had a good Elf haul in a while, so when I saw the new Baked Highlighter & Blush and Highlighter & Bronzer Duos ($4 each) pop up on Elf's Instagram page, I decided to put them in my cart, along with a bunch of other things that I'll be reviewing shortly. I don't know about you, but I can't just buy one or two things from Elf, I always end up with a huge haul. I guess it's because everything is so cheap it seems silly not to just spend the $35 and get the free shipping!

Anyway, I shared my haul on Snapchat and Instagram and these were the most requested review (followed by the Total Face palette and Rose Gold eyeshadow palette) so I wanted to share my thoughts and first impressions with you guys.

These come in the same containers that the other Elf baked products come in...they're a clamshell compact with a clear domed lid. Not the sturdiest packaging but for $4 I'm not complaining!

The Blush duo is called Rose Gold and contains a warm golden highlight shade and a light shimmery peachy pink blush.

I was disappointed in the highlighter as far as the formula goes. It felt dry, was difficult to pick up and wasn't as finely milled as the blush is...it actually felt a tiny bit gritty. At first swipe, all I saw was glitter, but on the second swipe, the color started to show up on my skin. It actually took 3 swipes to equal the pigmentation of the blush.

The blush, on the other hand, was soft and silky similar to Elf's other baked blushes and eyeshadows. The color in this duo is very light and ended up being a sheer wash of color on my fair skin, so I'm afraid that it probably won't show up as a blush on skin tones darker than mine. If you have medium to deep skin tones you could probably mix these two shades together to create a rose gold highlighter though.

The highlighter in the bronzer duo is the same formula as the one in the blush duo...dry and difficult to pick up. The shade is similar but swatches a bit lighter and not quite as warm. 

The bronzer is a warmer shade with a finely milled shimmer. It's a medium shade of bronze, not too dark and not too light but since it contains shimmer, I would probably use it sparingly...maybe on my cheeks and a light dusting around the perimeter of my face. 

Below is two to three swipes of the highlighter and one swipe of the bronzer.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with these. The highlighters are just too dry and the shimmer is too chunky for my taste. I prefer smooth highlighters that give more of a pearly effect rather than lots of sparkle. I also feel that medium to deep skin tones won't be able to use the blush since it's pretty light.
I think there are much better options if you're looking for budget-friendly highlighters. Click here for some of my favorites!