e.l.f. Cosmetics Perfect Face Palettes Now Available

e.l.f. Perfect Face Palette in Nude

e.l.f. Cosmetics has just released three new Perfect Face Palettes ($10), and each one contains 3 eyeshadows, 1 highlighter, 1 blush, and 2 lipsticks.

The shades available are:

Nude
Rose
Smoky Matte

e.l.f. Perfect Face Palette in Rose

I love a good face palette, but including the lipsticks in with the powder products is one of my pet peeves. I wish they would create a separate lid so that you could close just the lip products and leave the rest of the palette open.

Still, I might pick one up to try since they're only $10.

e.l.f. Perfect Face Palette in Smoky Matte

Available now at elfCosmetics.com

50% Off at Elf Cosmetics Today!

Today only, save 50% sitewide at elfcosmetics.com with code FRIENDSNFAM plus free shipping over $25.
Hurry because items are already starting to sell out!

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Sneak Peek of the Elf High Shine Liquid Lipsticks

From Left: Red Apple, Crushed Berries, Bitten Pink, Naked Nude

Elf Cosmetics posted a sneak peek of their new High Shine Liquid Lipsticks on Snapchat the other night, complete with swatches and I'm drooling over these shades...they look gorgeous! Not to mention, I'm a big fan of glossy lips vs. matte (glossy finish= anti-aging and makes them look larger and smoother). 

What do you think of these new shades? Will you be picking some up when they launch?

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette | Review & Swatches

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft

This cream blush palette easily creates buildable color for a flushed glow. Creamy in texture, it's easy to blend and the pigmented colors are buildable for the perfect color.

Price: $6

Where to Buy: elfcosmetics.com

Keep reading for my review & swatches! 

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft

Review: 

The e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette launched back in January as a part of the Spring 2016 collection and I picked one up during a recent e.l.f. haul since, you know, I don't have the willpower to pass up a blush palette. ;) Plus, I just love cream blushes in the Spring and Summer...they just seem so easy and carefree, just swipe on, blend with your fingers, and go!

It comes in two shades, Soft (which is the one I'll be reviewing today) and Bold.  They're housed in the exact same packaging as the powder blush palettes, so you have the ability to pop the pans out and mix and match with other palettes. I personally don't like mixing powders and creams together so I would probably only mix these shades with some from the Bold Cream Blush palette if I decide to get that one. 

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft

Just like the other e.l.f blush palettes, this one comes with a really large mirror and generously sized pans.

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft

The shades in the Soft palette are so beautiful, and just perfect for fair to light skin tones. They give you a nude pink, a peachy nude, a dusty mauve, and a soft rose shade.

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft

I was expecting these cream shades to be sort of thick and sticky-feeling due to the lower price point but they surprised me by being super creamy and ultra-blendable. These aren't the kind of creams that you need to warm up first in order to pick them up...they already have great slip to them and a light, silky feel. I love, love, love the texture...they almost remind me of the Stila Convertible colors in a way! They're nicely pigmented and as you blend them, they turn sheer but you can easily build them up to the level of color that you want. I like to pat them into my skin and then lightly blend with my fingers.

They give my cheeks a really natural-looking satin finish that doesn't feel greasy or tacky at all. They sink right into my skin and dry down completely, but that could be because I have dry skin...they do have a more emollient texture so if you're oily, they might not dry down all the way and slide right off.

They last about 4 hours on me before fading, so they're not the longest-wearing cream blush, but I find that if I set them with a complimentary powder blush, it locks in the color for all-day wear.

e.l.f. Cream Blush Palette in Soft swatches

Overall, I'm really enjoying this palette and I love these subtle, everyday shades for my light skin tone. Most days, I wear these alone and I don't mind if they fade but if I'm going somewhere special and I want my blush to last, I layer a powder blush on top and I'm good to go for the entire day. 

Have you tried these blush palettes yet? 

Grab yours now at elfcosmetics.com

elf Total Face Palette | Review & Swatches

This three-in-one Total Face Palette with a bronzer, highlighter, and two blushes creates a flawless look that’s beautiful and natural looking. The lightweight silky formula is perfect for sculpting and adding soft, natural looking dimension to the face. With a mixture of complementary matte and shimmer finishes, you can achieve a professional look every time.

Price: $8 

Where to Buy: www.elfcosmetics.com

Keep on reading for my review and swatches...

Review: 

The e.l.f. Total Face Palette launched back in January but it was sold out for a while and I wasn't able to get my hands on it until recently. I wasn't sure I was going to like it after being let down in a big way by their Baked Highlighter and Blush duos, but guess what? I love this palette! 

The packaging is identical to their blush, highlight, and contour palettes with the four square pans and large mirror. The only difference is that this one is shiny silver, and the others are more of a matte black finish. I love the way it looks, but it is a major fingerprint magnet (you have been warned!) 

The shades are soft and subtle (which is actually the shade name for this palette) and I was surprised to find that they feel soft and buttery with great pigmentation. I wasn't expecting that at all, since e.l.f. can be hit or miss for me. They are a bit powdery and kick up some excess when applying but they go on silky smooth and show up great on my fair to light skin.
Here's the problem...these shades seem to be meant for lighter skin tones. The blushes are very soft shades of pink and peach and the bronzer is on the lighter side as well (it reminds me of a lighter version of Benefit's Hoola).  I can only hope that e.l.f. is working on a version that would suit deeper skin tones because the formula and color payoff is really nice and it's a shame that not everyone will get to enjoy it.

The bronzer and blushes go on matte while the highlight shade contains very subtle, finely milled shimmer, similar to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. I thought this shade might actually be a dupe for Dim Light, but it ended up being a shade or two darker when I swatched them side-by-side.

As you can see in my swatches below, these colors are pretty much perfect for fair to light skin tones. The blushes aren't overpowering at all and are warm, pretty shades, while the bronzer gives just the right amount of warmth to the skin without any orange tones.

The highlight shade doesn't create an in-your-face sheen on the cheekbones like some highlighters do...its effects are much more subtle than that. I tried using it all over my face and it gave me a beautiful lit-from-within look...until I went out into the sunlight where I ended up looking quite frosty. So I would recommend sticking to the cheek area when using this highlight, and don't expect it to make a bold statement. Like every shade in this palette, it'll just give you a soft, natural glow.

Overall, this is a beautiful face palette that will warm up lighter complexions and leave you looking radiant. It's a steal at only $8 and I highly recommend checking it out! :)

Grab yours now at elfcosmetics.com

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!

New Elf Aqua Beauty Available Now- Limited Edition

Photo: @elfcosmetics on Instagram

The new limited edition Elf Cosmetics Aqua Beauty line is here! I saw it posted on Instagram (thanks so much to @themakeupblock for the heads up!). This is a small collection with limited quantities and every product is designed to help you look radiant and glowing for Spring. Let's take a look!

Aqua Beauty Radiant Gel Lip Tint ($4)- This weightless gel tint is enriched with purified water, rosewater and vitamin E that hydrates and feels cool on contact. It gives a sheer, just bitten wash of color that's long wearing yet comfortable. Three shades.

Photo: Elf Cosmetics

Aqua Beauty Molten Liquid Eyeshadow ($4)- This hydrating liquid eyeshadow is infused with purified water and vitamin E for a cooling effect and gives a vibrant metallic finish. Four shades.

Photo: Elf Cosmetics

Aqua Beauty Blush & Bronzer Duo ($6)- This hydrating duo is infused with purified water and vitamin E to give your skin a radiant wash of color. The formula has a soft, bouncy, cushion-like texture that's light like a powder but melts into your skin like a cream. 3 shades.

Photo: Elf Cosmetics

Aqua Beauty Primer Mist ($8)- This weightless primer spray is enriched with purified water, cucumber and vitamins B & E and is free of silicone and alcohol. It refreshes and primes the skin and also sets makeup.

Photo: Elf Cosmetics

Current Elf Deals:

Get FREE shipping when you buy 2 or more Aqua Beauty products, use code RMN5OFF for $5 off orders of $20+,  plus get the Aqua Beauty Accessories kit for $12 (a $24 value) with no promo code needed. Kit includes:

Selfie Ready Foundation Brush

Contouring Brush

Small Stipple Brush

Crease Brush

Cream Eyeliner in Black

Waterproof Lengthening and Volumizing Mascara

Are you excited about this new collection? I'd love to hear what you ended up hauling! 

14 Days of Giveaways- Day 13

Only one more day left! Today's giveaway is for an Elf Cosmetics Day to Night Eyeshadow Palette in Party Ready.  This is a gorgeous palette that you can use to create bold, bright looks or subtle, everyday looks. Good luck! 

Elf Party Ready Palette 

New ELF Velvet Matte Lipsticks and Rose Gold Palette

Elf just released some brand new goodies on their website, including Velvet Matte Lipsticks ($3) in five shades and a beautiful Rose Gold Eyeshadow Palette ($10). The palette is already sold out, but hopefully they'll bring it back soon. The lipsticks are still available at the moment but if you're interested, don't wait too long! Once word gets out, I predict these will disappear! 

Elf Lip Exfoliator New Flavors Available Now!

In case you missed my post on Instagram last night, e.l.f Cosmetics posted a sneak peek of their cult favorite Lip Exfoliator in two new flavors! They just went live on the site this morning
and the flavors are Mint and Sweet Cherry. 

Photo: @elfcosmetics on Instagram

This is great news for those of you who didn't like the original flavor! I'm a huge fan of the original formula and can't wait to try these new flavors.

The new Lip Exfoliators are available now on the Elf Website.

e.l.f. Illuminating Palette Review & Swatches

Recently, the e.l.f. Illuminating Palette ($6 at elfcosmetics.com) came back after a hiatus over the summer. When it first debuted in June, it was called the Ambient Palette and it disappeared pretty quickly leaving a lot of people upset and speculating that maybe they didn't have enough stock to fill the orders they received. But if I had to guess, my theory is that they had to pull it because the name was too similar to another famous "ambient palette"... and the reason I'm thinking that is because now that it's back, it has a different name but the palette is exactly the same. But I could be wrong!

So not only will I be reviewing this palette on it's own, I'll also compare it to the Hourglass Ambient Palette to see if this is a possible dupe. Let's get started! 

e.l.f. Baked Blush Review & Swatches

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that hasn't tried e.l.f.'s Studio Baked Blush ($3), so I bought all four shades during a recent e.l.f. haul. I was surprised when they showed up and looked more like highlighters than blushes! They're super shimmery and two of the shades are actually light enough that they could easily pass for highlighters. But hey, I'm a highlighter junkie so this didn't bother me one bit! Let's take a look...

These slightly dome-shaped blushes are swirled with two different shades that look so pretty when they blend together. The compacts they come in are pretty lightweight and cheap-feeling, but I don't expect much for $3...besides, it's what's inside that really counts.

On a side note, one thing that really bothered me was the sloppy packing job by e.l.f. employees at their warehouse. I ordered 12 different products and they were just thrown into a bubble-lined mailing envelope, so they were all banging around together inside. One of these blushes, Rich Rose (the bronze-looking shade) is loose inside the compact, which makes it difficult to pick up any color. I have to try to hold it still with one hand and swirl my brush around with the other. I also ordered some of their Baked Highlighters and one came completely shattered in a thousand pieces. So that's two products that were ruined during shipping...ugh!

These are just beautiful to look at and they do contain a lot of shimmer, so if shimmery blushes/highlights aren't your thing, you probably won't like these. I have really dry skin, which has a tendency to look dull, so I like shimmery formulas because they add light to my face. Just as long as they're not too glittery, I'm good.

Pinktastic seems to be the shade that everyone always talks about when it comes to the Baked Blushes. I kind of laughed at the name, because while it does have a few pink veins running through it, it's primarily a golden shade! A lot of people say that this is a dupe for MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle...I haven't tried that one, so I can't confirm that. I swatched this against my other highlighters but didn't find a dupe in my collection.

Pinktastic

Peachy Cheeky is a light golden peach shade that could also pass for a highlighter on me. It's such a beautiful shade and it adds a warm glow to my cheekbones.

Peachy Cheeky

Passion Pink is probably my favorite of all the shades to wear as a blush. It's the perfect flush of pink on my fair skin and I just love it!

Passion Pink

Rich Rose actually looks bronze with coral running through it in the pan but swatches sort of a rosy bronze shade. This one doesn't seem to pick up quite as well as the others when I use a brush or my finger...it feels drier somehow. But this is also the one that's broken so I'm not pressing quite as hard due to it sliding around a lot in the compact.

Rich Rose

When I first played with these, they felt dry and like they had an shimmery overspray coating on them. But after a few uses, they felt much softer and I was able to pick them up easily with my e.l.f. blush brush. I find that these sheer out too much if I try to use a fluffy brush, so ones with shorter or stiffer bristles seem to apply them the best. These can also be used wet or dry! Here, I swatched them dry and they go on pretty sheer...

Then I applied them wet and they really pop! I used them with a damp Beauty Blender and also spritzed my brush with a setting spray and it worked well both ways. 

Overall, these are really beautiful shimmery blushes to add to my collection. I've been buying a lot of matte blushes lately so this was a nice change and now that we're heading into the Winter (aka dry skin season) these will give my skin a much-needed glow. 

Have you tried the e.l.f. Baked Blushes yet? 

New e.l.f Setting Sprays

I was perusing the e.l.f. website today and came across two new formulas of their setting spray... Illuminating and Matte Magic. Let's take a look at the claims...

These are $4 each, which is a dollar more than the original setting spray formula...but I'm guessing that's due to the added ingredients.

Illuminating Mist & Set- The fine mist creates a natural glow on the skin with ultra-fine, light-reflecting particles for an instant illuminating effect. This incredibly innovative item is right on trend to help you create the perfect strobing effect. Infused with Vitamin A, C, E, and Green Tea to help hydrate, nourish, and brighten the complexion for a healthy looking radiance. The lightweight, comfortable formula is perfect for all skin tones. Helps improve makeup wearability and prevent color from running or fading.

Magic Matte Mist & Set- This fine clear setting spray helps makeup stay put, and helps control shine for beautiful-looking skin. Infused with Vitamin B, E, Arctium Majus Root to help hydrate, soothe. The lightweight, comfortable formula helps improve makeup wearability, and prevent color from running or fading.

I definitely want to try the Illuminating formula...my dry skin always needs help to keep it from looking dull. I'm hoping it's not sparkly, but based on the description, it doesn't sound like it...they claim it gives a "natural" glow and that the particles are "extra fine". We'll see, I'm definitely placing an order today.

Which one do you want to try? 

New ELF Cosmetics Products Online

Some new ELF products have landed at Eyeslipsface.com and I couldn't wait to share them with you guys! Also, right now, you can use code Mystery at checkout with any order of $15 or more to get a free surprise product worth $6!

First up are these adorable Essential Lip Kiss Lip Balms ($2). They come in four shades and are infused with vitamins A & E, Grapeseed and Jojoba oils to nourish your lips. These are limited edition so get them while you can! 

ELF Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum Foundation Review & Swatches

ELF Foundation Serum ($8 at elfcosmetics.com) is part of the new Beautifully Bare collection and promises to give a weightless no-makeup look while minimizing the appearance of pores and fine lines. Let's take a look!

Elf Beautifully Bare Foundation Serum in Fair

Elf Lash Tint Mascara Review

Elf Lash Tint Mascara ($4 eyeslipsface.com) is part of the brand new Beautifully Bare collection that Elf released a few weeks ago (see my post on all of the new products here). Beautifully Bare is all about "makeup so flawless it looks like you are not even wearing makeup". I purchased all of the products in the line for review, and being the mascara junkie that I am, I decided to test out the Lash Tint mascara first. 

New ELF Products Launching Today!

ELF Cosmetics launched six new products today after several Instagram teasers the last few weeks. But there's a (small) catch...you can only buy them by clicking on a link on their Instagram page. They basically want to reward their Instagram followers by giving them first dibs on the new products before they're released to the general public. If you don't have Instagram and don't want to wait, the only way to get your hands on these is to sign up for a free Instagram account and follow @elfcosmetics.

Here's a little info on the new products: 

ELF Studio Prism Palette Naked Review and Swatches

The other day, I was in Target and I spotted a bunch of new Elf products that they were putting out (I posted a picture of some new Beauty Book palettes on my Instagram page if you're interested to see what they look like).  They were also putting out some products that have been around for a while on the Elf website, but I haven't seen at Target yet, like the Prism Palette ($10) in Naked. I've been dying to try this for a while now since a lot of beauty bloggers are comparing it to Makeup Geek's foiled shadows. Let's take a look!

ELF Studio Prism Palette in Naked $10

The description on the back of the box reads: 

These ultra-silky and lustrous eyeshadows look like a powder but feel like a cream, allowing for a smooth and flawless application. Use to contour, line, and highlight for a radiant finish. The luminous, shimmery formula creates a gorgeous range of looks for both day and night.