Thursday, February 5, 2009

Café Review: E.L.F. Brightening Eye color




Hermanas!!!

As promised earlier in the week; I have been conscientiously using my E.L.F. cosmetics shipment; and I have a lot to say about them. This will need several posts; so let's start with the Brightening Eye Color quad eye shadows.

Eye shadows are my favorite makeup item. Love playing with them to get new looks and try out stuff. So how do these ONE DOLLAR quads fare in Bella's routine? Let's see. I bought Butternut, Drama, and Luxe.

In general, E.L.F. e/s are a bit powdery and certainly do not have tons of pigment. If you are going for a precise look or want a really deep coloring; I suggest you use your MAC or Maybelline goodies.

They look shimmery in the itty-bitty packaging; but when applied they turn a bit matte, which I totally adore: us mujeres who are a bit over 30 benefit way more from matte eyeshadows. Though they are not perfectly matte, either. Some of the colors reminded me a bit of MAC's Lustre finish.

They blend quite easily, and I found that they actually transform when combined- they do not look like one color on top of another one; but have some serious mixing power. That means with 4 swatches you can get as much as say, 7 colors with mixing!!! I know, coolness.

I think these little ones can be used day or night (unless, again, you are going for a punch and hyper accentuated eye look); and they stay in place: but they do need a primer for all day haul, no question. Without a primer, they tend to not disappear completely, but do loosen up after a while.

Here are my quick comments on the ones I bought:


Butternut
Butternut could just be the perfect weekend set, or the one to carry in your makeup bag for when you don't have time to get ready and need a quick pick me up. The peachy color is fantastic as either an all over base or a lower eyelid color. The lightest one works wonders as a highlighter for the inner part of the eye (yup, right next to your nose) or as a brow bone enhancer; and the other two are a delight to blend for accent.



Luxe
I must say, this one looked a bit off-putting when I opened it. I mean, RED eyeshadow? Oh my, I could not have been more wrong. The reddish swatch is the perfect burnt rose when I brush it on top of the pink one (which I use as all over base), and makes my eyes pop like you would not believe.

The brown and coppery tones are becoming my faves. The darker one sets in like a nice smokey touch and adds mystery to the eyes; and the other one helps it not look too strong for a day at the office. Love it, mucho love it.



Drama
I know I told you before that silver eye shadow is just not for me; but I risked it with this one and was pleased. Last Sunday I did my first ever attempt at a smokey eye look. While Rojo was a bit surprised at the change in my usual palette and style, he confessed to like it. Fetching, he said.

Not only is this a great set to make baby steps in smokey eye craft; but it is replacing (yes, you heard right) my MAC carbon as my eyelining choice. Combining the darkest tones, I get the perfect blend for lining my eyes and not look like Morticia Adams (who is a belle, but I bet she did not have office hours).

All in all hermanas, I will absolutely recommend E.L.F. Brightening Eye Color. Both to the make up newbies who are beginning to try out which colors agree with them; to more experienced chicas who like to expand their stash and save money at the same time.

I will continue the E.L.F. reviews tomorrow and next week. Right now, E.L.F. sent me a coupon code to get a free lip gloss with any order. Check them out and use the code ECHYPAY when you check out.

Siempre, Bella.

5 comments:

  1. $1 makeup that isn't crap or for little kids? For real?

    ReplyDelete
  2. For real. I thought the same thing whenh I first heard about them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is it made in Chinese sweatshops?

    ReplyDelete
  4. lol it's seriously A here. didn't feel like signing into my thing so I just did anonymous!

    ReplyDelete

Gracias for joining us at the Café Beautique. Leave me your ideas and tips!