Elf Haul & Review

Hello everyone hope you all had a great weekend!

May is my birthday month, so naturally I thought makeup would be the best gift to myself. I went on a little makeup spree, the first of which was Elf Cosmetics. I was watching a video on YouTube and the youtuber was doing a haul on a recent online Elf order she did. I was curious so I checked out the Elf website and there was a lot of stuff that my local Target does not carry and it just so happened that they were having $1.98 shipping, so I had to pick up some stuff! 

First off...

Turks & Caicos

This blush and bronzer duo. I've seen this duo mentioned on a Tumbler blog as a perfect blush and bronzer for dark skin girls. I just didn't realize how how dark it was.

The bronzer is very dark with a red undertone. I am shade NC44 in MAC and for me, this is too dark to use as bronzer and contour. It is very pigmented and you need a very light hand to apply.  In the pan it also looks like it has a lot of glitter but most of it seems to wear off when you break through the first layer. 

The blush like the bronzer looks very glittery in the pan but once you break through the first layer the majority wears off. It applies nicely. For my skin tone this provides a very natural flush of pink with a nice glow. They don't have the best staying power but for the price they're great. I definitely prefer  the blush over the bronzer. 

Next, was another blush...

Rich Rose

I love me some blush, you will soon come to know. This was the darkest of the baked blushes on the website. In person this blush is not as dark or as pigmented as I would like. In the picture above the color is a bit darker than it really is. This really reminds me of Warm Soul by MAC. It just gives you a nice natural glow. 

Next off, are these baked shadows...

I was most excited about these baked eyeshadows. I had purchased one from my local Target a while ago in the color Bark and I loved it! I loved it so much I decided to try some other colors out, but when I went back to Target they didn't sell them anymore. So I was glad when I found these online. I picked up the colors burnt plum, chocolate dreams, bronzed beauty, and toasted.  These little guys apply and blend so easily and have great color payoff.

Toasted

This one is a beautiful champagny-pink shadow. Perfect for a wash of color on the lid. Love!

Bronzed Beauty

Out of all the ones I got, this one was not one of my favorites. In the pan it looks like a beautiful golden bronze color, but once you apply on the lid it just loses all pigmentation. If you are looking for just a wash of color than this would be okay, but if you want more color payoff I would definitely apply some sort of base underneath. 

Burnt Plum

A beautiful plum color shadow with a great color payoff. Love it!

Chocolate Dreams

A gorgeous deep chocolate brown. My only con with this one is the packaging. It doesn't snap shut like the others, but I can move past it. 

Next, I have a smudge pot...

Brownie Points

This little smudge pot claims to be a long-lasting cream shadow and I would agree. However if you are like me and have very oily eyelids you would still need to prime your lids before applying. The shadow itself is very creamy and blends nicely. The color payoff is nice too, it is a very deep bronze. One thing I noticed while swatching this, is that it stains so I would recommend using a primer prior to use. Another con is the packaging. The pot is plastic and I worry the product might dry too easily. Overall nice product. 

Lastly...

Makeup Lock & Seal

This product promises to increase  the intensity of your makeup colors and lock it on. It claims you can use it to coat eyeliner, shadow, lipstick, blush, and brow colors. I have a problem with eyeliners staying put because I have oily lids, so when I saw this I jumped on it. It definitely makes your shadows more intense. As far as locking in makeup I'm still on the fence. I love the effect of tightlining but I don't do it because it just ends up under my eyes. This helped out a bit. I still noticed some fall down but it definitely held on longer than when I didn't use the Lock & Seal. I am still working with this product so maybe an update to come later. 

Has anyone tried any of these products what were your thought on them? I apologize if this was a long post, but I just wanted to give you the best review I can give.I hope you enjoyed it and I'll talk to everyone soon!