Hello! Back at it with an updated e.l.f. must haves post. This brand has exploded over the past two years since my last e.l.f must haves post. So we are Back. At. It. here at ggg.
I decided it was time to test out a bunch of the new products and update my “best of” list. I love the e.l.f. prices and the high quality on some of their items just blows my dang mind.
For my Strawberry Blonde and fellow Fair Skinned lovelies (a.k.a. the pale kids club) I have also included the shade that I use. To help find the shades that will work best without having to buy 14 different shades to see what works best.
You can click right on the product name to get taken directly to that product page.
Here we go. This is exciting. I feel excited. Btw, these are in no particular order.
Eyes Lips Face Must Haves
1 | Baked Highlighter, $4 … Blush Gems + Moonlight
This highlighter at first (dry) swatch is not good, as it is a baked product (which generally require water to reach top levels of pigmentation). But when you press a damp beauty blender into it and apply to your skin that way, get ready to reach intergalactic levels of glow. That somehow still looks natural. Love! If you still aren’t getting the pigment you want, scrape off a bit of the top and get ready to glow like crazy. I put a photo below so you can see the difference between applying it wet and dry.
2 | Smudge Pot, $3 … Wine Not, Cruisin Chic.
These pots have a surprising amount of pigment. They really hold on and last all day and night. The colors are also gorgeous. It makes for a nice quick eye look, you can add a little taupe powder in the crease, then quickly smudge this over the lid and you’re good to go. You can see Wine Not in action being used as a base in {this tutorial.} I’d like to pick up a few more shades of these.
3 | Eyebrow kit, $3 … Light.
This is a great little eyebrow kit. It has a tinted wax, lighter powder, and brush. The stand out part of this kit is the angled side of the mini brush. It’s the most perfect, thin tipped, slanted brush for applying eyebrow products or eyeliner. It has just the right amount of pressure vs. give that you need for brow products. Buy the kit for this brush alone. It’s incredible. They need to make a version of it with a longer handle.
The second stand out part of this kit if the powder shade in the “Light” kit. It’s an amazing contour powder for fair and light skin tones. It’s just the right amount of ashy and grey.
It also looks lovely on the eyes, right in the crease as an eyeshadow shade. This kit is really packed with some amazing products. All for $3. Amazing. One of my favorite buys from e.l.f.
This is so close to being the perfect version of the eyebrow brush! It has the long handle and perfect slant. But it’s just slightly, and I mean ever-so-slightly, too wide at the top to be the perfect brow brush. But it’s a great eyeliner brush for cream liners pressed into the lash line and an even better brush to apply powder over eye liner. I use it to apply powder right over the liner and ever-so-slightly smoke out and soften the edges of my liner.
Another brush…you are about to see a trend emerge! This contour brush is meant for the eyes. It’s great on the eyes, it has so many sides and angles to use, you can apply thin bands of color with the angled side of the tip, or use it as an all-over eye blending brush.
This also makes a great cheek contouring brush for a softer contour line. It’s small enough that you don’t end up with a ton of product on your cheeks, but fluffy enough to work for blending and gently buffing that contour line out. Very versatile brush!
6 | Micro Contouring Brush, $8.
This is e.l.f.’s newest contour brush. It’s tiny and medium density. If you want a nice crisp line, use the edge (not the wide flat top) of the brush, press the edge into your contour powder or cream and then apply thin lines around your face. For crisp lines, this is an excellent brush and works with both powder and cream formulas. You could also use the wider, flat top of the brush to buff out any harsh lines.
7 | High Definition Under Eye Setting Powder, $3.
I am always amazed at this little powder. It works as beautifully as the Laura Mercier magical one and never settle into fine lines around my eyes. It is a TINY container though, so just be mentally prepared for that. It’s perfect for travel though! This is a real gem of a product from e.l.f. A very high-end finish.
8 | Lip Liner + Blending Brush, $3.
Longevity and precision are the two words I would use to describe these lipliners. The Dark Red color came out a beautiful, thin line, that didn’t bleed or smudge all night. I am SO impressed with how long it lasted. The brush side is great for applying concealer or powder around your mouth (I used the high-def under eye powder around my mouth) to really make darker lip colors look clean and precise.
9 | Precision Liquid Liner, $3.
Another e.l.f. stand out product because of the brush. It’s so ultra thin, it creates the most perfect tiny and crisp line. This works great if you just like a subtle line very close to the lash line or you prefer a winged look. I recommend wiping the brush back and forth over the opening of the tube before applying, to get the excess liquid off the brush. It makes it much easier to work with that way, and you can build the intensity up as needed. This liner really stays on. Impressive. I wish they would make it in brown!
I love this liner. It doesn’t sting my sensitive eyes at all. It lasts all day. The thin tip makes it easy to apply. I need to pick it up in brown and navy. This is one of my favorite e.l.f. buys. I reach for it again and again.
11 | Prism Eyeshadow Palette, $10.
I am surprised and impressed by the color payoff of these shadows when applied wet. They really add a nice sparkle to the lid. They are all shimmers, so it’s a good holiday/special events palette to own.
12 | Contouring Blush + Bronzing Powder, $4 … Turks + Caicos.
Sometimes I can’t fathom how e.l.f. gets a product so good at this price point. The bronzers in these palettes are a really nice bronze shade, not orangey at all. I like the Turks + Caicos shade, because I can use the blush shade as a bronzer when I am pale and the bronzer shade when I’m faux-tanned. This shade has a bit of shimmer, so I mostly use it on my neck and chest to blend that area with my face makeup. They do make a nice matte shade also though.
13 | Precision Sponge Trio, $12.
There are countless attempted dupes for the beautyblender. The problem with the dupes is that they usually absorb so much more makeup than the beauty blender, that they end up costing you more in the long run. Out of these e.l.f. sponges, I liked the mid and small size. If I’m being 100% honest with myself, they didn’t apply the makeup as nicely as my beauty blender. But the original BB is a Holy Grail product for me, so these even coming close says something. I did like how they finished the look of my makeup when I applied it with my fingers, then used the mid and small size blenders to dab it in. The larger size did absorb too much product in my opinion, but I will hold onto it and use it to blend in moisturizers and self tanners.
14 | Kiss It Goodbye Lip Color Remover, $3.
If you love long wear or red and dark lipsticks, this is a great product to own. Just apply a little to your lips with your fingers, make sure the product has coated your lips, let it sit for about 20 seconds and then gently wipe away with a piece of tissue. The lip color will be totally removed, without any tugging or staining. I do recommend applying a good lip balm after to keep your lips hydrated.
15 | Flawless Concealer Brush, $3.
This brush can be used for setting concealer with loose powder. I primarily use and love it clean, with no product on it, to blend out my eyeshadows, It’s very soft and fluffy.
16 | Crease Brush, $3.
This brush is a great size and has wonderful density for picking up the right amount of product and for blending. You could even pick up 2 of them at this price, to always have a clean brush for blending and buffing out eyeshadow.
17 | Contouring Blush + Bronzing Cream, $3 … St. Lucia
It’s super hard to find cream bronzers and even harder to find them at a great price. This is an amazing cream blush and bronzer shade combo. The blush looks great on me when I have a faux tan and the bronzer works on me year round. I love layering a powder product over a cream product to get extra longevity and wear from my makeup. This duo is a gret one to grab!
18 | Beautifully Precise Smudge Brush, $5.
This is hands down one of my favorite brushes of all time. I use it daily. The size is perfect for getting close and smudging shadow into the lash line easily. The pointed tip wings out shadow perfectly and places shadow so precisely. I have one in my personal kit and one in my pro kit. This is a MUST HAVE brush!!
19 | Beautifully Precise Liner Brush, $5.
I think it probably pretty clear by now how obsessed I am with e.l.f. brushes. This is one of the best liner brushes I have ever used. It’s another one that I have two of – one in my personal kit and one in my pro kit. For years I searched for the perfect liner brush that would give me enough pressure to make a smooth line, but was also fine enough to draw precisely. And here it is, this e.l.f. liner brush is the best liner brush I have ever tried.
20 | Waterproof Metallic Pencil Liner, $4.
I am always on the hunt for long lasting eyeliners. This gel formula slides on and really lasts. The bronze color is absolutely beautiful, just the right combination of browns and gold. I love it!
e.l.f. Products On My “To-Try” List
I have a similar brush that I adore, this shape looks really close to it. It’s a great brush for applying powder all over the face.
This brush is always out of stock! It looks like a great size for getting mascara really close to the roots. You would run this brush over the mascara brush to pick up color, then swipe in from the base of your lashes to the ends, so there is no gap between the mascara ad your lids. Lighter colored lashes often have this gap, so I’d love to test out this brush soon.
This looks like it would be a great brush for bronzer!
4 | Ultimate Blending Brush, $6.
I think this could be a good brush for buffing foundation, if you prefer that technique over using a beauty blender.
5 | Selfie Ready Foundation Brush, $6.
I’d like to try all of the above brushes. I’m so curious which is best for blending foundation and other face products. But I feel like I have to test them all in the same time period to see which I prefer. They all look awesome.
6 | Glossy 3-in-1 Makeup Top Coat, $5.
Have you ever seen those photos in magazines in a beauty spread or on Instagram and the eyes look glossy? It’ these cool topcoats that make it that way. I’ve been wanting to try one forever! You apply your eyeshadow then add this on top.
7 | Baked Highlighter + Blush, $4 … Rose Gold
This combo looks beautiful! Remember for baked products to always use a synthetic brush or beauty blender, and dip it into the product with the brush wet to get tons of pigment and color payoff.
8 | Aqua Beauty Mousse Foundation, $6 … Fair/Light
I’m a foundation junkie. My skin is really sensitive though, so we shall see how this goes.
9 | High Definition Highlighting Powder, $6 … Starlight Glow
This looks a lot like the Lorac highlighter that I love. Can’t wait to try this. Highlighters tend to be the one thing that are always a win at a drugstore price point.
Honorable Mentions
1 | BB Cream, $6 … Buff
I wanted to love this cream, I really did. But it did burn my sensitive skin a little and makes it itch if I wear it for more than a few hours. The color Buff was a great match, so it mad me sad the formula didn’t work for me! I wanted an inexpensive option to throw on for times I need to run an hour of errands and didn’t want to use a pricey foundation, but wanted to look pulled together. I’ll continue to use it for that, but wouldn’t repurchase. If you don’t have sensitive skin issues, I would give this a try, because the coverage and color was really nice.
2 | H.D. Lifting Concealer, $3 … Fair + Light
I really loved the consistency of this concealer. It is nice and light and illuminating, but with great coverage. It layered nicely over heavier coverage concealers on days I had bags or dark circles and needed double coverage. However, it also made my skin burn a bit at first. My skin is really sensitive. The other issue is the coloring. The fair shade only works on me when I’m my deepest, darkest fake tan. Light works more on me as a faux tan foundation shade or contour shade when I’m pale. The shades are really dark and better for medium and deep skin tones. I’d love if they came out with some truly lighter shades on this one. I added some swatches below!
These lipsticks have made the internet go bonkers lately! The bottom compartment that shows the lipstick color is actually a reserve of useable lipstick that pops out. Good to know! The reason these are a so/so for me, is because I do feel like they dry out my lips by the end of the day. So these aren’t an every day lipstick for me. But what I love about them is the range of colors available. They have so many shades, from black, to deep wine, to orange. If you are wanting to try a trending color or need a black shade for a costume, you can’t beat the pigment and price of these lipsticks.
I hope these picks helps navigate all the products that e.l.f. Cosmetics offers! I will keep updating this post as I try more products off my “To-Try” list.
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Thank you for reading!
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