ELF cosmetics – a great brand for makeup and skincare lovers

Hi everyone! Life has been a bit hectic lately, so I have not been writing much, as you may have noticed. Also, I have not been wearing a lot of make up, so I did not have much update in that area. I have been trying out some new skincare and adding some new products to my routine. However, I wanted to talk today about ELF cosmetics.

Elf (or eyes lips face as it stands for) is a well known drugstore brand that has been on the market for a long time. They have also been present in Croatia in the last couple of years, first online, and then in Bipa stores. They are known for their affordable makeup products and brushes, but lately they have been excelling with the skincare lines of their products. They are one of my favorite drugstore brands that I am continuously coming back to. Not only they are cruelty free, but they are also completely vegan brand in case you are looking for amazing vegan products.

I have had my share of their makeup. They have great eyeshadow formulas, especially in the newer lines of 15 pan eyeshadows palettes, or bite size shadows quads. The eyeshadows are easy to work with, they blend really well, decent wear time and lovely selection of colors. Their bite size face duos – also amazing. Highlighters, glosses, bronzers, you name it they’ve got it. Their line of brushes is also great. Soft bristles with great shapes for any blush, bronzer, eyeshadow or contour. The feral can get a bit loose over time, but overall fabulous affordable option.

Today, I would like to focus on their skincare. I have tried a lot of their skincare over the years and I loved most of it. Let’s start with face toners and mists. Supertone toner, toner with brightening fruit acids, was one of the biggest, most pleasant surprises upon using it. I have never used fruit acids on my face prior to this product and I am happy that my skin has responded so well to it. Sometimes it can be tricky to add acids into a routine, weather it is AHA and BHAs, but with this product, I have discovered I am a big fan of fruit acid on my skin. It contains AHA, witch hazel, castor oil and aloe and it is that sweet spot for my skin where this product does not burn my skin nor strips it and yet it feel refreshing and brings certain radiance to my skin. I must emphasize that it has a strong fruity scent, so it might be a deal breaker for some people. I have really enjoyed using it and now I have a smaller, travel version of it. I have used it mostly in the summer months, and that is the time when my skin usually behaves more normally than dry. It left my skin nice and clear and I would repurchase it again. Hydrating water essence is just as good (if not even better) as other K-beauty essence toners.  It was really hydrating on the skin, and perfect to use after the clarifying Supertone toner. I would use it daily, in the morning and in the afternoon and really loved it. It combined well with other products I was layering it with. It seems that it is not available on their website anymore. Why ELF? This was a really good, simple yet effective essence. I also loved Soothing Aloe Mist. It was super refreshing and mild on the skin. I would use it in the hot summer days to refresh my skin, or any time I would feel my skin feels tight, in the winter months. I loved that it contains vitamin E which is perfect to combine with any vitamin C serum. Also a big stamp of approval from me.

Superclarify cleanser was just ok. It was not bad by any means, but using it as a second step in a double cleansing routine, it did not do the best job. It would not remove all of my makeup. If I would use it on the day when I just wanted to wash my face, then it was ok. I think it is geared toward people with more normal to oily skin as it was a tad bit drying for my taste. Then again, I am completely spoiled by Skintegra’s cleansing products, so this ELF cleanser had no chance compared to it.

Holly hydration makeup melting cleansing balm is a great cleanser. (again, not as fabulous as Skintegra, but amazing second best option). I really like this product. It is gentle on the skin and it has great ingredients like peptides, ceramides and hyaluronic acid. It melts the makeup while you massage it on your face and then becomes milky consistency once you add water to your face and really take all impurities, without that annoying feeling of tightness. It is just pure joy to use it. I have repurchased it, both in full and travel version and so far it is the best and also affordable melting balm I have tried.

I share the same level of love for the Hello hydration face cream. Same great ingredients as the melting balm and it is the perfect level of hydration for any time of the year. I love how simple and effective the ingredients are. It is lightweight but very moisturizing and it just works great with my skin. I think it would work great for any type of skin. I have also already repurchased this moisturizer, but his time in the fragrance free version. Looking forward to start using it soon.

Last winter, I have added Nourishing facial oil to my winter skin routine. I used it when I felt like my skin needed an extra boost of something to feel great. I love that it contains rosehip seed oil (among other ingredients) and my skin always reacts well to it. (much better than marula oil, for example). I loved using this oil, but I have switched to pure rosehip seed oil since. This ELF oil contains almond oil that I find to be unstable, so the product went bad before I could use it all up. I don’t like to waste products, so I have found something that works a bit better for me and it last longer. I would still recommend this nourishing facial oil, especially if you struggle with dry patches. It sits great on the skin, but it might get too heavy for normal or oily skin people.

One product that I was not super thrilled about was Superhydrate moisturizer. Luckily, I had a small version of the cream, so it didn’t do much damage. It is a gel formula, or jello like formula, a bit sticky overall. It contains promising ingredients, like squalane, niacinamide, snow mushroom. However, something in it did not agree with my skin. I had some breakouts from it. Maybe someone with more oily skin or acne prone skin would enjoy it more than I did, but I will not be using it anymore.

As for mask are concerned, I enjoyed using Supermask with soothing centella asiatica. It is the type of mask you put on your clean skin and let sit for about 10 minutes, till it absorbs into the skin. Then you wash off the excess with water or wipe it away with a tissue. I am usually not a huge fan of cream masks, as it leaves an icky feeling on my skin, like I have too much product. I did like this one, especially after a long winter hike, when I wanted to treat my skin to a spa like feeling and sooth it after the wind and cold. I had a mini version of it and it was perfect for me, as it is not the type of mask I would use all the time, but it is nice to have around.

I don’t see the Marsh-mellow mask on their website any more. However, I will just quickly reflect on it. I liked it, but not loved it. It was is a wash off type of mask. It had a thick, paste like consistency and it was white so you looked like a ghost when you put it on the face (which was the fun part). It was a bit drying on my face, but not as much as some other wash off masks I have used before. I did feel like it would clear my pores around my nose area, but I would have to follow up with heavy moisturizer to compensate for the drying feel. It was good in the sense of cleansing the clogged skin, but it would easily irritate my skin, if I left it on for too long. Anyway, since you can’t get it anymore it is not such a big deal if you missed on it.

All in all, there are some true gems of skincare in ELF skincare line. Keep your eyes on their web site as they also get great deals and discounts and let me know if you have your favorite products from ELF.

Hope you are having a fabulous day! XOXO, Iva