Last but certainly not least is my ELF haul. There would have been a LUSH haul as well, but my tub isn’t getting fixed until June. It would be a moot point to buy anything now and I doubt that I’ll want to take many baths during the summer. So, a Fall Lush haul is most likely in my future which is fine with me. I’ll make sure to stock up on my favorite Halloween and Christmas staples. For my ELF haul, I basically stocked up on makeup wipes and makeup brushes that were desperately needed in my collection. I ended up with 2 freebies as well, so I am happy about that. My whole haul was $27 USD and change. I need the $25 to get free shipping.
ELF Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths
Each 2 pack was $5, so I spent $10 on makeup wipes for an 80 ct. I think this is a fantastic deal if they work well. I am halfway through my morning cleansing water, which I bought these as replacements for. I am also sometimes really lazy at 11 oclock at night and I thought that these would be really convenient to not sleep in my makeup. I want to keep my skin as clear as possible, especially since I struggle with acne prone skin. Nowadays, its mostly texture acne that I deal with, but still, gotta keep this face clean.
ELF Lip Exfoliator in Mint Maniac
I bought this for $3 to replace my Lush potted lip scrub which is almost used up as a backup since I won’t be doing my Lush order for a few months. By then, the Coco-Cola one should be back in season. The cherry cola is my favorite lip scrub that Lush makes, so I will be a happy girl when I can have it in my life again. Using a lip scrub has become a daily part of my night routine before I wash my face. My lips have never been in better condition. No flakes, plumb, and liquid lippies look fantastic and are easy to apply (as long as the formula is good).
ELF Lash & Brow Wand
I bought this for $1. It is totally worth $1. I use this to comb my brows into place and through my lashes to get rid of any clumps. It won’t work if the mascara is reallllly clumpy, but for minor clumps, it works like a charm. I think I need a lash comb to salvage clumpy mascara, but at that point, I think I’d rather just chuck the mascara. This was much needed in my brush collection though as I had none.
ELF Pointed Powder Brush
This is so incredibly soft! I paid $6 for this brush, mainly for baking/putting powder under my eyes and setting concealer. I can see using this to set my whole face though if I used foundation. I have a big fluffy powder brush, but it is more geared towards the body with how big it is. This is a better size for the face with more control. I can go back to using the other powder brush to apply my Lush powdered dry shampoo. I am so happy to have new brushes in my collection to help my powders perform better. I bet I will see a big difference. I actually like the ELF brushes better than Real Techniques.
ELF Angled Blush Brush
I actually got this $4 makeup brush for free for my birthday. This will be great for blending out blush and contouring the face. I might reserve this for contouring and use a different brush for blush. The angle is perfect for getting under those cheekbones. I have a kabuki brush that I usually use for blush from ECO TOOLS. It is a nice freebie. It isn’t as soft as the other brushes that I bought, but it is still soft and not scratchy.
ELF Ultimate Blending Brush
I bought this brush for $6 and again, the ones with the white tips are super duper soft. I have that dupe Artist foundation brush, but I hate it. I want to be able to chuck it and a few other brushes, but I needed to buy replacements for them first. I wanted a really good blending brush to buff foundation into the skin. I am so happy to have a few brush “empties” for May. I cannot wait to actually use this brush. I have a particular foundation stick from Hourglass that I want to try with this. I have tons of foundation samples that need to be used up before I purchase one from Sephora. I only buy high end base products, so that it doesn’t clog my skin and is healthier for my acne and texture prone skin. Ingredients really do matter and Sephora has a better selection of cruelty free brands. I would try a foundation or cc serum from ELF though, because I haven’t had a problem with their products breaking me out.
ELF Need IT Nude Eyeshadow Palette
I also got this $10 eye shadow for free. I am actually happy to have this in my collection. It has good buildable pigmentation, which is what I look for in an eyeshadow palette. I don’t like anything too pigmented unless its a lid shade like the Stila Glitter and Glows. It is soft, but I have felt softer and it has a tendency of being chalky with the matte shades. My Ciate palette is higher quality and doesn’t do that. It is really good for a $10 10 pan palette. That is $1 an eye shadow. The metallics are beautiful and by far my favorite from this palette. I do like the matte rose as well though, even though it didn’t show up great in my photos. The three browns on the end are virtually the same swatched out. The one in the middle has gold flecks in it. They aren’t too dark though, so they will be usable on my hooded eyes for darkening the outer v. This is a great palette for nudes when using other eye shadow products that I have to build a complete look. I’m sure I will have a few pans showing this year.
With Love,
Home Sweet Phoenix Cove 