e.l.f. Cosmetics

Since going vego, I threw out almost everything that was in my makeup bag, leaving behind an olive oil lip balm and an Essence mousse foundation that was hardly compatible with my skin type. I had done some research on vegan brands, but more often than not, they were out of my price range. I have a maximum of $10 for every product I buy, and even that's a bit too much for me. So for two to three years, I went without any makeup.

That is, until I discovered e.l.f. Cosmetics.

I guess I'm tardy to the party!

I've spent the last few months going nuts and stocking up on the brand. You could say I've got way too many products in my beauty kit by now but I'm still keen on buying more.

e.l.f. Cosmetics has been around for at least a few years. You may have already heard about them, but for those that have not, this is a brand worth considering adding to your vanity. It's cruelty-free, and all of their products are vegan except for some of the brushes in the Essentials range, apparently. I avoid all of their brushes either way, because they're no match for EcoTools and other cheap no-name, cruelty-free ones I've got in my possession. I have a thing for bamboo handles... um...

Anyhow, I've sampled a lot of products from e.l.f., ignoring the ones that have more bad reviews than good. When it comes to saving money, there's no room for rubbish in my budget. And sadly, I've gotten a couple of awful products despite the positive reviews. The issues were more of the personal sort where an eyeliner had made my eyes sting so much due to some sort of allergy. I couldn't see at all for a while because I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than half a second. Fun times indeed. (More on the eyeliner in a future post)

There are three lines in the e.l.f.'s repertoire; the Essential, the Studio and the Mineral.

Essential:

Distinguishable by their basic silver and white containers and packaging, this range is the cheapest in all of e.l.f.'s products, generally ranging from $1 to $3 in US dollars. This range has churned out some great products despite the price tag including but not limited to; Jumbo Lipgloss Sticks, Volumising Mascara and The Little Black Beauty Book.

Studio:

Moderately priced compared to the Essential and Mineral lines, you can identify the range by their sleek black compacts and containers. Generally priced between $3 to $6, with eyeshadow palettes coming in at $10 US dollars. Of a somewhat better quality than the Essential line, a lot of the products performs rather wonderfully, with some of my favourite products being from this line; Cream Eyeliners, Maximum Coverage Concealer and HD Mattifying Cream Foundation.

Mineral:

This range is a bit of a mystery because I haven't experimented with many products from the Mineral line. There are also some hybrid babies between the Mineral and Studio lines. A lot of reviews state that the products are either poorly pigmented or don't perform as well as their Essential and Studio counterparts. I currently own the Eyeshadow Primer, the Eyeshadow in Seductive and the Face Primer (which I don't particularly fancy - I'll explain why later). The prices vary from anywhere between $3 to $8. This range doesn't contain parabens or mineral oil, whilst the other lines do.

So now that I've covered a little bit on e.l.f. and their products, I would like for you guys to keep an eye out for a few reviews on the products. Excited? Yeah, me too. I love lipsticks so you'll be seeing quite a few of those.

You can find e.l.f. products at K-Marts throughout Australia, but I find them to cost twice as much as they are in the US. So I grab all of my e.l.f. cosmetics through iHerb as even with the low postage cost and currency conversion, it still works out to be cheaper than what you get at K-Mart, not to mention the wider variety of products you can pick up. If you follow this link you can get $5 off your first order under $40.00 US, $10 off if the order total is over $40.

Just so you all know, this post is in no way sponsored by e.l.f Cosmetics. so I do not receive money from them. Maybe later, but not any time soon. If or when it happens, you'll be the first to know.