E.L.F Haul

Am I the only one who hates the word 'haul'!??  I just feel it sounds really greedy, like you've raided somewhere in a spending frenzy!??

..Yeah, it's probably just me!

Anyway, on Wednesday I placed my first order with E.L.F (thats 'Eyes Lips Face' for those of you who may live under a rock ;0p  !), up until this point I was an E.L.F virgin!

I don't know why I've never purchased anything from them, it could be in part to them being totally new to me.. You know how it is, when you're 13 you dabble a bit with some Rimmel makeup (my first ever Rimmel item was Heather Shimmer lipstick!  Does anyone remember that purple packaging with the little lever thing they used to have on the side!?    I digress!).. But you kinda grow up with those brands, you learn to know what works, but most importantly you get to try them out in the shops, and I don't believe theres anywhere in the UK where you can play with E.L.F and get to test it out first (feel free to correct me if Im wrong!).
I also think I made up my mind they were a bit too cheapy, not that I dislike cheap, I'm certainly no high-end girl.. but hearing the reviews on Youtube about all these $1 finds from Walmart, just kinda put me off!

But recently Ive been spotting posts in which their Studio Line Powder Brush was used, and all in all I don't think Ive read a bad word about that particular brush.  Then theres the dupes that people speak of, plus I'd also read Rachel's review of foundation primers at   http://queenofturquoise.blogspot.com/  , she said that the ELF primer was the best of the three she tested..  So in the end I decided to give ELF a try!

I purchased:
3 All Over Color Stick's in Pink Lemonade, Golden Peach and Spotlight (Spotlight is supposedly a dupe for Nars Multiple in Copacabana)
Mineral Lipstick - Runway Pink (a dupe for MAC Angel?)
From the Studio Collection:
Powder Brush
Warm Bronzer
High Definition Powder
Mineral Infused Face Primer
Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder  (a dupe for Nars Orgasm/Laguna?)

I can't comment re the dupe factor!  I don't own any of the others to make any real comparisons, but I'm sure with a bit of Googling you could find some swatches and make your own minds up :)

On first impressions I'm very pleased with every item, I'm also impressed at how they were packaged - all nice and neat within a small box, not bouncing around inside a huge wasteful box!  Lastly I'm pleased with the speed in which they were delivered too (less than 24 hours!).

They arrived Thursday morning (super fast delivery!), and last night I had a play with a few things.

Last night I had to go to a party (notice the word 'had' there!) so I used the primer, the HD powder, the contour blush & bronzer and the mineral lippy.

On first impressions I really like the primer, it made my skin feel silky smooth, but I do worry it might leave me with spots as it left a greasy fingerprint on my black Nars lid.  But this is one I'll be using for special occasions, not everyday use, so it should be ok.  What I also noticed is that my face looked a bit greasy 6 hours after application, which is sort of the norm for me, but I find when I use my Nars Sheer Glow on its own it doesnt look that way 6 hrs later, so Im assuming it was the primer..?  More testing me thinks.

The lipstick was a beautiful colour.  I cant carry off nude lipsticks so I found this to be a really pretty pale pink colour, I loved it and it lasted very well.

The contour blush and bronzer.. I liked the bronzer as a contour, I did find it a bit of a hastle to blend, but once Id done that I was v happy with the results... The blush, hmmmm, I'm not so sure.  I need a bit more of a play with it (With them all infact) to make a full informed decision!

The HD powder.. How silky soft is that!  It really gave my face a flawless look and I was very happy with it.

I was very happy with the brush too, so much so I'm going to look into buying some others.

And on a sort of side note, the Clarisonic + Elf primer + Nars sheer glow + Elf HD powder = An AMAZING flawless finish!!
I know thats a lot of product for a base, its certainly a far cry from what I use on a daily basis, but for a night out I'd def recommend giving them a whirl!

Do you have any of these products, which ones do you like?