The e.l.f. Beauty Bundle costs $19.99 plus shipping, which for me amounts to $6.95. The Beauty Bundle contains more than $40 worth of products which is really understating the value since e.l.f. products are so inexpensive to begin with. As you will see in this review, you get a LOT for your money! The bundles are shipped every eight weeks so are perfect for those who may not need or want beauty products delivered every month.
I've been receiving e.l.f.'s Beauty Bundles for some time now and I'm always struck by three things:
- The large number of items that are included in each bundle
- The diversity of products received
- The quality of such inexpensive cosmetics
Of all the beauty boxes I receive (heck, of ALL the sub boxes I receive), e.l.f. sends one of the largest....a big black and white branded box. You know it must be full of good stuff when the box is this big!
Inside the lid you are greeted with "Hello Beautiful!" and an amazing number of products all packaged inside a drawstring black bag. (I find all sorts of useful things to do with these bags.)
The theme for this box is "Back to School" and they've included all the Makeup 101 basics...not surprisingly, to create a full eyes, lips and face look! The color card tells about each item, its benefits and tips for use.
The standout product in this box is a full set of TWELVE individually packaged brushes. The brushes included are: Eyelash and brow, blending eye, smudge eye sponge, eyeshadow, total face, foundation, concealer, brow comb and brush, defining eye, lip defining, eyeliner and bronzing. If you balk at the idea of paying $15 to $50 for high end brushes (as I do), I'm sure you'll agree this is an incredible deal. For the record, I do own one $35 MAC blush brush and I can assure you the comparable brush in this collection (the total face brush) does the job just as well! And guess what? The e.l.f. brush is nicely packaged whereas the MAC brush was not packaged at all. I wonder how much of that $35 went towards MAC's massive print and media budget?
This brush collection is truly amazing and something I have never received in a beauty sub box before. Even at the drug store, just one of these under other brand names would easily sell for $5 to $10. Awesome job e.l.f.!
I believe e.l.f. is the only beauty company that sends full palettes in their subscription boxes. This one included a 13 piece face and lip palette that includes nine lip shades, two blushes, two bronzers, a lip brush and a face brush. I like that the emphasis in this palette is on lips and cheeks rather than eyeshadows...that is unusual!
Next is a beautiful mineral lipstick in the shade "Barely Bitten" which is a light brick red with a hint of pink to it. (less pink than it looks in the photo) This shade is not highly pigmented but with several layers, it intensifies my natural lip color and goes on smoothly. I also really like e.l.f.'s sleek black lipstick cases...they look like they house much more expensive products!
e.l.f.'s Volume Plumping Mascara in Black also comes in a sleek black case. This one has an oversized brush for creating thick volumized lashes.
My favorite products to receive in beauty boxes are anything to do with undereye moisturizing or concealing. e.l.f.'s High Definition Undereye Setting Powder in the "Sheer" shade is a new one to me. This is intended to camouflage fine lines, dark circles and imperfections. It's hard to see how a powder could accomplish that but I'm certainly willing to give it a try.
A three piece eyeliner set contains two liquid eyeliners and a pencil. The smudge-proof liquid liners are in the shades "Coffee" and "Black" and the pencil is in a shimmering black shade. I have always been intimidated by liquid liners but this price gives me plenty of room to experiment.
They included a package of two powder puffs for powder application and quick touch-ups.
The next item is a double ended Eye Primer and Liner Sealer. The eye primer helps your shadow stay on and the sealer allows you to transform eyeshadow into a waterproof and smudge-proof liquid eyeliner. I don't use eyeshadow but I am curious as to how well these work so may gift this to a friend and wait for the report.
The last item is a Smudge Pot which can be used as a long-lasting eyeshadow or eyeliner. This is in a very shimmery light coppery shade called "Back to Basics". This is new to me and I think there might actually be some other cosmetic applications besides the ones intended.
So, what did you think? Worth $26.94? (If you said "No", we really need to get you out beauty shopping more!) By any measure, this is an incredible amount and variety of product for the price paid. e.l.f. is doing a real service to women by providing quality cosmetics for a fraction of the price charged by their drug store competitors.
e.l.f. cosmetics are available at Walgreens, Target, K-Mart, Walmart and many other drug stores and convenience stores. I believe almost all of their products are available through their website as well. If you are not familiar with e.l.f., the Beauty Bundles are a really good way to experience a wide selection of their products.
If you'd like to get $5.00 to use for other products on their website, please subscribe to this blog and I will submit your name to e.l.f. They will e-mail you with the discount.
Also be sure to check eBates for their current e.l.f. deals. Right now, you can get 4.5% cashback through eBates plus 20% off a $20+ order with coupon code SAVE20 or 30% off a $30 order with coupon code SAVE30. The code HELLO will get free shipping on orders of $20 or more. (If these codes have expired by the time you read this, check eBates for current discounts.) I'm not aware of any codes for the Beauty Bundle (after all, they are dirt cheap to begin with) but you can still get the 4.5% cashback from eBates for those.
By now, I'm sure that I sound like an evangelist for e.l.f. I can assure you that I'm not compensated by them in any way (the links in this post are not affiliate links). I just think they provide a really good product at a price point that almost anyone can afford. How many cosmetics companies can make that claim?
Thanks for reading,
Cheryl
1 comment:
That Essential line brush bundle has rather good eyeshadow brushes :) - face brushes are scratchy as hell though, Studio ones are so much better!
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