Tuesday 29 July 2014

ELF Brushes, My Review

At the time buying ELF brushes seemed like a good idea, they looked good and were at a good price. This review is all about those brushes I bought and how it might have been better to get ones from somewhere else.

So let me start from the beginning. ELF as many of you know is a budget beauty brand that has a good range of makeup along with other products such as brushes. Here in Cardiff they opened a store selling all of their products including the brushes that I am blogging about now.

ELF I have found as a makeup brand can be hit and miss. Some of their products are quite good such as blushers and some eyeshadows. I really like their baked range, pigment eyeshadows and the blushers are generally good. Although some of blushers and eyeshadows do have a very powdery texture, some of them I have found could have done with more pigment. 

So heres onto those brushes. When it comes to brushes I usually favor more high end brushes such as MAC, Illamasqua and Bobbi Brown. Although I have found that cheaper brushes such as some from Barry M haven't done too badly. So I decided to get some from ELF. At £3.95 each I found you can't go wrong and they did look alright in the store. Nice black handles and brushes for all sorts of things.

The brushes


The brushes I bought were from ELF's Studio Line. The Studio Line is meant to be better quality to ELF's Essential Line, that is the brushes with the white handle instead of the black one. The brushes I got were - Eyeshadow C Brush, Small Stipple Brush and Small Smudge Brush. My favorite out of the three happened to be the Eyeshadow C Brush, but only because it was good with filling in eyeshadows on the corners of the eyes. 

I did find the Small Stipple Brush to be a bit rough, the hairs needed to be a lot softer. I wasn't too fussed on the Small Smudge Brush, it didn't seem to smudge that well.

These brushes have only lasted me a couple of months. These past weeks the Small Stipple Brush and the Eyeshadow C Brush have fallen apart. As I had been using them I did notice they started to feel a bit weak, like they would come apart. Now those two have. The Small Smudge Brush seems to be going the same way too, feeling quite loose. I managed to stick the brushes back together for the picture above.

Small Stipple Brush

Broken Small Stipple Brush

Eyeshadow C Brush

Eyeshadow C Brush has come apart

The Small Smudge brush is still intact


I know these were £3.95 each so I shouldn't expect amazing high end products, but for two to break in the same way and for the third to be almost going the same way isn't good. These were from ELF's Studio Line which is meant to be better quality than ELF's Essential range. The brushes weren't even given heavy use unlike my other brushes.

I have had some of my MAC brushes since 2007 and they are still going good, not even coming loose. You may be paying over £15 each for a brush from MAC but you cant compare to quality to these ones. As the old saying goes - You get what you pay for.

x

6 comments:

  1. Oh wow that's not good that two of them broke!!!! I've never triedn any ELF products.

    That's good about the MAC brushes, I guess you do get what you pay for!!!! :-)

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  2. Like I said ELF is very hit and miss. I bought a load of their eyeshadows once and they were very powdery. Although their 100 color palette is quite good.

    x

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  3. I have to say I have always been happy with the ELF products I have had so I can't really say anything and the brush I have has been going strong but like you said it can be hit and miss but it is far more reasonable on your wallet. Great review :)

    Laura x

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  4. Their products are a lot cheaper than a lot of brands and i think its a good idea to spend less on some products. I don't like to spend a lot on things that go quick like powder or mascara. Some of ELF's stuff is good I do like some of their blushers, eyeshadows and concealers, plus their brush shampoo is quite good. Personally I always find that brushes are one of those things that are an investment product, if you find a good quality brush and you take care of it, it can last you years. x

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  5. Aww gutted they broke for you. I have a good few brushes from ELF and love them, they're so soft just like my MAC ones. I felt a bit ripped off with my MAC ones after finding them. Mine have been brilliant for a while now, my C brush is perfect for blending in the crease with me.

    http://cutepandaa.blogspot.co.uk
    x

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  6. It is a shame cause they were a good price. MAC are expensive but they last good if you look after them. I've had my MAC foundation brush for about 7 years now and I've been using it nearly every day since x

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