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Elf Cosmetics is a brand I’ve loved for a very long time. While they definitely have more than a few ‘hit or miss’ products, I’ve found recently that they’ve really stepped up both their product quality and their packaging. So I was super excited to try a few of their newer launches in 2020. I placed an online order in March, but because of the pandemic (valid reason!) the shipping was quite delayed and a few of the products I originally ordered weren’t included in my package and had to be refunded. That was a bummer, but again, global pandemic, ya know? That being said, the products that did show up were some of the ones I was most excited to test out!

Here’s what I ordered…

I was so excited to try out these two primers! Prior to purchasing I’d read a ton about them on Instagram and Reddit, and I’m happy to report they have not yet disappointed. I picked up both the Elf Cosmetics Poreless Putty Primer and the Elf Cosmetics Matte Putty Primer. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I struggle with both large pores and very oily skin, so I opted to mix these two primers together before applying them to my face. I was nervous at first as I wasn’t sure they would work well combined, but WOW did they ever amaze me.

Because of these two super affordable drugstore primers, I can now easily get a matte and poreless look on the cheap. They are both very smooth in texture and apply almost like thick lotions, except that they glide on pretty effortlessly and feel extremely lightweight on the skin. And if you’re like me and want to achieve a matte and poreless base before foundation (or whatever base product you’re using), they work very well when mixed together. I’ve noticed no separation or cakiness! These two primers have quickly become my go-to priming duo and have bumped my Too Faced Primed and Peachy primer off of my holy grail list.

The other quick note I want to make about these two primers is that so far, they have worked incredibly well layered over my daily facial sunscreen which has SPF 50. In the past I’ve struggled with primers pilling and separating when applied over top of my SPF, but these have performed wonderfully. Honestly can’t rave about these primers enough. Highly recommend!

The one negative I have for these primers is that they do not come with any kind of spatula or tool for picking product up on. Unless you already have something to use, you’ll be scooping it up with your fingers. I’m just careful to only dip in with freshly washed hands!

I then picked up the Elf+ Matte Blotting Mist, as I’d been seeing quite a few people rave about it online. This blotting mist can be applied before and/or after makeup, and contains kaolin clay. Aside from the undisputable fact that this packaging is adorable, the product itself is pretty impressive. In the review video I made for my YouTube channel (linked below) I used this blotting mist between every layer of base makeup, and it seemed to keep me almost completely matte for an entire six hours. And for my oily skin, that is a feat! Over the next few days after filming that original review I tried using this with different foundations and without the putty primers to see if it worked as well on it’s own. Now I can only report on how this worked for me, but on my skin it seems to be necessary to pair this blotting mist with the matte putty primer. Those two work very well together to keep my very oily skin looking very matte in a non-cakey way. That being said, today I only wore SPF with this blotting mist layered overtop and it looks rather lovely - it took all the shine away that my SPF causes and has made my makeup-free skin look slightly airbrushed. I’m super excited to have this blotting mist in my summer makeup kit!

Next up is the Lock On Liner and Brow Cream in the shade Taupe Blonde. When I added this to my cart it was mostly because I’d been looking for a very subtle cream eyeliner to use throughout the summer, and I really wanted one that wouldn’t budge in the summer heat. On my fair skin, this gives such a softly defined look to my upper lashline, and has truly stayed put every day that I’ve worn it so far. I’m going to continue testing this one out, but so far I’m a big fan.

And now for one of the biggest stars, the Elf Cosmetics Hydrating Camo Concealer. This was on my wish-list because I’d seen so many people online compare it to the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer for its coverage, consistency and packaging, but without the drying factor. And all those reviews I read online were pretty spot on. This applies a lot like Shape Tape but is way more hydrating, which on my under-eye skin, has resulted in a lot less creasing, even when set with a powder. Bonus, it’s a drugstore concealer that comes in a shade light enough for my translucent skin, which is a rare thing believe me haha. This has become my everyday under-eye concealer, but I wanted to mention that it does also seem to work very well on acne spots. I typically think of hydrating concealers as ones that will move around too much to use as acne coverage, but this hydrating camo concealer surprised me. As long as you blend it out and let it dry down over the acne spot before setting with a powder, it shouldn’t budge. It actually makes my covered up acne spots look less dry, and therefore less noticeable. Plus it’s super duper affordable. ;)

Check out the video below where I review the Matte Putty Primer, Poreless Putty Primer, Matte Blotting Mist, Hydrating Camo Concealer and the Lock On Liner:

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