elf Beautifully Bare - Brow Gel, Matte Eyeshadow and Lip Tint

While many drugstore brands are slacking, having their younger fan base drifting away to "Insta-brands" like Colourpop. The more indie-feeling brands like elf have expanded their range by quite a bit. Since one of elf's brick and mortar stores lies on my weekly route to Chinatown (technically everthing is on the way because...it's New York), I managed to stop by and pick up some quick toys.
One of the newer releases of this past two years is the Beautifully Bare collection. These are a bit more expensive (they are 4-5 dollars a piece) than their dollar-store comrades. Most of these are still made in China but quality in both product and packaging are quite good, comparable to the standard US made ones.
The first one that piqued my interest was the Beautifully Bare Tint Brow Gel. Whenever I get brow products from US brands, I tend to get the one for blonde (usually a light taupe) since the one marked for brunette and black-haired are too deep. 

The Elf  brow gel is in a light watery formula with no fiber or paste, even the dark (not too different from medium just looking at the wand) shade doesn't look that intimidating.
The was is a very tiny spiral brush that almost looks like a little plastic stick. The application wasn't entirely dummy proof but it can be mastered easily. The first dip is usually a bit too juicy that it might give a small lump of tint. You can even it out by quickly brush through other parts of the brow. Subsequent swipe are even and it delivers exactly what it promises: a barely noticeable tint.

It's just your own brow but a little deeper and tidier. It doesn't contain any fiber to thicken the brow but I suppose I wasn't looking for that effect either. Staying power is good, it stayed intact until removal, on a hot (sweaty) day.
Smooth Matte Eyeshadow is a liquid eyeshadow with a runny formula and a doe foot applicator. It's not entirely opaque on the eyes and can either be too full-on (imaging a swipe of liquid lip color on the lid) if you don't blend or way too sheer if you do actual blending.

I usually dot it close to my lashline (I have small lid space) then pad it to soften the boundary. The shade Blushing Rose shows up a a soft mauve rose veil on the lid that defines the eye in a classical painting sort of way. On a regular summer day, it starts to fade/dissolve with sweat within an hour or so. I imagine Maybelline Color Tattoo and ColorPop Super Shock are more suitable for my sweaty face.
Wearing both brow tint in dark and matte eyeshadow in Blushing Rose (no before picture because it won't focus on my brow).
Lastly, the lip tint in Marvelously Mauve is a muted mauve gloss in squeeze tube.

The applicator is a protruding plastic bit that looks like ones from some eye cream(you can even take that part off to reveal a pointy nozzle). Beside looking a little gross with all the color sticking around, it's actually quite comfortable to use.
Marvelously Mauve is my kind of my lips but better. Most of the 1-dollar Elf gloss I haved tried in the past was numbing or stinging, I am happy to report that it doesn't happen with this lip tint!
The gloss has an oily cream texture that isn't gunky. It feels moisturizing and line smoothing. Too bad the shimmer is quite obvious (many brands do that to thicken and smooth out the texture) and there is a sweet taste to it.

Overall. They are quite good toys for the price and something that I would reach for occasionally. The most practically one would be the brow tint (and it's no where close to my HG Suqqu brow powder) and the rest are simply toy status. I like them but won't hard sell them to anyone...

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