Review: ELF Eyeshadow Palette in Basic

A while back I decided to try the "new" ELF (I tried purchasing a ton of ELF products about two years ago, some I liked, some I didn't) by purchasing a $5 dollar palette from Ross ($4.49 + tax). Normally I think it retails for about $8, so it's not a big difference. I've been testing it out for at least a month now, usually by using it for work in the morning.

This palette is supposed to have 12 powder eye shadows and 2 creme eye shadows, but I didn't realize this until a week ago! I swear I thought those two big ones were lip gloss...as they often are in these palettes...XD

The first two colors are the cream shadows, which I personally thinks has no lasting power. I tried it on one morning in a hurry and I swear it was gone in just a few hours. I saw a hint of shine after that but I was not impressed. Plus it feels very...greasy? More so than others, and I have used Maybelline cool shadows, Clinique, as well as Victoria's Secret cream shadows...It's also impossible to layer any of the powder colors on top of the cream.

The second color from the left is actually the deep purple that you can see from the palette. However note that once it goes on my (yellowish) skin it turns into this weird grayish color. Now you might think it is my skin tone, but I swear that it looks the same on my (non-yellowish) eye lids. Except under the sun, in which case it looks purple again.

The color underneath the purple is actually a different purple. It's the shimmery one that you see in the palette above the dark purple. It's good for using it alongside the dark purple, but as you can see from the big blob of mess I made; it is not very pigmented. I think this is one of those eyeshadows that need a lot of "packing on", meaning you actually have to be careful not to blend too much as the color will fade. That blob of purple in the middle was just packed on as it is (the cream required a lot of cream to be that visible too).

So in a nut shell:

+ colors are nice and match each other well for everyday use

+ instructions on how to get the "perfect eye make up"

+ good price for the number of colors

+ I like how it came with a small brush & eye liner, both of which I think were decent

+ I think you can take the colors out of the box it came in and put it in your own palette. I might try it one day and let you know...

- not enough pigment

- not long lasting, MUST use primer if you want it to last more than 2 hours

- cream eye shadow was kind of...non eye shadow looking. Could have sworn it was lip gloss. Or even cream blush (had they been lighter colors)

- cheap packaging

Overall...I would not buy their eye shadows any more. The only eye shadow product that I have ever liked from ELF was their mineral eye shadow, which came in pots. I haven't checked on their recent selections but I love the ones I bought maybe a year ago and I still use them! A lot more color in those...

What are your recommended ELF products?