Cheap, cheerful and does its job! (E.L.F. Eyeshadow Brush)

Member Name: bamamo

Product:	E.L.F. Eyeshadow Brush
Date:	06/12/08 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Works well, soft, excellent price

Disadvantages: None

I'm well aware that you often DO get what you pay for, especially where makeup is concerned, but having bought a relatively pricey (although I got it discount) Hard Candy brush set I wasn't that happy with, I decided that it would be worth a try to buy some of Elf's cheapo brushes. If they're terrible, I've only lost £1.50 each, after all.

If you're not familiar with Elf, they are a company which has crossed the pond from the States and provides budget makeup essentials for just £1.50 per item. Okay, so we're not getting QUITE as good a deal as our American counterparts, they're even cheaper there, but a good deal I think you'll agree, and worth an experiment.

Not only do Elf sell their brushes individually, they also sell sets, and now that I've tried the quality I'm quite tempted to try those out. The brushes are designed and tested by makeup artist Scott Vincent Sorba. Admittedly I'd never heard of him, but his stamp of approval is nice, I guess!

The shadow brush is not flashy, but it's simple and classy enough - a white plastic handle and metal band holding in the short, slightly curved brown bristles. It's large enough to provide a good coverage but would pop into a handbag or makeup bag without taking up much room. So far, so good.

Where I was really surprised is just how soft the bristles are. You would imagine with a cheap brush that the bristles would feel synthetic and stiff, but they are wonderfully soft and make the brush very comfortable to use. The website doesn't say what they are made of, but they do feel a lot nicer than my Hard Candy brushes, which retail at a lot, lot more.

The bristles are somewhat curved in a semi-circle, so that you can easily apply the shadow to just the right area. They pick up a lot of product so you only really need to do one "sweep", but it seems to absorb into the bristles a little so you don't end up with fallout everywhere.

I find because the bristles are so soft, I am able to use the same brush for blending if I want, which is great if you need to do your makeup on the go and don't want to bring a lot of brushes around. I've found with other brushes that the bristles are almost "springy", which not only means that it's hard to transfer product onto the lid, or in fact pick it up in the first place, but also that blending is near impossible. This seems to get the balance just right.

I've had the brush about five months and barely noticed any shedding, a couple of bristles at most. To be honest, even if that happened, £1.50 is hardly going to break the bank for a replacement!

A great little brush which has encouraged me to try out some more which are on offer at Elf. I also have the foundation brush which I use for concealer (they do have a concealer brush too, actually) and am equally impressed with that.

Check out www.eyeslipsface.co.uk to stock up!

Summary: A handy brush to have in your makeup bag, which won't break the bank.