Smitten by Bitten (E.L.F. Mineral Lipstick)

Member Name: kerrypanda

Product:	E.L.F. Mineral Lipstick
Date:	07/08/09 (191 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All natural ingredients

Disadvantages: Colour darker than website picture - again!

When I placed my e.l.f. order the mineral lipstick was the item I was most keen to get my hands on. I'd never tried a lipstick made of natural ingredients before.

The range has twelve different shades to choose from. I chose Barely Bitten (from the mineral section) for £3.50. It looked like a soft dusky pink which is my favourite shade.

The site says 'Now you can hydrate your lips and get a lasting soft colour naturally! This nourishing blend of exotic oils, natural waxes, vitamins and plant extracts create the perfect moisturizing formula. The sleek lipstick has superior colour payoff, glides easily onto lips, and is long wearing. Lips stay perfectly hydrated and soft throughout the day for no fuss, lip loving happiness. All our mineral makeup is 100% mineral based with no parabens, no preservatives and no chemical dyes.'

My order arrived within a few days and the first thing I looked for was the lipstick. It was packaged in a white lipstick box with the colour swatch on the side, and the e.l.f. logo on the top of the box.

I read the ingredient list printed on the packaging (you can also find it on the website) and the ingredients appeared to be all-natural. The ingredients listed first were jojoba seed oil and coconut oil.

The packaging of the lipstick itself is matte black plastic with the e.l.f. logo on top of the cap, and eyes lips face printed on the side. It's a good size, bigger than a lot of my other lipsticks, with the regular amount of product inside (The powder pans I ordered from e.l.f. weren't filled to the brim oddly, but they don't seem to have skimped on the lipstick).

I have noticed a recurring theme with every make-up product I've reviewed from e.l.f. so far, the colours are darker than the picture shown on the website, twisting the lipstick tube up for the first time I did wonder if they accidentally put the wrong lipstick in the box.

The colour I was expecting was a dusky rose, the colour I got was a soft brown-toned red! I don't think my computer screen is too light, as the colour swatch on the packaging matches the one on the website.

Something else I noticed is a slight colour marbling on the lipstick like on a bar of chocolate that's melted then gone solid again. In lipstick form though it's pretty and swirly, it reminds me of the veining in some MAC mineralised skin finishes.

When I looked closely I could see the lipstick was infused with a very fine gold shimmer.

Tested on my hand the colour was sheer, very similar to a tinted lip balm, and also the colour was a lot closer to the swatch. Perhaps they were replicating the applied colour instead of the in-tube colour? Maybe.

There is no scent at all to the lipstick, I thought I might be getting a cold so I sniffed several of my other lipsticks to compare - ably assisted by my cat Emily (from a hygienic distance of course), she always likes to get involved with sniffing things - and lots of them have that awful waxy smell, the e.l.f. one is scent-less. Emily can confirm this, it was one of only two she didn't recoil from.

When applied slightly I have to say it didn't seem moisturising, there was a slight sheen which was probably down to the gold shimmer. If moisturising is the main thing you are looking for in a lipstick I would not recommend this. Referring to the claim above, 'lips stay perfectly hydrated and soft throughout the day' that would only be true if you were wearing lip balm too.

It was smooth to apply, the coverage was even, and it gave my lips a lovely natural soft red colour - like bitten lips, funnily enough!

Even though I might not seem too enthusiastic I actually am! I wouldn't buy a lipstick for moisturising, it's all about the colour for me, and although the colour was different to the one I was expecting, it's a really flattering shade and I don't think you can get a better mineral lipstick for that price.

But I do have to knock one star off for the hydrating claim, sorry e.l.f.!

Summary: Get lippy