Review: e.l.f. Studio brushes

Before Purchase: I had looked at e.l.f. before, but it wasn’t until I read a post by Janet at My Naked Face that I realized they have a pretty nice-looking brush line. I checked the site, and, just my luck, they had a buy one, get one half off coupon code for the weekend.

Price: The Studio line brushes are sold on the website for $3 each (or $5-$8 for the kabuki brushes), but with the coupon code I saved $4.50 on 6 brushes. Even without the coupon code, this is significantly cheaper than brush lines at many other retailers.

Shipping Time: I placed my order on February 13th, received a shipping notice with tracking number on February 18th, and received the actual package on February 25th. A little longer than I would like, but not unreasonable.

Packaging: Each brush was packaged inside a plastic pouch; as I understand it, e.l.f. products can be found at some brick and mortar stores, so this was not surprising. They were placed inside a plastic drawstring bag and sent to me via bubble mailer with a copy of the invoice.

Ingredients: The Studio line brushes are all takalon, a synthetic fiber, with black-painted wood handles and metal ferrules. I chose to purchase brushes exclusively from the Studio line because they are synthetic.

The Product:

Small Angled Brush: the bristles are slightly longer than I expected, but otherwise the size is pretty close to MAC’s 208 brush. The 208 is my liner brush of choice, but I think this brush might be taking its spot.

Contour Brush: simply amazing for the crease! I’ve never cared much about my crease, for whatever reason, but this little round dome brush made it incredibly easy to add some shading. A definite keeper.

Fan Brush: I’ve been looking at fan brushes for quite some time, for using to dust off eyeshadow that may fall onto my cheeks during application. Search completed, this does exactly what I need it to do.

Powder Brush: I bought this flat-top brush for the purpose of testing against my kabuki with foundation application. I’m far too used to my kabuki, and all I managed to do was flick a lot of foundation right off of the brush and into the sink. I have a feeling this brush will be given to my sister, because I don’t wear blush, and really do not have use for it.

Concealer Brush: my previous concealer brush, an old mark. one, had taken a bit of a beating; the bristles somehow now form an actual angled tip! Since receiving my order, the e.l.f. brush is the only concealer brush I’ve used.

Small Precision Brush: I bought this little guy for eyeshadow application, wanting a smaller brush for use in the corners of my lids. Another definite keeper, and, in fact, I want to buy a couple more. This brush would also be great for concealer.

My two nitpicks:

1. The fan brush’s bristles were kind of bent on both sides inside the package, which you can see in the above photo; they have a slight inward curve on the side sections. It bugs me, but does not hinder its use.
2. The powder brush kept releasing black dye! I washed all brushes prior to use, and, washing the powder brush last, I noticed the suds were pretty obviously grey. I washed the brush two more times with the same result. I washed the brush again after using it, and I saw more dye come out than foundation. I don’t know what’s up with that!

Final Thoughts:

• Was I happy with my purchase? Yes.
• Would I purchase more of the e.l.f. Studio brushes? Yes.
• Rating? 5 out of 5 stars.

Please see my review update, located here for more thoughts.