e.l.f Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder

I know that ELF has always been a bit hit & miss, but in my recent ELF haul I'd made a promise to try this.

The blush is a beautiful pinky shade that gives your cheeks a lovely pink-ish tint. Perfect for everyday wear. And the bronzer is awesome for bronzing up the face and contouring! I'd say the bronzer shows up matte enough for those things, but the blush has some shimmer to it. The bronzer lasts longer than the blush does, but that's not a big deal.

Packaging is fantastic! have taken this compact travelling plenty of times and no issues.

Overall this product is amazing , the price is great and the quality is great too

I think this is a great buy if you're new to contouring and don't want to splurge out on something expensive yet. However, I personally find that this contour kit does not do my face any justice as it is way too dark and golden toned for my pale complexion and has too much shimmer. I can never get it to look flattering without caking my face. This could be however because I have a fairly round face and have a difficult time finding the natural shape of my cheek bone.

The e.l.f contouring blush and bronzer I purchased was in the colour 'St Lucia'.

So this little duo comes in a relatively sturdy case which I'm really happy about. With cheap products the first thing you tend to notice quality wise is rubbish packaging - this compact is an exception.

The pink is a nice warm colour with a gold undertone. It makes the cheeks look nice and naturally flushed. The colour pay off can be a little light and it takes a few brushes to make it nice and pigmented. It seems to stay on well all day with very little colour fade. The brown contouring shade is great - it has no orangey tones to it like some contouring shades and it looks really natural on the face. Like the pink it also has a gold shimmer to it (which I personally don't like in the powders I use for contouring). Unlike the pink it is much more pigmented and you need to be a little careful when applying. It pays to really tap the brush before putting it on your face.

As for the 'hit and miss' title, I have bought two of these now and the second one was TERRIBLE! The quality was not even comparable to the first one I purchased. It was dry and my brush couldn't pick up any of the product. I'm not sure why there was such a difference in the consistency but it was pretty disappointing.

I have this in St Lucia and I love how compact it is. I used to use this combo a lot before I got my real Nars duo. For the price you pay, it's pretty good.

I love the blush more than the bronzer. You have to really blend the bronzer to make it work and look natural on the skin. The blush is a lovely pink shade. I've hit pan on the blush and that shows how much I love it. It's not quite like Nars Laguna but it's still good.

I think the ELF blush and bronzer duo are an amazing value particularly if you're on a budget or you're beginning your adventure into the makeup world. There's no need to spend up large when you're testing the waters. I bought the majority of my ELF products prior to when they were available in New Zealand from the ELF website via Shipito.

I managed to snag this for under $NZD5.00 during the website's 50% sale which is an absolute steal for 8.4g of product. The compact comes with a good mirror and is slightly bigger than a card case and is made of a sturdy matte black case that is reminiscent of NARS packaging. The great thing about the compact is that you can easily wipe it down.

St Lucia

The blush is a light peach shade with gold flecks and despite how smooth it looks in the pan it's quite powdery so expect a lot of kick up. The pigmentation is buildable and I feel that it shows up more easily on my chocolate skin so I don't have to go in for more product compared to the lovelies with a lighter complexion. The bronzer on the other hand is what gets on my nerves. The pigmentation is almost perfect but can look slightly muddy. The texture is less powdery and glides on better than the blush. The problem is the SHIMMER. This could have been a lovely affordable staple for me but I can't do much with a shimmery bronzer.

Fiji

ELF released the only matte version (for now) of this product so here was my opportunity to find a bronzer without shimmer. The blush is a berry mauve with great pigmentation so I have to go in with a light hand. I don't find this blush as powdery as St Lucia so I don't feel that I'm wasting so much product. The bronzer is a beautiful milk chocolate but it's not dark enough on my skin tone to be of any real use to me. Unfortunately the pigmentation is not as good as the bronzer in St Lucia so I have to go in with a heavy hand to get any decent colour pay off.

Overall the staying power of the blushes were impressive, it got me through the day without fading too much. The bronzers on the other hand are a bit of a miss for me. I feel that one could find gems in ONE compact but I found that even when I owned all 4 not ONE compact could offer me the perfect blush and bronzer combination. When you need to travel light, taking the entire collection is not an option.

This product is great, especially if you are a beginner. It's really cheap and surprisingly does a great job. I wasn't expecting much from this product and didn't think the shades would match my skin, but they do. I have light-medium skin tone with a warm undertone. The blush looks quite dark so I thought it would be too pink for my skin but it gives a nice warm pink colour. The bronzer is quite dark for me but is good for contouring.

Now the way this product is advertised is a bit confusing as its called a blush bronzer due contour kit. And I didn't know this to begin with, but you shouldn't really contour with a bronzer. This is because a bronzer isn't usually matte, and therefore won't create a good shadow. And this bronzer does have a little bit of a sheen to it (tiny sparkles). Which means it's not ideal to use for contouring as advertised. In saying that, I think it's still good and is passable as it still creates a good shadow. This is why I think this product is more suitable for beginners.

Both the blush and bronzer are powder products. They are easy to use and apply and are also quite pigmented. Make sure you shake any excess powder off your brush before applying to your face as I find my brush picks up quite a bit of product. Otherwise it can look quite heavy on your face and it's hard to blend out.

Elf products are so cheap and affordable. I got this online for $3 USD. So it is definitely worth the money, even if the bronzer isn't a proper contouring product.

Overall even though I really like this product I probably wouldn't buy this again. This is because it is great as a first time product (I've never used blush/bronzer or contoured before), but I would probably look for something that it more suitable for contouring. I would use the bronzer as a face bronzer but the shade is a little too dark for my liking.

I purchased my due kit in the shade "Turks and Caicos", which offers two shimmery shades, one a bronzer and the other a blush. The bronzer is full of gold reflects which add a dimension to makeup, but the bronzer can be muddy if used to liberally and not blended well. The bronzer can also be quite orange if too much is used on the face, but it luckily suits my skin tone as I am a lot darker toned, this therefore would probably not suit some one with lighter skin, unless blended well with little product used. The blush is also full of shimmer with gold reflects and it is a rosy dark pinky colour which adds a nice flush to my cheeks, this I think would suit most people, but again use lightly. They are both well pigmented for the price, but are not long lasting and will wear off through out the day. But overall for the price this kit is a nice cheap alternative for some of the pricier brands.

I have only recently started contouring and this is pretty much my only bronzer so I don't have much to compare it too but I do like the effect it gives. It is quite pigmented so I only need a small amount otherwise it looks a bit much!

The blusher doesn't seem to be very dark, I can put quite a bit on the brush and it comes off very light. It's easy to build up though. It is a pretty colour, a natural kind of pink.

For the price, I think it's a great buy especially for beginners like me. I've heard this is a dupe for the nars blush/bronzer duo but as I've never tried them, I'm not sure on that one. You can always practice with this and move on to more expensive products later on.

I bought this product recently as I heard it was a good dupe for Laguna and I'm patiently waiting to stock up on my Nars products for when I go overseas.

I wasn't disappointed with this product, partially because I expected I would be. As I was pleasantly surprised, the pigmentation of the bronzer/contour is wonderful, possible too orange toned for me at this time of the year, but when summer hits and I tan up I'm sure it'll suit better. The blush isn't my favourite, pigmentation is not as good as the bronzer but it does the job.

So down to the details.. the product looks sparkly in the pan. This put me off a bit as contours should be matte to create depth. Sparkle is usually reserved for drawing attention, like on your eye lids. But once applied, there's no noticeable sparkle, a huge relief.

Texture isn't bad, its pretty soft but in the pan, once used, it goes a bit grainy and gross. It does not transfer onto your skin that way but this could put some off.

I applied using a small contour brush for the bronzer and a blush brush for the blush.

Not a bad product, but I still will be shelling out for Laguna ;)

I managed to pick up this up at iherb, for a cheap price. I like the packaging how it is a sleek black, I like the idea of having a bronzer and a blusher in one compact. It is really good for a travel compact with the big mirror. The blush and bronzer are not to bad they are a good staple bronzer and blush.