WHAT'S INSIDE?
- Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer 11g
- Sponge Applicator
- Mirror Cruelty-Free, Paraben-Free, Gluten and Oil Free and Hypoallergenic. WHAT DOES IT DO AND WHO IS IT FOR?
The Butter Bronzer gives the face an instant natural-looking tan and is infused with Murumuru Butter and pro-vitamins to help the skin feel moisturised, look radiant and brighten the complexion. There are four shades to choose from to suit most skin tones including, Light Bronzer, Bronzer, Sunkissed Bronzer and Deep Bronzer.
PRICE
Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer $14.95/£11.08 (price can vary from store to store).
PACKAGING
The bronzer comes in an informative box. Inside the compact, you'll find a mirror and sponge applicator.
HOW TO USE
Sweep over the face with your favourite bronzer brush or with the sponge applicator included to add colour and warmth or use to contour to add dimension. LONGEVITY
Two Year Shelf Life (For more information I've linked their website here) WHERE CAN I BUY IT? Ulta*, Physicians Formula, Target*, Amazonin the US andiHerb* andAmazon* in the UK OVERALL THOUGHTS
This is definitely one of the best bronzers to come out of the drugstore market! Being fair skinned I picked this up in the shade Light Bronzer and this shade doesn't disappoint... The colour warms up my face perfectly and I love the fact that it doesn't look orange at all. However, if you do like a super tanned face then I would maybe buy the next shade up, nonetheless, this matte bronzer is soft to the touch, smells like holidays and blends out like a dream! Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer 4.9 out of 5
Yes finally, elf Make-up has launched here in the UK! And if you're not familiar with the brand, then here's a bit of background first...
ELF stands for Eyes, Lips, Face, which in my opinion is very simple yet genius! The company launched in 2004 and strives to inspire people, educate and deliver quality, all at affordable prices. The brand became a massive success within the US and in 2007 Elf was available in the UK online only. Now 2017 brings the release of the brand into Superdrug stores within the UK with a wide variety of makeup products, skincare and brushes to choose from, that are also cruelty-free, so here's my thoughts...
I picked up five products to test out for you guys including a couple of new launches and best sellers. I recommend watching the video also, so you can see a live demo of each.
Price
Ok let's start with price, everything is very affordable starting from £3 for a brow pencil, right up to the most expensive item coming in at £14.50. Either way you'll find most items hovering around the £5 mark, although having looked at the US website, it is still slightly cheaper to buy there overall.
Here's an example of a few best selling make-up items pricing compared to the US. e.l.f Studio Baked Highlighter
UK £5 - US $4
Packaging
The packaging is very simple and for me the thing that stands out the most is actually the name, however I do love how everything comes individually boxed, as it gives it more of a luxury feel.
Products
Here's a little overview and review on each of the products I picked up...
elf Aqua Beauty Molten Liquid Eyeshadow Rose Gold
elf Molten Liquid Eyeshadow- £5 2.6g
The Molten Liquid eyeshadow's are from the new Aqua Beauty line. They come in 6 stunning shades including, Brushed Copper, Rose Gold, Molten Bronze, Liquid Gold, Cool Steel and Mocha Metal.
Upon application these claim to have a cooling effect which is certainly true, however I did experience a mild stinging sensation which did go away after a few minutes. I picked up rose gold, which was a lovely wearable shade, but for me this did crease when worn alone.
Overall I love the shade selection and the concept, but if you do have sensitive eyes, then these may not be for you. The best way to wear these is as a coloured eyeshadow base. I applied a similar eyeshadow shade on top and this lasted much longer without the worry of creasing.
I award the elf Aqua Beauty Molten Liquid Eyeshadow a 3 out of 5
The cream eyeliner's come in four shades including, Black, Coffee, Teal Tease and Punk Purple. Each liner also comes with a handy travel-sized brush too. These claim to be both waterproof and smudge-proof.
Upon application I applied the black shade to my waterline first and then I used the brush included to draw a fine line onto my lash line. The colour was lovely and pigmented, but for my waterline I did have to build up the colour as it wasn't gripping as well as I had hoped. Overall I adored the brush as it was super fine and perfect for getting right into the lash line with ease.
This is a great affordable gel liner for the lash line, but compared to other drugstore gel liner's I've used, this isn't the best one I've tested.
The lifting concealer comes in four shades including, Fair, Light, Medium and Brightening. This concealer reminds me of the Nars Creamy Concealer to look at, however the packaging is a little deceiving as the concealer is a lot smaller compared to the Nars one.
This concealer is designed to minimise fine lines, hide imperfections and even out the skin tone. I picked this up in light, which actually turned out to be quite yellow, so if your after this for lightening under the eyes, then I would go for either the fair or brightening.
Upon application this has more of a thick consistency that blends out well to leave a flawless finish. I actually like the fact that this has a slight yellow undertone, as it covered my redness well. Overall these have pretty good staying power, despite a tiny bit of creasing.
The Blush & Bronzing duo's are another product that's very similar to the cult Nars palettes, except these come in at an insanely affordable £5 each! There is also three shades to choose from in this format including, Fiji (Matte), St Lucia. and Turks & Caicos.
If you only buy one thing from Elf, then I definitely recommend picking up one of these as you get a lovely big mirror as well as two decent sized pans.
I grabbed this in Fiji which is the only matte palette of the three. Upon application both the bronzer and blush are pigmented, blendable and give you the most beautiful natural glow. Longevity wise both shades wore off towards the end of the night, however I did test them out again with a setting spray and this did the trick at locking them in for the day.
I award the elf Blush & Bronzing Powder a 4.5 out of 5
As soon as I saw this lip tint, I instantly thought 'Dior Lip Glow Dupe Alert!!' This pretty lip tint reacts with the lips to give you a personalised and unique colour match. I have the shade Perfect Pink, but there is two other colours including Perfect Peach and Perfect Berry.
The lipstick itself is infused with moisturising properties and is essentially just like a lip balm, but with a unique twist.
Application wise I can't vouch fairly for what shade of pink this will go on everyone else, but for me this turned a bright shade of fuchsia, which I use say I wasn't keen on to start with, however this did grow on me.
Longevity wise these last for a few hours, before re-application is needed. And by the end of the day all that was left was a subtle stain on my lips.
Overall I do think these lip tints are slightly more expensive compared to some of the other products in the range, but nonetheless the pink one is a fantastic dupe for the Dior Lip Glow.
Now that we are in the height of Summer, I wanted to chat about everything Bronzers and specifically Drugstore ones. I've searched high and low to find you the 10 Best Drugstore Bronzers that are all under £15, I also had to add in a sneaky 11th bronzer at the end if you live in the US or if your visiting soon.
NYX Matte Bronzer
1. NYX Matte Bronzer £7 - This silky smooth, matte bronzer comes in an amazing five shades. I have this in medium, as this colour is great for building up a natural looking tan, that's not to in your face. It's also the perfect shade for contouring too.
L'Oreal Glam Bronze La Terra
2. L'Oreal Glam Bronze La Terra £12.99 - This ginormous sized bronzer contains 18g of product and is great for both the face and body. This is a shimmery bronzer and it does swatch a little orange on the fingers, but don't let that put you off as it blends out beautifully to give you that gorgeous, non-orange, sunkissed glow. This is also perfect to take on holiday to dust over the face and decollate to enhance your holiday tan.
Maybelline Bricks Bronzer
3. Maybelline Bricks Bronzer £7.99 - This bronzer is a great two in one as not only does it have a lovely matte, natural looking bronzer, but it also includes a gorgeous shimmery peach highlighter too, that can be worn alone on the cheeks or as a blush topper. I was kindly sent this from Maybelline in the shade blonde which is ideal for paler skin, although I do think medium skin tones can get away with this shade too.
L'Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion de Soleil
4. L'Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion De Soleil £14.99 - This is one of my favourite discoveries so far this year. I love this because it blends out perfectly to give you that gorgeous dewy glow, which is non orange and natural. I also think this is a wonderful holiday make-up staple, if it's too hot to wear foundation or if your going for cream products only on the face.
NYC Sunny Bronzer
5. NYC Sunny Bronzer £4.29 on Amazon* and £1.99 in Superdrug - This cult drugstore favourite is fantastically affordable, matte, natural looking and it blends out really nicely too. What more could you ask for from a drugstore bronzer!
Revolution Vivid Baked Bronzer
6. Revolution Vivid Baked Bronzer in Ready to Go £4 - I couldn't not feature a Makeup Revolution Bronzer as the quality of these is amazing. I particularly love the shade Ready to Go as it's a great holiday bronzer to give you that wonderful sunkissed glow. I also find that baked products tend to last for ever too.
Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer
7. Bourjois Delice De Poudre £7.99 - I have to be honest, when I first reviewed this bronzer I hated it, it didn't blend out well, the colour was too orange and overall it just wasn't working for my pale skin, but having nearly come to the end of pan, I have changed my mind completely! The more I used this, the more I made it work for my skin tone and in the end it became one of my favourite bronzers to use on a daily basis. I have this in 51 and although this is one of the lighter shades, this is pretty pigmented and intense. That being said I think this is perfect for medium to dark skin tones and is best used with a large powder brush dusted all over the high points of the face and blended out well, it also smells delicious too! In the pan the bronzer does have tiny flecks of gold but don't be alarmed as this comes off as a more semi matte finish when applies to the face.
Rimmel Natural Bronzer
8. Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sunlight 21 £5.99 - Another cult drugstore favourite, this very simple packaged bronzer is ideal for that all over natural glow, it also has an SPF 15 and is waterproof too and it's not a bad price point either.
Soap & Glory Solar Powder
9. Soap & Glory Solar Powder in Bronzo £11 - This only come in one colour, but there is two shades that make up the pan and when mixed together they give you a lovely matte bronzed look to the skin, you can also use the darker shade to do a little light contouring too.
Essence Sun Club Matte Bronzing Powder
10. Essence Sun Club Matt Bronzing Powder in Lighter Skin £4(available in Wilko instore) - Not only is this bronzer huge, it's amazingly affordable too! The lighter shade is of course great if you have paler skin, but it's also fantastic for building up colour, if you do decide you need a little more warmth to the face. Overall this natural looking, matte bronzer is the star of the show for me!
Physicians Formula BB Bronzer
11. Physicians Formula Bronze Booster $14.95(around £11) - Ok so I couldn't not talk about this cheeky 11th Bronzer as it's just too good not to give it a mention! I did a review on this a while back and oh my this is such a fantastic bronzer as it applies matte, has an SPF of 20 and it blends out beautifully onto the skin. So if you live in the US or your visiting soon, I would definitely recommend taking a look at this beautiful bronzer.
