Review: e.l.f. Natural Holiday Palette

If you read this blog or follow me on Twitter, you know I'm a fan of e.l.f. products. I'm not saying they are all without fault -- there are some e.l.f. products out there that I've tried that I'm not at all thrilled with (ahem, the eyelash curler for one). But, for just a few dollars, my mantra is that if I hate it, I'm only out $1-$3, and really, that's a safer risk than trying out a high end product and finding that you hate it after spending a lot more of your hard earned money. But more often than not, I'm generally pleased with what I buy. So, when I saw the holiday palettes at my local Target, I snagged some things up. Among them, this six-shadow natural palette (and the hypershine lip glosses - which I LOVED). 

I finally tested it out this weekend, and I've got some mixed feelings. On the one hand, the colors are very pretty, on the other they are a bit of a pain to work with. Now, I don't know if it was just my palette,    because it was the last one left and it had obviously been dropped, so one of the shadows (the copper color) was a bit cracked and has therefore kind of fallen to bits (its not all lost though). Here's the skinny on my experience so far:

• The colors are very pretty and they are all shimmery (perfect for those sparkly holiday looks)
• The colors are pretty neutral, so they will work on just about anyone (you get a pinkish champagne-like color, a light beigeish color, a shimmery light tan with some gold in it, a shimmery dark brown, a copper and a gold)
• Unfortunately, when applying there is a lot of fall out (a lot). To minimize the fall out, I would suggest patting these shadows on, and doing your face makeup last because even when you pat it on there will be some fall out you'll need to clean up. 
• The shadows aren't very tightly packed so its easy to pick up a lot of color
• The pigmentation is pretty good, especially since these are only $3, but you can also pretty easily blend these away, so they can be just a little tricky to work with (not difficult, just tricky). My suggestion: pat the color on (even in your crease) then lightly blend until you reach the look you want (you might have to pat color on, then blend and repeat a few times)

All in all, these colors are pretty, and for just $3 you could do a lot worse. You will definitely need to use primer with these. They blend away easily, so you'll want a primer to keep them going strong once you get your look put together, and possibly even spritz some make up setter on like Make Up For Ever's Mist & Fix or Model in a Bottle (Note: e.l.f. just announced the release of a make up setting spray, I'm dying to see how it will measure up to my Mist & Fix). I have been able to put together some cute looks with this palette, so it's not a total loss. It's not e.l.f.'s best, but its far from the worst. If you want some shimmery colors for the holiday season, and you don't want to spend a lot of money, then give this palette a chance. But, if you are used to high-end shadows like Urban Decay or MAC, then I don't think you'll be too thrilled. 

Final verdict: Beautiful colors, so-so pay off. With some patience and a light hand, you can put together pretty looks.

Important note: I do not think that all of e.l.f.'s holiday palettes have the same "issues" as I found with this one (the fall out, the fact that the colors can easily blend away). I know one person who purchased the 100-shadow palette and seems happy with her buy. So, I have higher hopes for the 32-shadow palette in my holiday giveaway. Please don't let this review discourage you from entering the contest, as I am giving away a different palette, and the I have nothing but good things to say about the hypershine lip glosses.

Here is a tutorial!