ELF Studio Eye Shadows

I am finally getting around to my post of my ELF haul. I am not going to post everything...at least not all at once. I am doing this only to swatch and review the products in case anyone is in need of a "try-before-you-buy" by proxy. So, below are all of the ten shadows in ELF Studio Line, complete with swatches and a review of them. Hope you enjoy! :)


Packaging.

Label on the underside.


Mystic Moss is an olive green with gold shimmer.
Coffee Bean is a chocolate/manure brown with rainbow glitter.

Sand Dollar is a shimmery white.
Saddle is a brown with superfine rainbow shimmer.

Butter Cream is a shimmery golden yellow.
Pebble is a grayish taupe with superfine silver shimmer.

Raspberry Truffle is a shimmery reddish/brownish purple.
Amethyst is a royal purple color with fine purple shimmer.

Charcoal is a dark gray with blue undertones and rainbow glitter.
Wild Wheat is tan with gold glitter.



*Swatches in the top rows of both pictures have no base. Swatches in the bottom rows of both pictures use NYX Jumbo Pencil in milk as base.*

Review:
The first thing I noticed about these shadows is obviously the packaging. They are very sleek and chic. It is black plastic with the words "elf Single Eyeshadow" in white font on the front. Inside there is a small window with a small mirror above it. It is, as with most of the studio line, similar to NARS' packaging. These shadows are 0.097 oz./2.75 g.

These shadows are velvety soft to the touch. So soft, in fact, that when applying my makeup one morning I put Saddle on my lid, blended a different brand of shadow in my crease, went to put on liner and realized that Saddle had been blended mostly off. It is simply TOO soft. And as you can see in the swatches at the top, most of them have little pigmentation. Wild Wheat and Butter Cream are almost unintelligible with and without a base (although my skin tone plays a factor, obviously). Sand Dollar and Butter Cream also come off somewhat chalky.

A huge con is the small selection of colors. This collection is fairly new, so it is possibly that over time ELF may add more colors. But as of now it consists of four brown/brownish colors (Saddle, Raspberry Truffle, Pebble, Coffee Bean), two light yellowy colors (Wild Wheat, Butter Cream), two similar dark ones (Charcoal, Mystic Moss), one purple (Amethyst) and one white (Sand Dollar).

Another con, in my opinion, is that they are all shimmery or glittery. None of them are matte. I like shimmery or sparkly shadows, but to not have one matte color to choose from is unfortunate. There is a reason most cheap shadows are sparkly; it makes them look more pigmented. The only one I could call an almost matte is Pebble. The shimmers are very fine and fewer in number than the other shadows. Maybe if the collection of Studio Shadows grow, ELF will add some varying textures to the mix.

Recommendation:
If you want to just give one a try for now, I recommend Coffee Bean. I wear this in my crease on top of another brown almost everyday. It is a nice color and has lovely rainbow glitters in it. Definitely my favorite. Pebble is a close second.

Thanks for reading! <3

*These products were bought with my own money and my opinions are not influenced by anyone.