E.L.F. Cruella de Vil Look Book Palette Review & Swatches
The E.L.F. Cruella de Vil Look Book Palette ($9.99) is one of four new limited edition Beauty Book Palettes that E.L.F. Cosmetics has put together for Halloween/Fall 2013 exclusively available at Walgreens. Each palette features essentials for creating a look inspired by a Disney Villain (or villainess really). The E.L.F. Cruella de Vil Look Book Palette is more of a nude, natural look and features a new selection of shades compared to last year’s palette.
Let’s take a look!
Last year each palette featured eight eyeshadows, false lashes, eyeshadow primer, an eyeliner pencil, liquid eyeliner, and a cheek/lip pencil. The shadows were built into the actual palette book last year but this year everything is removable from the palette including the shadows which come in a plastic compact.
I liked last year’s design but this year they went a little more artsy with a water color print of Cruella featured on the front cover of the palette. This opens up on either side to reveal the contents with the left and right hand side of the palette giving instructions to create either a day or a night look. In my opinion you’re paying for the design of the palette here but not necessarily the contents as purchased separately and taking some of the smaller minis into consideration you’d likely be able to haul a lot more makeup from E.L.F. with ten dollars. Obviously Disney has sold the copyright on these Villains as they do pop up just about everywhere lately and E.L.F. made a strong decision to cash in on some of that market share as these will be very appealing to both Disney fans and makeup junkies. I imagine purchasing into something that’s a copyright character isn’t cheap so you need to take that into consideration when thinking of the $10 price tag
Here’s a break down of what you get:
Eyeshadow Palette featuring shades Maniac, Puppy Love, Fur, Cruelty, Eccentric, and Stolen
- E.L.F. Liquid Liner
- E.L.F. Eyeshadow Brush
- E.L.F. Eyeliner Pencil (mini)
- E.L.F. Eyeshadow Primer (mini)
- E.L.F. Lip Color Gloss (mini)
- E.L.F. Lengthening and Defining Mascara (deluxe size)
The fact they did away with the very silly cheek and lip pencil is a relief. I had no idea how they expected anyone to use such a dense pencil on cheeks…! They also took away two shadows as last year you got eight where as this year you get six. And finally they added a lip color where as last year you did not get one.
It deserves to be mentioned all the items included are from the E.L.F. Essentials Collection. I mention this because I find the quality on the E.L.F. Studio Collection much nicer where as the Essentials Collection has a few misses for me.
If I’m honest I only like one thing from the entire palette and that would be the shadow palette. Other than that the other items are misses for me and not something I’d personally use. If you like you can say I like two things about the palette if you’re counting the art work of the palette which I simply adore. In the end this would mean the palette is more a collector’s piece than an actual practical selection of products I’d use daily.
The quad has a nice selection of natural nude colors which I really like. They don’t have an evil cheap makeup smell and the texture is smooth and velvety. They blend easily and have plenty of pigment to keep me quite happy. For everyday looks this is a very cute palette! Of course, you’ll want to use eyeshadow primer so they last all day and don’t lose their intensity as they do tend to crease and fade quickly without the aid of a primer!
Maniac, Puppy Love, Fur
Stolen, Eccentric, Cruelty
I didn’t personally love the Eyeshadow Primer as I reviewed this in the past and don’t feel it extended the length of my shadows at all. I also disliked the eyeliner pencil which is incredibly dense and tugs like crazy. The liquid liner is nice enough but upon dry down it tends to peel away. The mascara is ok….but nothing to write home about either. It creates fairly nice length but separates a bit too much so lashes are very fluttery and natural. I like a fuller mascara look personally. The shadow brush was excellent. Soft bristles, not too floppy, just dense enough and no shedding. The gloss was also very good as this had fairly nice color, sheerer but still some tint (it’s an orange-y nude that looks quite nice on lips). It isn’t sticky and has a nice glossy look to it.
Lipgloss/Lipcolor, Eyeshadow Primer, Eyeliner, Liquid Eyeliner
Lip Color/Lipgloss
Eyeshadow Primer
I went a little less with my look below and I paired up a variety of different lipsticks with the eye look I created using the palette. I also used a little Pixi Copperglow Eyeliner as I thought it would look nice with some of these shadows.
For this look I used the new Bobbi Brown Baby Pink Lip Color as I thought it would look rather nice with the natural eye look!
After going nude with my lips above I thought a nice Fall color would look great so I used Maybelline Coral Tease Lip Whisper Lipstick in my photo above.
And finally I decided that at some point in her evil life that Cruella must have rocked a vampy red so I thought a little Mary Kay True Dimensions Lipstick in Sizzling Red would do the trick!
Overall, the E.L.F. Cruella de Vil Look Book Palette isn’t out to save you any money as I think some of these items might prove unusable for many. However, it’ll likely win your heart with packaging alone….!
You’ll have to decide yourself if you love this palette or not.
It’s available now exclusively at Walgreens.
Will you or have you already purchased it?
Do share!