E.L.F. Prep & Blur Stick Review

E.L.F. Prep & Blur Stick ($6) is a new budget friendly face primer stick with a silicone-free formula that smooths fine lines and visible pores while prepping for makeup. I was actually quite surprised this was silicone-free! I expected it would be along the lines of Milani’s Instant Touch-Up Blur with that poured and solidified silicone primer texture. This is good news for me as I don’t like silicone primers anyway as I have drier skin and prefer more hydrating ones. However, I do have smaller, visible pores on my nose which I like smooth over so sticks like this come in handy for that area.

But honestly, if you have drier skin I’d always recommend a hydrating gel or cream to prep with as silicone will pill or just feel uncomfortable on your skin. In my case, I always feel itchy with silicone on my face.

E.L.F. Prep & Blur Stick goes about things the right way with a nice chunky swivel up stick that travels friendly and an affordable $6 price tag for 0.56 oz of product. All of these things are very appealing. However, the formula leaves a lot to be desired. The lack of moisture and silicone in this formula make for a less than smooth application. I felt like I was applying very dry, old wax on my face. I was tugging this on my skin rather than smoothing it into place. On the upside it actually contains witch hazel and it will mattify excess oil immediately and to my surprise it does actually create a smooth, even surface and even made those tiny pores on my nose disappear. It does deserve mentioning this smells a little bit. I’m not really sure what I’d say it smells like. Sort of musky and old. It does contain some very good moisture binding agents but there are a few irritants as well lower on the list of ingredients like lavender oil and zinc oxide.

However, once I started applying my foundation it started giving my skin a flaky appearance since it started pilling. This might not happen if you have oily skin but as a dry skin girl I did experience the pilling almost as soon as I applied my BB Cream. It gave me skin a patchy look that was less than smooth.

I love E.L.F. for trying to bring out an affordable Milk Blur Stick but sadly this formula isn’t going win any major awards. It’s cheap yes, it has nice packaging, sure. But the formula isn’t all that great sadly.
I’d say it’s a skip!

E.L.F. Prep & Blur Stick is available now at www.elfcosmetics.com.\