ELF Holiday Palettes at Walgreens

ELF Holiday Palettes at Walgreens

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share a little Walgreens find with you. I noticed quite a few different ELF holiday products on sale, including these eyeshadow palettes. There were a few palettes that were quite large as well! I've never tried ELF's new eyeshadows with the triangular shapes, so I figured I'd pick up this neutral palette (the only shade I saw that was on display), along with one of the Beauty Books (there were a couple of color options on these). I thought all of the white and gold packaging was really cute, by the way!

6 Piece Eyeshadow Compact ($3, Walgreens)

 At a glance, you can tell that there's nothing matte in this palette. I'm not so sure how I feel about the triangle-shaped pans. I mean, nothing is so small that you couldn't fit a brush into it, and a couple of the shades are quite generously-sized. But when you look at some of those acute angles (remembered something from geometry!!!), at some point- if you use up a lot of the shadow- you'll struggle to get into those corners. This palette does not include a mirror, but it does have a double-ended sponge tip applicator. 

When I first touched these, I immediately thought that the use of a primer would make a big difference. While some of the shades were nice and smooth either way (and surprisingly pigmented!), the primer really improves the application of the very flaky and shimmery white and gold shades (at the center of the palette). The primer I used was ELF's $1 Eyeshadow Primer. While nothing in the palette is matte, the deepest brown is the least sparkly/shiny color of the bunch. 

 ELF Beauty Book - 10 Piece Nude Eyeshadow Palette ($5, Walgreens)

The color variety in this palette really caught my eye. ELF puts out these Beauty Books every so often, and in the past, I've actually had pretty good luck with them. For 5 bucks you're getting 9 large eyeshadows, along with a double-ended sponge tip applicator, a Brightening Eyeliner in Black, plus some instructions on how to create a look. I'm not a big fan of the eyeliner... it's a dry, very old-school pencil liner. Now let's check out the shadows...

There's such a variety of shadows in this kit, both in terms of colors and finishes. For these swatches left to right-- I did the top 3 shadows, then the middle 3, then the bottom 3. I also used the ELF $1 Eyeshadow Primer in the bottom picture. There are two entirely matte shades in this palette- the first one in the line of swatches, and also the 7th. I was SO surprised at how buttery and smooth those shadows were- even with no primer! Shades 3 & 4 (the lilac & peach) on the other hand, looked gorgeous in the palette but were extremely flakey with no primer. As you can see, the primer had the biggest effect on these two shades-- with primer, they go on much more smoothly and are less dry. All of the other shades range from a metallic to a satin finish and were consistently good. Love that greenish-teal, as well as the deep grey. 

♥

Bottom Line: While the $3 palette has a nice combination of neutral colors, I'm not jumping up and down over it (probably because I already own a LOT of neutral shadows). And while they look pretty with a primer, there's just nothing really unexpected or unique about the palette, and I would've liked at least one matte shade in there. I was really impressed by the Beauty Book, and just astonished at how nicely those matte shades go on. I like that you get a couple of colors to pop things up with, but mainly there are lots of pretty neutral basics. A pretty great deal for $5, in my opinion. Have you run into any other drugstore holiday palettes that you'd like me to test-drive? Let me know! :)