{ Review + Swatches } ELF Studio Matte Lip Color - ALL SHADES AND LIP SWATCHES!

These ELF matte lip colors are jumbo sized retractable lip pencils supposedly enriched with Vitamin A, C & E and are meant to moisturise and hydrate your lips all day. As many of you know, ELF is a super affordable makeup line with these matte lip colors retailing for $3 each. I purchased all of the shades from the line on iHerb. I love discovering affordable and pigment rich matte lip products and these ELF matte lip colors did not disappoint.

The packaging itself is matte and very simple and lightweight. I love how the actual colour is showcased on the base of the tube. These lip pencils are retractable and do not need sharpening which is a bonus. I hate the inconvenience and mess of sharpening pencil products!

The Matte Lip Color line currently contains 6 shades with the majority of the shades being very neutral and wearable for everyday.

• Nearly Nude: light peachy nude
• Coral: light peachy coral (deeper that Nearly Nude)
• Praline: deep brown nude
• Natural: neutral nude pink
• Tea Rose: mauve-pink
• Rich Red: cool toned red

Since I am a sucker for neutral nude-pink lips, I absolutely love the shade selection although it would be good if ELF would expand the line more and create deeper shades. I would've loved to see some plums and burgundys!

 L-R: Nearly Nude, Coral, Praline, Natural, Tea Rose, Rich Red

These lip products are unscented although I do smell a slight plastic-y scent which I don't like at all. I know these are cheap but there are other inexpensive makeup brands out there that have put more effort in the scent department.

In terms of how they wear, once applied they don't look very matte at all. There is a slight sheen and it takes some time for it to go matte. I found that my lips started to feel dry after about 1.5 hours and it can accentuate the fine lines on your lips although the lines disappear and look less obvious once you press your lips together. They definitely need to be reapplied once you eat or drink as the colour on the centre of your lips tend to fade. I do find they reapply nicely though.

Now onto the swatches!

 L-R: Nearly Nude, Coral, Praline, Natural, Tea Rose, Rich Red

You can see in the below lip swatches that once applied, your lips don't look competely matte.

 

Top: Nearly Nude, Coral

Middle: Praline, Natural

Bottom: Tea Rose, Rich Red

Pros:

• So affordable
• Retractable, does not require sharpening
• Rich pigmentation
• Not extremely drying like regular "Matte" lip products
• Sleek packaging
• Reapply nicely after eating/drinking

Cons:

• Small shade selection
• Slight plastic-y scent
• Doesn't appear matte instantly as what you would expect for a "Matte" Lip Color
• May accentuate fine lines on your lips over time although once you press your lips together, the lines are not as obvious
• Does not hydrate or moisturise your lips ALL DAY like they claim

Overall, for the price of the product itself, I actually really like these lip products. Even though they don't turn out super matte on your lips (which is a bit misleading since they claim to be matte) it means that these products are not extremely drying. If you want to only try a couple of the shades, I highly recommend Natural & Tea Rose. I absolutely love these colours!

Like I said previously, I purchased all of mine on iHerb. I love this site because the shipping is extremely fast and affordable (I believe it was $8 flat rate) and they sell my holy grail Real Techniques brushes for a great price too! To get $5 off your first order or to get $10 off if you spend over $40 (also on your first order), feel free to use my discount code: HDQ926


xo Laura

* Disclaimer: This is a non-sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with ELF Cosmetics. The products mentioned were purchased with my own money and as always my reviews are 100% my honest opinion. *