ELF Studio Makeup Clutch Palette Review: Part 1

When I first laid eyes on the e.l.f. Studio Makeup Clutch Palette the phrase "extremely practical" came to mind.  Here you're provided with almost everything you need to create an infinite amount of looks for day or night.  It seemed like it would become a travel essential, so during the Cyber Monday sale last year I plopped it in my cart.  The price right now on e.l.f stands at $15 and if you wait for a sale you could definitely grab this for $7.50 :)  Now, does it live up to my expectations?  Check it out after the jump!

This thing truly is the definition of travel-friendly.  It's dimensions are 6.5"x 4"x .875", so it can easily be thrown in your bag whether you're just going to work or on vacation.  It's also the type of palette that you could just leave at your work desk all the time.  You won't have to worry about carting makeup back and forth with you nor will it take up too much space in your work area.  And as an added bonus it comes with a decent sized mirror so makeovers can happen no matter where you are!


Now on to the rest of the product....

As far as the range of shadows provided, e.l.f. has done very well.  Included are 32 colors that go everywhere from neutral browns and soft pinks to bright blues and greens.  So that's all well and good, but I have to say they are EXTREMELY hit-and-miss when it comes to pigmentation.  I found that the colors that look bold in the pans do, indeed, show up pretty well.  However, the shades that are aren't as loud kind of suck.


These are the more well-pigmented shades in the clutch.  Look at that blue all the way on the left!  Gorgeous!

And these are the poorer quality shades.  As sheer as they are on my hand, they're even more sheer on my lids :(  And I only swatched the sheerer shades that would actually show up on my hand to picture; there were many more that were just to ill-pigmented to even appear.

The palette gets a bit better with it's face products:

Hidden away in the bottom slide-out drawer are a bronzer, 2 blushes, a face shimmer cream, 6 glosses, an eyebrow powder, and an eyebrow cream.

The face powders are a on the sheer side, but are buildable and don't look powdery if blended properly.  The bronzer has a bit of a orange undertone but looks pretty natural on my skin.  It also has some shimmer although the shimmer only shows up as a slight sheen when swatched.  I really appreciate that as well as the blushes being matte.  One blush is a light pinky-peach and the other is a pinky-rose shade. 


Now, it may surprise you to know that the above picture actually has a 4th swatch:  the face shimmer.  When I first swatched it I thought it was the worst thing ever.  You could barely see it, (in the photo it's swatched above the bronzer & blushes), and it had a tacky, greasy feel, kind of like vaseline.  But when I dabbed it on my cheeks I was very impressed with how it caught the light and gave me a very natural, yet iridescent highlight.  To use this, I would suggest putting on top of a blusher to get the most out of it.  


As far as the lip glosses go, even if they were the best glosses ever I wouldn't care for them simply because I hate paletted lip products, especially when they're right next to powders.  I just find it unsanitary.  If this doesn't bother you though, I would say that they are of fair pigmentation and there is a good variety of colors to go with different looks.  


I was very happy with the eyebrow powder and cream!  The colors happen to match my brows perfectly.  Usually I have issues with any brow stuff because the browns usually run pretty auburn.  These were very neutral and I believe they would be very easy to adjust for different brow colors.


Bottom Line:  Amber Likes...for the most part : /


For me, this palette wins most of its points on practicality.  I love that when I take quick trips I can just pop this in my overnight bag and only have to worry about foundation, concealer, brushes, and mascara.  I don't have to try to pre-plan my looks since the makeup clutch includes so many different options.


I don't however enjoy how iffy the shadows were and must say there are more sheer shades than pigmented ones.  There's enough good shadows that you still have something to work with, but it does kind of take away some of your options.


That's it for Part 1 of this review.  Check out Part 2 where I'll give a sample look from this palette using only this palette (except for things not included with this palette, like foundation & concealer).  Happy Monday!