Essential Beauty Book- Everyday Eye Edition

I got this awhile back, when I was first getting into E.L.F. I hadn't yet learned about their reputation for making rocking e.s. shades- as well as barely pigmented chalk- filled pans sold as eye shadow. I really thought the design of this kit was adorable- I was totally into the back to school themed "notebook" with the little elastic strap/band to hold it together, and cute, easy to read/understand directions. The colors looked great in the pan- a mix of pinky/girly neutrals, and vampy smokey eye shades. I swatched a few and quickly realized they were thin and a little crumbly- nothing like UD or Stila shadows. I tried a look with the paler shades and could barely get the color to show- even with a primer (but this was before I was savvy about eye shadow creme bases, granted). I had a friend from school tell me he couldn't make the same palette work for him either (not sure if it was the same, but still) and with his banishment of the palette, I too rejected it. I saved the cute little notebook how-to excerpt (but I've even ditched that since then). I do think I might have prematurely written this off, in hindsight- I could have used bases, and tried out the darker shades- not just the pale ones. But judging by the poor swatches I was too lazy to attempt a smokey eye, and was spoiled anyway, probably because of the high quality of my go to smokey eye palette- Kat Von D's True Romance e.s. palette in Adora. So, I honestly haven't thought twice about cutting up the cardboard, and throwing away the e.s. After all, I have found other E.L.F. e.s. palettes that are performing loads better than this one ever would. No hard feelings, ELF, I still love you! :D

It's a really good starter kit for people who want to experiment with make up and don't know how. There are easy to read instructions and fun colors. My little sister was able to do nice, grown up make up easily with out any help from me. I also have used it to make some nice looks complete.