Are you an e.l.f-acholic? If so, why?

I've never really understood the lament and hype around Eyes.Lips.Face Cosmetics or e.l.f. as the company is mostly called. (If it's possible that there's anyone out there who doesn't know absolutely anything about e.l.f. then it is a company selling a wide range of low-priced make-up items online, they have several sites in Europe and a U.S. one. I'm talking about e.l.f. UK that delivers to most of Europe including Estonia.)

Yes, some of their stuff, for example the famous Studio line brushes, brush holders, cream eye liners and brow kits are really good. I think even that good that people would probably buy them at much higher price. I personally quite like the cases and some of the regular line beauty tools too, but not that much I would pay even a bit more. The rest of the stuff I've tried is just ordinary and I could very well do without it.

Fortunately, I've yet to have a really bad experience with e.l.f., if I don't count the two faulty and dented brushes from the regular line I received a while ago. I believe I owe my relatively good experiences with e.l.f to the fact that I always spend long hours doing research before I buy anything on the web.

Then again, there are a lot of people out there who haven't been so lucky. I've read lots and lots of bad reviews too. The shedding brushes with moving ferrules are a common problem, there are a lot of other complaints around. Overly scratchy brushes and broken or smelly and color bleeding ones with moving ferrules, broken lipsticks and smashed blushes, crushed eyeshadows, eyeshadows that arrive safely, but don't show up on your skin at all, face mists that have exploded in transit and brush shampoos that because of an untight bottle have soaked all the remaining contents of your packet. And to top it all off, the worst of them all, a mouldy brush case  (that was one of the the things that provoked this post).

If you start thinking properly, the e.l.f stuff is not even that cheap (not without a discount code anyway). Let's take a random example: an e.l.f nail polish or a lip gloss costs normally 1.70 EUR, the delivery options start from £ 3.95 (about 4.50 EUR). You can get as good nail polish or lip gloss from lots of of Estonian beauty stores for 1.70 EUR without having to pay any postage. (If you don't believe me, follow this blog closely, lots of more nail polish info to come!) Or you can get a more expensive one instead of paying the postage. Whoa, 1.70 EUR+ 4.50 EUR makes 6.20 EUR!

Of course, you can say that if you order for a fairly big amount, the postage will be next to nonexistent for every piece. Yep, if you order 10 lip glosses or nail polishes, the cost will be down to 2.15 EUR per piece, but overall you have spent 21.50 EUR. And surely you don't need 10 new lipglosses at once :)

Now we get to discounts. To get a discount, you have to play the code game.

Distributy UK, who sells e.l.f. in Europe has some promotion going on constantly: free shipping if you order a certain amount, free shipping plus a free lipgloss, 10 free eyeshadows if you order is more than £30, 25 % off, 30 % off and of course, the infamous 50 % off, that caused so many complaints because website lagging and items being out of stock and made thousands of people hanging online and trying to get their order through for hours. (U.S. Readers, your e.l.f promotions are different, so the situation might be different too. Or so I've heard.)

A few months ago, the promo codes were released on FB or in their newsletters only, so you might easily have missed them. Now the ongoing code is on the UK site's front page, available for everybody.

I'm not a marketing guru in any case, but I think the company has taken the pressure too far. A few days ago, I received e.l.f newsletter with an 33 % off offer. Guess what? I didn't even consider it for a minute. Why should I, if I have loads of e.l.f. stuff already and have a feeling that there might be a much better promotion coming next week?

Actually, there will be. When the e.l.f. UK page reaches a quarter to million “likes” on FB, there will be a special promotion. And right now, lots of people are complaining on FB that if they don't get at least 75 % off, then the promotion is not good or “special” at all. Is it a sign that people are too fed up with constant promotions?

So, to round it all up, why are people taking the trouble to order from e.l.f? What's the phenomenon? Do you really think the e.l.f stuff is extraordinarily good or is it only that it is cheap and you can get loads of it at once?

What do you prefer: to buy one more expensive thing that is sure to be of good quality or lots of stuff that could be hit or miss (sometimes mostly miss)? Is it gonna be a Nars Orgasm in your make-up bag or ten blushes from e.l.f.?

Please remember that one choice is probably as valid as the other, it's just the matter of personal preferences and choices.

Sincerely yours,

Tolmu Rull

For Estonian beauties:

Täidan lõpuks oma lubaduse ja panen eestikeelse teksti ka siia.

Eyes.Lips.Face Cosmetics ehk e.l.f. on vastuoluline kosmeetikafirma, mis müüb oma odavaid/soodsaid tooteid veebis. Tellijaid on nagu murdu üle Euroopa, ehkki toodetega on ka palju probleeme: küll on need pakist puudu, katki, muidu vigased, ei jää naha peal üldse naha, pudelid lekivad ja kõige rõvedamal juhul olid ka hallitanud!

Paljud asjad on siiski head ka. Küllap leiate selle kohta palju infot mujalt blogidest, ei hakka siinkohal kordama.

Mõnevõrra närvesööv on e.l.f.-i juures ka pidev soodustuste süsteem: teatud koodiga võib saada kuni 50 % alla. Hetkel on üks selline kampaania just käimas: kasuta “kassas” koodi Carnival. Kehtib üle 28-eurostele tellimustele ja pakkumine lõpeb esmaspäeva õhtul.

Juurdlen jätkuvalt selle üle, kas tasub e.l.f.-i koodide ja odavate toodetega jamada, kui sama raha eest võiks saada ühe ja väga korraliku asja. Odava s...ta ostmine on üsna sõltuvusttekitav tegevus. Mida teie arvate, kas osta Nars'i Orgasm põsepuna või sama raha eest kümme tükki e.l.f.-i omi?

Siiralt teie,

Tolmu Rull


P.S. Kas seda eestikeelset osa on üldse kellelegi vaja???