Simple answer: because they are cheap as fuck and so they fit my theme well.
It's not because I think e.l.f. is the best/most ethical company ever or that their products are consistently flawless. It's certainly not because I have some kind of stake in promoting them. I regularly write negative reviews of e.l.f. (see here, here, and here).
Rather, it's because I've seen pretty extreme claims made about e.l.f. in magazines, blogs, other websites, etc. that fall at either end of the spectrum. On the one hand, there are people that claim everything e.l.f. makes is cheap, worthless crap. These people seem to have tried one or two of e.l.f.'s shittier products and dismissed the whole line. There are definitely some major duds in there, but critics of e.l.f. are usually more venomous about it than they would be about other similarly inexpensive brands, like Wet N Wild.
Then there are people who claim that there is absolutely no difference between e.l.f. makeup and more expensive products. They declare that e.l.f. products are Exact Dupes, often without demonstrating that any actual comparison has been carried out.
Personally, I'm interested in teasing out when there might be a qualitative difference between an e.l.f. product and something more expensive, or when e.l.f. products do or do not hold up well on their own. It's possible to get e.l.f. cheaper than just about any other brand, and so it gives me lots of inexpensive blog fodder as someone who does not receive press samples and is not independently wealthy. In generally I like to try to identify misinformation and misconceptions when I can, and it seems like e.l.f. attracts a lot of those.
So that's my story. If you're really interested in why some cosmetic products cost so much more than others, I recommend revisiting this post and this one and this one and this one (see #1). Hint: for the most part, it's not because the product itself is better quality.
I'm glad for your inexpensive blog fodder :D Even if it's only a dollar or two, reviews save me money if something is absolute crap. I love my UD, but it's pricey as heck, especially in Canada with the markup and our lack of sales and coupons. Generally I unfollow a blog for 3 reasons: 1) inactivity 2) Shitty swatches (seriously, if you're going to the trouble, make sure I can see the damn color) and 3) only reviewing expensive-as-hell HE products that they get for free from companies. I'll look them up if I'm researching a splurge, but they're not something I want to read regularly (and I can't help but harbour a teeeeeeny bit of resentment that if companies didn't spend as much giving people free shit, maybe their products would cost a little less to the rest of us, as untrue as that is xD).
ReplyDeleteI love drugstore blogs (though again, a bunch of the brands aren't available/ are marked up like crazy up here), as the quality of drugstore cosmetics has grown in leaps and bounds in the last 10 years or so. You no longer have to buy MAC to get things that don't look and feel like children's play makeup. I also don't like the elitism that exists in so many HE blogs. You get shit free. I can't afford to be so brand picky. And from my experience, with the exception of a single MAC pigment I tried to find a dupe for for nearly 2 years and finally gave up and bought it, I've yet to buy a HE product that I haven't later found an exact or better dupe of for a lot less, though I enjoy the shopping experience more when buying HE brands as opposed to cheaper stuff (which is of course factored into the cost of the product). Totally agree that price/brand isn't an indication of quality, I just don't like blanket comparisons that ELF makes so boldly (and that people make, as you mentioned) without a side by side comparison/personal test.
TL;DR I love your honestly, I love that you review stuff that's easily accessible for everyone, and if I was in charge of a cosmetic company, I'd totes send you free schwag :P
Oh, that's so nice of you! I have to admit, I would be pretty stoked to get free stuff. It like cheap stuff, but even cheaper! Free! But at least I don't have to worry about my integrity this way, and I can call things shit whenever I want. I like that I can just write about whatever I feel like writing about and learn about what interests me without being indebted to some corporation.
DeleteI've probably mentioned before that I'm actually Canadian too, though living in the U.S. I would like to end up back in Canada some day, but I'll really miss the cheap . . . well, everything, here.
For products that ELF does well, they are having a 50% off sale today and tomorrow.... Just is case it wasn't cheap enough before!
ReplyDeleteOh thanks, I hadn't noticed! Just posted about it.
DeleteDo I really need $30 worth of elf? Probably not. Will I be buying it? Yes, yes I will. They really are sneaky!!
DeleteI just wrote a brief post about ELF! It is sort of odd how extreme people can get with their ELF opinions. Some of their products are terrible, and some of them are good, especially when you consider the price tag. The same could be said for most drugstore brands. I think the fact that ELF packaging is often similar to higher-end brands is what inspires the dupe-mania, but I have yet to try anything by ELF that was actually a close dupe for something else... that's OK though. I just bought $35 worth of their cheap but potentially useful stuff. Ain't nobody gonna stop me.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pretty brilliant marketing strategy, in that it seems to work for them. People do like to judge a book by its cover. Hope you got some good stuff!
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