e.l.f. Mineral Pressed Mineral Eyeshadow {Review}

This post contains affiliate links Pros: Pretty, neutral shades, fair consistency
Cons: Not a lot of shade variety, shades look similar to each other, contains mineral oil, low pigmentation

The Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows are one of those e.l.f. products that has gobs of unrealized potential.

Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows

Rating: B-
Shades Available: 15 shades
Weight: 3 g
Where to Buy: eyeslipsface.com

Once again, e.l.f. drops the ball on an eyeshadow product.

Packaging

The packaging is well made and functional, but nothing special.

e.l.f. Mineral Pressed Mineral Eyeshadow in Beauty Queen and Lunch Break

The shadows are packaged in a small matte, black plastic case with a clear plastic window.

Formulation

I’m not exactly sure what the point of pressed mineral eyeshadow is. Mineral makeup is the elimination of additives in makeup, leaving behind mostly micas and iron oxides, along with preservatives and fillers like silica for slip. So when you take mineral eyeshadow and add things back—in this case magnesium stearate, talc and mineral oil—you have…eyeshadow. Granted, these eyeshadows lack the alcohols and dimethicones of most pressed eyeshadows, but they do contain mineral oil, a petroleum product that many will balk at. If you look, the ingredients for the Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows don’t differ that much from the Studio 6-Piece Geometric Eyeshadow Palette.

The formulation is fair, although the light shade I have, Beauty Queen, is on the chalky side. Unfortunately, I have had some issues with the dreaded “pebbles” that plague other e.l.f. shadows.

Shades

The Pressed Mineral Eyeshadows can be used for a natural look, but little else as they lack pigmentation. Don’t expect to get a lot of definition out of these shadows.

I currently have two shades in Beauty Queen and Lunch Break. They haven’t wowed me so far. Then again, when I buy two safe shades, I get boring results. Then again, there isn’t a while lot of diversity between most of the shades in the first place.

One thing that concerns me is the lack of a diverse shade lineup. They seem to mostly be a pinkish-beige or a muddy, purplish-brownish/taupe color. Not very interesting.

Even accounting for the recently added shades, those are mostly bright, cool colors that I have difficulty wearing.

e.l.f. Mineral Pressed Mineral Eyeshadow in Beauty Queen and Lunch Break

Beauty Queen [Pearl]

A light pinkish shade good for highlighting. And that is what I use this shade for most. Beauty Queen is very close to my skin tone, albeit a bit pinker. There is a noticeable sheen when applied.

First Date [Pearl]

This is a brown-leaning-towards-taupe shade, with slight purple undertones. The mid-tone brown does double duty as a lid color or a light crease shade. I don’t use Lunch Break a whole bunch, but when I do, it’s in the crease. Unlike Beauty Queen, the shimmer is barely perceptible once applied.

Images

Final Thoughts

The e.l.f. Mineral Pressed Eyeshadows aren’t bad, per se, but they certainly haven’t wowed me. Most of the shades available are very similar to each other—a far cry from the original e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadows which are gorgeous, diverse and highly recommended by me.