Throwback Thursday: e.l.f. Halloween 2014 Beauty Books

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In 2014, e.l.f. released four limited edition Halloween themed Beauty Books. The four books—Diva, Enchanted, Vampire, and Wicked—retailed for $6 USD each and include eight eyeshadows, one mini eyeliner pencil, a set of faux lashes + glue, a double-tipped sponge applicator, and a mini lip gloss.

While the books were available through e.l.f. and at Target stores, I think they could also be found at Walgreens.

These Beauty Books are cruelty free and entirely vegan.

Covers of the e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Books

Packaging

The Halloween 2014 Beauty Books are similarly sized, and include similar products to the e.l.f. Disney Villains 2012 Beauty Books. However, while the latter have lovely artwork, these Beauty Books have less aesthetically pleasing designs that include face sketches abstractly illustrating the looks achieved by the set, along with generic Halloween motifs. The name of each Beauty Book is printed on the book’s spine.

Back cover of the e.l.f. Halloween 2014 Beauty Books.

Inside the the e.l.f. Halloween 2014 Beauty Books.

On the inside cover there is another face sketch with generic directions to achieve the look. While the directions are lacking, it is worth noting that e.l.f. put out a bunch of guides to accompany the Beauty Books. They’re still available on the company’s Pinterest boards.

Shades

I first picked up Enchanted at Target, but managed to track down the other three books.

Inside the e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Books

Diva

This set has a lighter feel with with some bright shades intermixed with a few darker colors. All shades have a shimmery finish.

e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Book in Diva

The included lip gloss is a fuchsia shade.

Enchanted

This set has an ethereal feel with mostly lighter shades. The shades do tend to lean cool with pinks, purples and blues. All shades have a shimmery finish. This book is the only one of the four to include a white eyeliner.

e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Book in Enchanted

The lip gloss is a light, neutral pink shade.

Vampire

This set is very warm with lots of ruddy browns and muted reds. All shades have a very shimmery finish.

e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Book in Vampire

The lip gloss in this set is a sheer dark pink. I think it was supposed to be red, but didn’t quite turn out right.

Wicked

This set has a dark feel with lots of deep colors. There are some interesting shade choices here and I love the metallic shade in the upper right corner. All shades have a shimmer finish.

e.l.f. Limited Edition Halloween 2014 Beauty Book in Wicked

This lip gloss is an unexpected, extremely pigmented black. This is the only time e.l.f. has ever released a black lip gloss.

Comparison to the Disney Villains 2012 Beauty Books

The Halloween 2014 Beauty Books share many similarities to the first Disney Villains Beauty Books released in 2012.

Size comparison of the Disney Villains 2012 & Halloween 2014 Beauty Books.

e.l.f. Beauty Books have varied in size over the years, but these two are roughly the same size. They both include eight shadows, faux lashes, and a mini eyeliner.

Inside comparison of the Disney Villains 2012 & Halloween 2014 Beauty Books.

On the hand, the Disney Villains 2012 books also included a liquid eyeliner, an eyeshadow primer, and a weird lip/cheek pencil, that are missing from the Halloween 2014 books. Unlike the Disney Villains 2012 Beauty Books that had a plastic insert attached to cover featuring the Disney Villain wearing the day/night look, there is no similar insert to the Halloween 2014 books.

Another inside comparison of the Disney Villains 2012 & Halloween 2014 Beauty Books.

I don’t remember how much the Disney Villains Beauty Books were priced, but I think they retailed for around $10. This higher cost was due to Disney licensing fees and the inclusion of more products than in a typical Beauty Book.

Images

Final Thoughts

Pros: Budget friendly, lots of fun colors
Cons: Difficult to find locally, parabens, no shade names

While I find the cover art to be lacking, there are some pretty colors in these LE Beauty Books. Despite having them for over a year, I haven’t spent a lot of time with each book. After writing this post, I think I will start using them more.

I knew I had edited some photos of the Enchanted book last year, but didn’t realize I hadn’t posted anything about it at the time. So that’s why some of the photos have a different style of text.

 

Did you manage to get your hands on these limited edition Halloween Beauty Books? Let me know in the comments below!