Do you ever wonder how e.l.f. Cosmetics sells their stuff so cheap? I mean, even if it’s not as good quality as other brands, how can they afford it!

I’ve tried many of their brushes and filtered the good eggs from the rotten ones. And now onto their eyeshadows. I took advantage of a 50% mineral sale and got e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Mysterious – it looks like a fun purple-y, lilac-y color on the site. So how does it really fare?

e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Mysterious Swatches & Pictures

Applied Dry, Wet & on e.l.f. Mineral Primer

Can See the Crystallization of the Middle Swatch

Left: On Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer; Right: On Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Eden

Chunky Consistency

Color Is Different on the Site & on the Box Than the Actual Product

Claims: BUSTED

√ Soft, translucent shade
? Minimize the appearance of fine lines
X Easy to apply
√ Easy to blend
X Can be applied wet

Key Notes

• Name: e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Mysterious
• Amount: 0.03 oz.
• What I Paid: $1.50 US (was on sale; retails for $3 US)
• Price Per Unit: $50/oz.
• Other Colors Available: Elegant, Celebrity, Sweet, Socialite, Earthy, Wild, Temptress, Confident, Sassy, Glamorous, Seductive, Natural, Innocent, Enchanting, Golden, Caffeinated, Girly, Partier, Royal, Angelic, Trendy, Outdoorsy, Dreamy, Beachy, Smoldering, Flirty
• Where to Buy: e.l.f. website

elf Mineral Eyeshadow Mysterious Review

I’m glad I could provide swatches of e.l.f. Mineral Mysterious Eyeshadow for you. The swatch shown on the site doesn’t really match the real color! On the site, it looks saturated; in actuality, it’s much more subdued, and you get less color payoff. The color is also less purple-y and more muddy.

elf Mineral Mysterious Eyeshadow also has a bit of a chunkier consistency. When you use it, you sort of have to break up the chunks; otherwise, you’d get clumps of mineral eyeshadow on your lids. That’s especially the case if you want to apply it wet!

Speaking of applying it wet… e.l.f. Mineral Mysterious Eyeshadow is kind of weird when you try to do that. It goes on just fine, but if you wait a little bit for the water to dry, it’s almost as if the mineral shadow crystallizes. The shade becomes whiter and lighter. It’s so weird.

If you use elf Mineral Mysterious Eyeshadow dry though, the powder goes on smoothly, and it doesn’t crease. I didn’t experience much glitter fallout with it, either. But then again, there isn’t a lot of glitter to begin with. Also, the color tends to fade, even with the elf Mineral Primer on.

Final Verdict: 5.2/10

The thing I really like about these shades is how they are named. It’s like just pick a mood and you get a color that matches it…which would be great if you actually get the color that you see. I have quite a few other e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadows; I’ll have to see if the other ones are up to snuff.

Tip: I recommend tapping the mineral eyeshadow onto the lid, especially if you want to apply it with a wet brush. Otherwise, you’ll contaminate the rest of the powder with water.

Are you disappointed that the color doesn’t match the shade shown on the site? Have a mineral eyeshadow you’d recommend? Let me know!