ELF Makeup Reaction

Jun 14, 2016

Alexis C.

Today I swatched one of the blush/bronzer duos from ELF on the back of my hand while I was at work. As I was talking to my manager my hand where I did the swatch suddenly felt unbearably itchy and I ran mid-sentence to clean off the swatch. Afterwards my hand where the swatch was was very red and it took some time to subside.

I have never experienced a reaction like that from anything, let alone makeup.

So I guess this is a warning to be careful, especially since I have no idea why/what exactly happened that caused that kind of skin reaction.

Any ideas on why that happened?

Jun 14, 2016

Diana T.

Wow that's crazy! Good thing you swatched it first! I always do that with new products too - mainly to test the color on my skin but also to make sure I won't have a bad reaction to it - my guess is that it has something you are allergic to - I can't think of any other reason for redness and itchy skin.. Unless it had some crazy ingredient like poison ivy... Lol but I would hope it wouldn't have something crazy like that in it - but hey maybe that's how they get the blush to make your cheeks so red! Yikes! I guess another reason could be it was from a bad batch that was contaminated with something you were allergic to - and that contamination would have happened before it hit packaging - maybe if you get another one the same thing won't happen? Who knows - but if I were you I wouldn't even risk it and just stay away from the stuff but that's just me.

Jun 14, 2016

Alexis C.

Diana, I'm definitely going to stay away from it. I even said to my manager I would rather pay the extra money for the NARS duo rather than get a cheap dupe that doesn't agree with my skin. It did have some kind of glitter/glittery bits in it and I never use glitter or things with glittery bits in them so I'm thinking that's what irritated my skin.

Jun 14, 2016

Alma M.

Alexis what was the name of it? I have a elf duo but didn't get a reaction from it. Doesn't the beauty killer palette have glitter in the black shadow? it may not be the glitter that bugged your skin.
If anything just research the ingredients from that duo because something was not agreeing that's for sure.

Jun 14, 2016

Aurora S.

It could be the Mica which is an irritant to some people.
If you're using lotions or soap with acids or retinoids it can actually thin your skins barrier and can make you more likely to have an allergic reaction.
I've read an article and the dermatologist said " allergies are tricky because a new product you used isn't always to blame. The reality is that you could use an eyeshadow 1,000 times and on the 1,001st time you cross over from becoming gradually sensitized without symptoms to having a full-blown allergy"

Jun 14, 2016

Alexis C.

Alma, I think that's the one I swatched. Now that I think of it the black shade in the Beauty Killer palette does have glitter and I didn't have any problems with it when I swatched it.

Aurora, I don't think I use anything with acids or retinoids.

Jun 14, 2016

Jackie S.

That's super weird! Maybe look at the ingredient list and compare it to a product (maybe even an ELF one) that didn't give you a reaction and see if you can pinpoint the reaction culprit. Good luck!

Jun 14, 2016

Alexis C.

Jackie, the only other ELF products I've used are the eyeshadow primer and liquid liner, neither of which have me any issues. That was the first time I'd ever swatched one of their face products. I'll have to compare it to my other blushes, but it is just really weird!

Jun 15, 2016

Paige M.

I use ELF products nothing ever happened to me. Maybe you're just allergic to something. Hope you find out!

Jun 15, 2016

Alexis C.

Thanks, Alma! I was just comparing those ingredients to my Too Faced Love Flush blushes and they're very different. I think I'll have to do a big compare and contrast list between a few more products to figure it out.

Thanks, Paige (:

Jun 15, 2016

Paige M.

No problem😀

Jun 15, 2016

Alma M.

your welcome Alexis :)

Jun 15, 2016

patty s.

Alexis, was the bronzer brand-new?

Jun 15, 2016

Shelby M.

I had the same experience with Wet & Wild makeup! I was probably 12/13 and just getting into makeup when my aunt had bought me an eyeshadow palette from them for Easter. I didn't know anything about swatching or testing products so I just put it on my lids, and about 2 minutes later my eyes started swelling! I ran to my mom and she helped me get it off, but in the 3-4 minutes I had it on, my eyes had swelled shut! It was sooooo scary! (Sorry this isn't a helpful post, but I figured I'd share)

Jun 15, 2016

Alexis C.

Patty, it was brand new.

Shelby, stories like that are exactly why I'm glad I had swatched it and didn't just buy it and use it!

Jun 15, 2016

Breeze T.

Yup the same happened to me Shelby... I was younger and it was play makeup... And my eyes were so swollen! I thought I had an allergy to eyeshadow... Lol. Never happened again though...

Jun 15, 2016

Alexis C.

Breeze, that's terrible! I don't think I've ever used play makeup, even as a little one I wasn't interested, lol.

Jun 15, 2016

Roz X.

So sorry you ladies had to endure that. It's more common to see a face reaction as the skin is more sensitive than most people's hands are. I hope you are feeling better, Alexis.

Jun 15, 2016

Alexis C.

Thank you, Rozberry (:

Jun 16, 2016

Livi H.

Do you think it's one of the preservatives? You should cross check it with your other face makeup to see if it has it in your other ones. If not, it could be one of the preservatives!

Jun 16, 2016

Alexis C.

Livi, I'm still not sure what it could be. I've decided I'm just going to steer clear of ELF. I don't really use anything from them anyways, just a few brushes.

Jun 16, 2016

Livi H.

Same here, I stick to high end makeup because of the preservatives used!

Which brushes do you use from elf? I have blush brush to set concealer and I love it!

Jun 16, 2016

Alexis C.

I'm sticking to high end as well!

I have the blending eye brush, eyeshadow brush, and defining eye brush that I always use. I also have the total face brush that I use for bronzer and some kind of angled blush brush (forgot what it's actually called) but I don't really use that one anymore.