Toxic Makeup Best and Worst: E.l.f. review

e.l.f. Studio Cream Blush (Photo credit: Mad Tofu)

If you have read my previous posts, you are undoubtedly aware of my current journey to dramatically reduce toxins from my personal care products.  I realized how toxic most of my makeup was and have been trying to build up a low toxin makeup stash (if you are interested in reading about the toxins found in makeup and other products, click here).  I use www.goodguide.com and www.ewg.org/skindeep to look up product ratings and ingredient information. Below is an overview of some of e.l.f.’s highest and lowest toxin-rated products for your consideration, as well as their price.

Though their products range from no health concern to high concern, e.l.f. (http://www.eyeslipsface.com) has a good selection of low-toxin products.  And since it is a popular drugstore brand, the affordability of their products is attractive.  This hopefully will dispel the notion that all low-toxin makeup must cost a fortune.  For reference, the Good Guide (GG) ingredient health rating ranges from 0-10; zero being the worst, highest health concern risk.  10 is the best, lowest health risk score.  Another bonus to Good Guide is that it also evaluates the company’s social and environmental policies.   If you are interested in their overview of e.l.f., visit http://www.goodguide.com/brands/274227-e_l-f-cosmetics.  The Skin Deep (SD) rating is unfortunately the opposite, so 0 is best score, 10 is the worst (sorry of that is confusing).  Let’s begin with the low-toxin products as of this writing.

Essential shine eraser: score of 10 (GG); no ingredients that raise a health concern. $1

Studio cream blush (all shades): score of 8 (GG); low level health concern.  $6

Studio corrective concealer & complete coverage concealer (all shades): score of 8 (GG; 1 SD). $3

Studio matte eyeshadow (all shades): score of 8 (GG). $3

Mineral lipstick (all shades): score of 8 (GG). $5

Essential all over color stick (all shades): score of 8 (GG). $1 (are we loving these prices yet?)

Nail polish: score of 8 (GG) in the following colors: black, plum, blush, fuchsia, copper, sunset, cranberry, burgundy, white, chocolate, clear, innocent, coral, moonlight, lilac, nude, berry pink, fire coral, party purple, fluorescent pink, punk purple, passion pink, royal purple, purple dream, hot pink, purple pleaser, light pink, red velvet, light red, desert haze, smoky brown, medium red, golden goddess (glitter), mod mauve, dark navy, mango madness, dark red, metal madness, fair pink, pearl pink, mint cream, bubble gum pink, champagne, dark glitter purple, matte finish clear nail polish ($2), and nail polish removal pads.

Treat and tame eyebrow (all shades): score of 8 (GG). $3

Waterproof eyeliner pen (all shades): score of 8 (GG), $2

Mineral Eyeshadow primer (all shades): score of 8 (GG). $3

Essential zit zapper: score of 8 (GG). $1

Essential all over cover stick (all shades): score of 8 (GG) except for apricot beige (6 GG, still in the low concern range).  $1

Mineral eye liner: score of 8 (GG) in the following shades: ash, black, coffee, and midnight.  $3

Essential feather-proof moisturizing lip liner (all shades): score of 8 (GG).  $1

Mineral Lip liner (all shades): score of 8 (GG).  $3

Mineral blush (all shades): score of 7 (GG).  $5

Bronzed mineral glow and Shimmer mineral glow: score of 7 (GG, SD 1).  $8

Studio shimmer sheets (all shades): score of 7 (GG).  $3

Studio shimmer palette: score of 7 (GG, SD 1).  $3

Essential brightening eye liner: score of 7 (GG) in the following shades: midnight, coffee, black, ash, and plum.  $1

Mineral moisturizing lip tint (all shades): score of 7 (GG).  $3

Studio lip balm (all shades): score of 7 (GG).  $3

Mineral concealer: score of 6 (GG) in the following shades: dark, deep, fair, and light.  $5

Mineral foundation: score of 6 (GG) in the following shades: dark, deep, warm, fair, and light.  $5

Lip primer/plumper: score of 6 (GG).  $3

Mineral personal blend foundation (all shades): score of 6 (GG).  $8

Contouring blush and bronzer powder duo: score of 6 (GG, SD 2).  $3

Studio eyebrow kit (all shades): score of 5 (GG).  $3

Studio high definition powder: score of 0 (SD).  $6

Studio blush: score of 1 (SD) in the following shades: peachy keen, tickled pink, and blush rose. Score of 2 (SD) in the following colors: candid coral, fuchsia fusion, mellow mauve, and gotta glow. $3

Studio bronzers (all shades): score 0f 2 (SD).  $3

Studio mineral-infused mascara: score of 2 (SD).  $3

Studio cream eyeliner: score of 2 (SD) in the following colors: coffee, gunmetal, midnight, metallic olive, and plum purple. $3

Studio pigment eyeshadow in the shade passionate purple: score of 2 (SD).  $3

Certain studio single eyeshadows: sand dollar has a GG score of 8; butter cream, coffee bean, and wild wheat have a SD score of 2.  $3

If you are interested in seeing swatches of some of these products, click on the video below.  That is the end of the E.l.f. products with low health risk ratings.  I also wanted to note that E.l.f.’s now discontinued bath and body products also scored well, for those of you who may own them.  I’m so bummed they got d/c’d, I’m always looking for good bath and body products!  Now for the poorly rated makeup.  For the sake of time I will not list all of them.  That would be an egregiously long post.  Basically if it’s not rated okay then I would expect it to be a bad rating since the average health rating of their products is 3.4 on Good Guide (and many products rate 0).  Here’s a brief rundown.

Most mascaras, eyeshadows, lip glosses (even mineral), cream shadow and liner, foundations, the blemish kit, studio concealers, natural radiance blushers, false lashes, brightening eye colors, essential lipsticks, shimmer eyeliner pencils, lip glosses,  glossy glosses, and glitter glosses, custom eyes, liquid liners, beauty books, tinted moisturizers, and the shielding hydro tint score poorly.  Their scores range from moderate to high concern.  Bad scores are due to ingredients such as propyl paraben, silica, ethyl acrylate, propylene glycol, and triethanolamine.

E.l.f.’s social responsibility rating is 3.2, and their environmental responsibility rating is 3.2 by Good Guide.  Perhaps this is why their costs are able to remain low.  For more information on this click here.

In sum, while most of their products rate poorly, many raise only a low level of health concern.  This goes to show that low toxin makeup does not have to be expensive.  Let me know what brands you would like reviewed and your favorite low-toxin E.l.f.  products in the comments below.  Thanks for reading.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

My video on these products: