Review: ELF Studio Conditioning Lip Balm

Back in November E.L.F Cosmetics was having another one of their spectacular sales where all Studio items were 50% off. I've never tried E.L.F cosmetics, and there were a ton of products that I was interested in trying out - so I thought what better of a time than now?

E.L.F Studio items are regularly $3.00 - which to begin with is a steal, but at $1.50 I thought, if there were items that I didn't like, I didn't spend an arm and a leg for them.

One of the items that I picked up was the Elf Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Mellow Melon. Originally, I thought this was going to be a tiny no colour lip balm that would have a thin and sheer consistency that would end up at the bottom of my purse seeing the light of day two times a year.

When I received it and first swatched it, I was pleasantly surprised, here's what I thought of this product:

The Good:
- It has really good pigmentation. You can easily build up this product on your lips and get full on colour as if you had on a lipstick. I have pigmented lips and I thought this would show up clear on me, but the product is pretty opaque and easily buildable.

- It's not sticky at all, I can still rub my lips together, although it does have a thick consistency which also helps to make the product last longer.

- Along with colour, the product also has a nice shine to it, so you could go about wearing it by itself and not having to add a separate gloss on top. It's a nice two-in-one product (colour of a lipstick + the shine of a gloss).

- The price! Originally $3, not including the amazing online deals that E.L.F always has. I would not mind paying full price for it.

- The product wears well. I would say about 1-3 hours before having to reapply. The gloss fades but you still have a bit of colour on your lips - which is nice.

- The texture is really nice. When you apply it with your fingers the product warms up a bit and sheers it out, which I like because I can easily control how sheer or intense I want it.

The Bad:
- I'm not too sure about it's "conditioning" properties. If someone was specifically looking for something for chapped lips, I wouldn't recommend this.

- Because this is a thicker product, it's a bit of a hassle to apply it with your finger. You can't just apply it and wipe on your pants like you would with a regular lip conditioner, you're going to need to have a tissue or wipe handy to clean the product off your fingers once you're done applying.

- It does have a vanilla/cinnamon-y scent, which can bother some people. But it doesn't have any taste.

The Ugly:
- The packaging. This thing is seriously bulky. At first I thought I would deal with it, but this is not really something you can easily throw in your pocket - it takes up quite a bit of space. I'm also not a big fan of the square screw on lid, it's just annoying to open and close.

Overall, if you're on the market for a new lip product that provides both color and gloss, I would highly recommend these. I was honestly pleasantly surprised with this, and if I ever make a second E.L.F order, I would pick up a few other of the colours.

The packaging in the palm of my hand, you can see how big this thing is. Not the size of your average lip balm.

Here is the packaging compared to a 5 gram jar.

The product. It doesn't come filled the the very top, there is about a half centimeter gap from the top to where the product starts. This could be annoying for someone who has longer finger nails, because you risk digging the product under your nails.

Here you can see the texture, it reminds me of a slightly melted lipstick.

Here is a swatch so you can see the opacity of the product.

And here you can see the product sheered out to get a more "tinted" look.

I have pretty pigmented lips, and this is with one coat of the product - and you can see the amount of opacity and shine that it has.

I wanted to share this with you guys because I don't think I've seen anyone talk about this product before. Also, I want to note that in the United States, E.L.F Studio products can be found at Target stores for $3.00 (for those of you who don't order online). I've also heard that some people have also found the E.L.F Studio line at their Dollar Tree's for a dollar!