Elf BB Cream Review.....is this the dupe for the It Cosmetic's CC Cream? I'll tell you what I think

Happy Friday!! Oh, I am so happy it's Friday!!

We are celebrating Father's Day this weekend with the hubs off of work....Caleb and I are over the moon excited that Brad will be off on Sunday with us!! We are going out to breakfast with my side of the family to celebrate for the dads and then later that evening we will be heading off to Brad's side of the family for dinner with them. I've kinda had the thought of taking Caleb to see the new Incredibles 2 movie, perhaps after breakfast, but I will talk with Brad first before making that executive decision for the family.

Anywhoo, today I am going to give you my full thoughts on the Elf BB cream and how I think it compares to It Cosmetics CC Cream.

As you may know that my posts all focus on drugstore products and that's because they are inexpensive and very easily accessible for me to get my hands on. When you have a 7 year old who despises the makeup section of any place, it's not easy to stroll thru Sephora or Ulta. Instead, I get to run thru the cosmetic aisle of Walmart after bribing Caleb with a packet of Pokemon cards first (if only Sephora would have a toy section). Can I just say, that I miss him being small enough to fit in the grocery cart seat. He was much easier to handle in the cosmetic aisle then....

However, I am not a strictly drugstore person either. I do have my fair share of high end beauty products I love, but when I run out of them though, it's tricky to get back to the store to pick up more in timely fashions. So I am always on the look out for anything that can compare substantially to my beloved high end products, or as some may call them "dupes".

I recently ran out of my It Cosmetic CC cream and haven't found the time to get back to Ulta to pick more up. While browing the aisles of Walmart a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Elf's BB cream. I had used this once before many years back and didn't too much for it. But it looked vastly different packaging this time, so I decided to grab it.

Pricing:
Let's talk about pricing for a bit. Elf has their BB cream listed for $6 US dollars. When you head into Ulta you will find It Cosmetic's CC cream for $32 US dollars. That's quite a large difference. But are they the same product?

Texture of product:
When applying it I noticed one extreme difference between the newer formula of the Elf and the old. The newer one had some thickness to it, even thicker than my Revlon Colorstay. The old BB cream was very runny and would slide right off my hand if I angled it. Whereas this new one will not move much at all.
The texture and thickness of the Elf was a very, very close call to the It Cosmetics. I had high hopes from the get go because of the initial thickness of the product. But, even though it was a thick cream, you didn't feel it on your skin. It wasn't some heavy duty product all over your face.

Coverage:
Next up was the coverage. In my photo below, I show you before application and after. I am stepping way, way out of my comfort zone showing a photo less any makeup whatsoever. Just sayin'.

I am one who has severe hyperpigmentation on my face and many broken vessels and capillaries, so my face is covered with a dark reddish mask.....I might have stayed in the sun too long when I was a little kid.

You will see how much redness and discoloration that the Elf does take care of. However, it's not the complete coverage that the It CC cream does, it's a very solid medium. So it's not a complete dupe with coverage, but in the photo below you will see just how much coverage there truly is. I was extremely impressed by this.

Wear time / durability / oil control
Let's start with the fact that the ELF does NOT claim to control oil, in fact it says it's "hydrating" formula. The Elf also does NOT claim it to be long wearing , fade or smudge proof either. I am an oily skin toned individual so I knew the "hydrating" factor would present a problem for me. In my photos you will see me with NO primer on so you see the full dewy effect that my skin has after application. I did apply powder (after the photos) and it took away the dewiness and allowed the product to set on my face.

On my face the wear time on this was about what I'd expect from a BB cream. In my photo below you will see my 1pm photo wear time, I applied this at 5:30 am. This was the time that I noticed the beginning of the breakdown on the makeup. I had quite a bit of oil breaking through on my nose, the makeup was starting to seep into creases on my face and you can see the makeup worn off on my cheeks and my chin and the redness showing through. Also keep in mind that its June in Texas and we are already hitting way upper 90s temps, so the heat and humidity were none to be reckoned with here.

For a point of reference, my typical foundation that I use on a regular basis is the Revlon Colorstay Oil Control Formula and that foundation will do the exact same thing as the Elf BB cream, but it will not start to do this breaking down until about 3pm (applying at 5:30am). So there is only a two hour difference between the two.

However, being that the Elf does NOT state that its a "stay matte" product , "full coverage" or "fade proof" like the Revlon does, I call the Elf a definite win.

Now, compared to the It Cosmetics, wear time, fade and durability, it is actually pretty similar. I usually notice a break down, fading and oil showing thru around the 1 - 2pm time frame for me with It Cosmetics.

The one benefit that the It Cosmetics has though, is the coverage is much greater and I feel that it does take a little longer to fade a more fuller coverage makeup than a medium coverage such as the Elf.

However, if you run your finger across the It Cosmetics and the Elf on your face, they both will pull off of the skin so they are most certainly NOT transfer proof.....so don't go hugging people with white shirts...ok?

So, we have the texture, wear time, oil control, durability.....have I forgot anything? Well, price is always a win with Elf....especially compared to It Cosmetics. The Elf is $6 US dollars and the It Cosmetics is $32 US dollars. So you are paying for a bit fuller coverage on the It Cosmetics, but for me I do enjoy using the Elf just as much.

Final Results:
Unfortunately we do NOT have a "dupe" on our hands between Elf and It Cosmetics, but we have a nice runner up to it. I ran out of my It about 6 weeks ago, found the Elf four weeks ago and feel just fine about using it instead.

Will I go back and purchase the CC Cream from It Cosmetics? Of course I will.....eventually. LOL

I still really like the product and one of the benefits to the It Cosmetics is the SPF of 50. The Elf only has 20. I will also buy it for the coverage that it has as well.

But I also really love the idea that if I want a light feeling foundation anytime I want that I have my Elf and won't feel guilty or sad about using it up, like I do with the $32 It Cosmetics.

I have found myself using the BB cream quite a lot lately and really enjoying it. It allows me to not use a moisturizer or SPF additionally to my foundation. Instead I can use just the BB cream and save a couple of steps. I also enjoy knowing that the BB cream has additional skin enhancing ingredients such as cucumber, jojoba, aloe, and vitamin E. I don't normally go looking for ingredients such as these, but it's nice to know they are in there. You know what I mean? :)

So there you have it....no it's not an exact dupe but it's a good competitor and a stand in for me to use on the daily. I love it and will buy more of it for sure.

Well, that's all the makeup talk I have for today.

I decided to leave you with a little photo of Scooby today. He's guarding the "recycled" castle that Caleb made for Cubscouts. To be honest he's actually guarding the cookie that is sitting on the floor right behind him....he's far from a knight in shining armor. :)

But I thought the photo was cute and I was very impressed with Caleb's castle he made. I can't help but brag, I'm a proud mommy.

So that's all I have for today, I will be back on Monday with more, I hope you will come back to see me here. Until next time, take care.

-Kim