Random Unboxing Fail! E.L.F. Mystery Box!

Random Unboxing!

E.L.F. 20 Piece Myster Box

Soooooo this is an interesting little thing I want to share. Although I was sent this item specifically to review on Amazon, I thought it would be totally appropriate to review and share here. You'll see why!

I recently received an E.L.F. 20 Piece Mystery Box that sells for $25.99 on Amazon. I mean, who DOESN'T want a pile of E.L.F. products?

This is what I got:

The seller actually sent me 23 items (the more the better- right?). But, a lot of these items seemed unfamiliar to me. I'm not an E.L.F. expert or anything. But something seemed off. One item in particular raised a red flag for me- which led to some disappointing discoveries.

As you'll see below... not a single item from this mystery box is new!

In addition to stating the size of the product and (sometimes guessing) the retail value, I also did my research for every single make up item's batch creation date for 100% transparency.

I broke my haul down into 5 Categories: Eyes, Lips, Face, Tools, and Other.

 Let's Unwrap The Mystery Of This Box!:

The Haul:

1. I received 7 Eye Products:

1. Primer Eyeshadow in Misty Mauve: Discontinued! Batch made June 2012 6 ml, Original Price Unknown. Estimating originally $3.00.

2. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black: .6 g, $2.00, Product is still available. Item was made in a batch September 2012.

3. Sugar Kiss Eyeshadow Color Trio in Midnight Star: Discontinued! Batch made February 2010!!  2.5 g, Original Price Unknown. Estimated originally $3.00.

4. Glitter Eyeshadow in Shopaholic: Discontinued! Batch made June 2012. 4 g, Original Price Unknown. Estimating originally $2.00.

5. Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon in Champagne: Discontinued! Batch made May 2012. 2 g, Originally $2.00.

6. Brightening Eye Color in Punk Funk: Discontinued! Batch made April 2013. Originally $1.00.

7. Duo Eyeshadow in Mocha Swirl: Discontinued! Made September 2012. 4 g, Original price unknown. Estimating originally $3.00.

2. I received 5 Lip Products:

1. Plumping Lip Glaze in Ruby Kiss: Discontinued! Made January 2012. 1.8 g, Originally $1.00.

2. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Pink Lemonade: 1.5 g, $1.00. Product is still available. Item is from a batch made in March 2011!!!

3. Shimmer Lip Gloss in Inspire: 2.5 g, $2.00. Product is still available. Item is from a batch made in August 2013.

4. Jumbo Lip Gloss Stick in In The Nude: 2.8 g, $2.00. Product is still available. Item is from a batch made in August 2013.

5. Lip Stain in Birthday Suit: .2 fl oz, $3.00. Product is still available. Item is from a batch made in September 2013 and had a REALLY weird, DIY homemade insert discussed below...

3. I received 4 Face Products:

1. Tone Correcting Concealer in Light Beige: 2.6 g, $2.00. Now called Essential Perfect Blend Concealer. Item was from a batch made in September 2012.

2. Clarifying Pressed Powder in Toffee: 5 g, $2.00. Product is still available. Item is from a batch made in June 2012.

3. Healthy Glow Bronzer in Luminance: Discontinued! Made January 2013. 5 g, Estimating originally $3.00.

4. Pressed Powder in Caramel: 9 g, $3.00. Product still available. But this was from a batch made in October 2010!!!!

4. I Received 5 Tools:

At least I don't have to worry about manufacturing/expiration dates for these even though some do seem older.

1. Toe Separators: $1.00, Still Available. But major face palm misspelling them "seperators" on the label...

2. Everyday Lash Collection: $3.00, This particular collection has just been renamed to the Lash Collection.

3. Nail File Set: $1.00 for the non-jeweled set. But, these are cute.

4. Foundation Brush: $2.00 based on the Essential Foundation Brush.

5. Professional Defining Eye Brush: $1.00 based on the Essential Defining Eye Brush.

5. I received 2 "Other" Category Items:

1. Eyebrow Treat & Tame in Light: 5 g, $3.00. Product still available. But this is from a batch made in March 2011.

2. Body Shimmer in Cosmic Coral: Discontinued! Made in June 2012.13 g, was $3.00.

So Here's The Deal!

 Being generous and tallying the (estimated) original retail value of all the items, the approximate value of this mystery box would be $46.00. Which would not be too terrible of a haul if not for the fact that some of these items are so far discontinued that I had to hunt them down in the bowels of the internet. Or, if not for the fact that many of these items can be found for clearance on many websites or were probably found at dollar stores across the country. So, let's say the actual value of the items is $1.00 per item. Although I got 23 items in this box- it was supposed to be 20. You've already over paid $6.00.

That being said, although when shooting my Youtube video of this haul, I was really excited about what I got (I'll post it later). Now I just feel duped and felt the need to address that here.

Looking beyond the fact that many of these items are discontinued- let's be real about the most glaring question this situation poses: 

IS THIS MAKEUP EVEN USABLE? 

If so, what items are and aren't?

Let's start off with the most obvious thing here. As much as I love E.L.F. Cosmetics, they're rightfully not touted as a luxury brand with high end products. In fact, there are times that I've bought items straight from the E.L.F store itself (there's one right by my office-ugh) that were pretty grody upon opening. Less than a month ago, I decided to try the Makeup Lock and Seal that was straight up slimy when I took it out of the box at home. It wasn't glue from packing nor had the bottle leaked. It was some random alien slime that I didn't even want to know where it came from. E.L.F. can be a gamble sometimes and I was aware.  

In addition, although there are pretty clear outlines for the shelf life of opened, used make up that can be found with a simple google search, (Look! I googled it for you!) The rules for unopened cosmetic shelf life can be a little fuzzier. Do we really trust/know how E.L.F. products stand the test of time? 3-6 years worth of time? (Remember! It's almost 2016!). Personally, I've thrown out more E.L.F. products for going bad than I've ever kept to the point of finishing.

I'll be real with you. I'm pretty lax with the shelf life of my personal beauty products. I've had liners, shadows, blushes, some lip products, etc. for years and years. You would have to pry my remaining stash of all Urban Decay's discontinued shadows from my cold, dead hands. Mascara, primers, and liquid based cosmetics do get tossed regularly.

But I have rules that I stick to and never, ever waver from when keeping makeup beyond it's years.

I would NEVER sit here and suggest or rationalize any reader to ever keep makeup beyond its intended shelf life. That's not only negligent but incredibly irresponsible of me. You do you and make the best decisions for yourself. But keep in mind this tirade is coming from someone who still has shadows in the original metal UD tins...

And I certainly can't rationalize even slightly implying that this mystery box should be purchased by anyone, ever.

Here's Why:

1. Make Up Gone Bad: What originally raised the red flag for me when I was doing my original unboxing for the Youtube video is that the Eyebrow Treat & Tame straight up LOOKED BAD. That was a huge red flag that raised the alarm for me to start digging. Only to find some of these items are close to 5-6 years old and all are past the FDA expiration dates and many are liquid based. The powder based items could potentially be fine as they were factory sealed. But, this is E.L.F. we're talking about- not necessarily made with the highest level of ingredients meant to last the test of time.

After scrutinizing the brow set- I took a closer look at some of the other items:

The Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon was dried up and basically petrified - to the point I could barely get any pigment when drawing on the box:

There was blatant rust around the Clarifying Pressed Powder's pan:

And the tube of lash glue (which I wouldn't have used anyway) was completely evaporated and dried out:

2. Overexposed!: Now, only a few items in my box had blatantly turned/gone bad at first glance. But that doesn't account for what the naked eye can't see and a lot of that has to do with: Where the hell was this makeup? Even if it's from an old batch and not the highest quality cosmetics- if stored in a cool, dark place in unmolested, original packaging it should be fine right? If the seller took care of the inventory- some may had a chance. So I started to inspect for any signs of negligence. 

Another issue at hand is the dreaded "B Word" of the cosmetics world- bacteria. I've totally seen people open and try boxed items at E.L.F. and put them back on the shelf. For items not factory sealed- that's worrisome. You have NO idea what's festering in them even if the product is so old the bacteria died. Still. Ew.

First thing I noticed when I took the items out of the box during my Youtube Unboxing was that some of the items were looking pretty dusty and beat up. I mean, sometimes that happens- but this was REALLY noticeable and not the best indication of care.

Then I saw that the Body Shimmer not only had melted a bit. But the box had blatantly been opened numerous times:

The Lip Stain not only had a VERY strange perforated piece of paper with part of a recipe on it (??) shoved in the box. But, it was also obvious it had been used:

Finally, although you can't see it, the Jumbo Lip Gloss smelled straight up musty. Probably because it was basically not sealed since August of 2013:

So we're two for two now. Not only is this makeup older than most of my friend's kids- it was also not taken care of at all or contaminated. 6.5 of the 23 items were automatically useless out the gate.

To Infect or Not Too Infect?- Using Some Logic: If the make up is old, some blatantly turned, and others seemingly damaged one way or another- we have to take the next logical step. I really couldn't fathom using some other products in the box that I didn't know were 100% not contaminated or possible to sterilize. Most specifically the liquid based Primer Eyeshadow and Liquid Eyeliner Pen are out. NO way am I putting that stuff on my eyes. I have NO idea what's going on in those tubes. (7.5 out of 23 trashed).

Just Saying No: Obviously, I love playing with make up and sometimes I try stuff that just maaaaaaaaaaay or may not work. That's part of the fun. But, in this case, personal preference plays a big role. I'm essentially not willing to take the chance. Of the remaining items I would never use the Duo Shadow (due to the shade) or the Glitter Shadow due to not only the shade and potential fall out mess, but also because it smells like cotton balls. I hate cotton balls. I would never wear the shade the Plumping Gloss came in. The Pressed Powder doesn't match my complexion at all. Piggy backing on all the facts above plus the fact that I have tons of concealer to begin with- the Tone Correcting Concealer is probably going in the garbage as well. (13.5 out of 23 gone!).

Conclusion:

Considering all the above, this has left me with 9.5 items out of 23 that I would even consider using. I feel the 4.5 tools are fine (besides the glue) once cleaned. That leaves 4 make up items that are potentially usable to me. One of which was made in 2010. Going on (what I think is) a generous estimation of each item being worth $1.00- I have received $9.50 worth of useful items in $26.00 mystery box. Some of which I'm still wary about. In reality- I probably won't use any of the make up. The real mystery here has ended up being which of these products actually contain botulism.

Like playing Russian Roulette with your face... You may consider me paranoid. But I don't know where this makeup is coming from and I'm not willing to take a chance of a break out, eye infection, or worse taking a chance on cheap products.

If you're interested in how I learned how old my products were, you should check out checkcosmetic.net. I will post a tutorial on how to use the website if anyone needs some help. Just let me know!

If you want to check out the E.L.F. Mystery Box that's available on Amazon, you can do so by visiting the link below. But, I strongly advise you save your money and head over to Eyeslipsface.com and get some items you actually want.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”