This Cheap Makeup Brand Is TikTok-Famous, so I Did a Hype Test

These days, the mark of a truly iconic beauty brand is some level of TikTok fame. From prestige picks to affordable drugstore ones, the makeup community on the popular app wastes no time identifying its favorite products, sharing the good news, and promptly causing said products to sell out—everywhere. We saw this happen recently with a new launch, the KVD Vegan Beauty Good Apple Foundation ($38) (which is still tough to find ever since the app's top creators deemed it life-changing), but even products that have been on the market for a while can potentially get a resurgence in popularity based on positive recommendations from the internet's makeup mavens.

This has been the case recently for E.l.f. Cosmetics, a certified vegan and cruelty-free makeup-and-skincare brand that's been around for quite some time but still manages to shake the industry with its game-changing formulas. TikTokers and celebrities couldn't get enough of the brand's #eyeslipsface challenge last year, but aside from that, its range of products—from complexion-perfecting foundations and concealers to ultra-pigmented liquid and powder eye shadows to cult-favorite face and eye primers—continually blows up online and appears on the best-seller lists of our favorite online beauty haunts like AmazonTarget, and Ulta

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So what do we do when the internet hypes up a product or brand so much that you can't scroll for two minutes before seeing it called out? We test it out for ourselves to get to the bottom of the madness, of course! Here, I tried 21 of the very best E.l.f. Cosmetics makeup and skincare picks to see if the brand really lives up to its internet fame. Keep scrolling for my honest reviews and some epic before-and-afters to help you decide which products to buy and skip. And be sure to read all the way to the end for the final verdict on whether or not the brand passed the hype test.

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Aside from makeup, E.l.f. also has some popular skincare options that regularly end up on best-of lists. I decided to try out its Holy Hydration! line, which consists of Holy Hydration! Daily Cleanser, Holy Hydration! Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm, Hydrating Booster Drops, Holy Hydration! Face Cream, and Holy Hydration! Eye Cream.

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The Final Verdict

E.l.f. passes the hype test with flying colors. The formulations are cutting edge, the pigments are vibrant and suitable for deep skin tones, and best of all, it's all SO affordable! Definitely spring for the Camo Concealer, the Poreless Putty Primer, the Camo CC cream, and the Lip Laquer first. In all honestly, you could build an entire makeup routine with this brand exclusively without missing a beat. Your face and wallet will thank you for falling in love with E.l.f.!

Up next: Saweetie Told Us Her Best Beauty Secrets, and You'll Definitely Want to Tap In

Associate Beauty Editor

Courtney Higgs is a Cancer sun, Libra rising beauty enthusiast with about six years of experience in the editorial space. She was previously Who What Wear's associate beauty editor after spending many years working on the West Coast edit team at InStyle Magazine. She graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a BA in communication studies and pivoted to editorial after spending her college years working in the legal field. Her beauty philosophy is simple: She believes there are no wrong answers and that discovering our favorite beauty products and rituals is a journey, not a sprint. When she's not geeking out over products, she can be found adventuring around L.A. with her fiancé; watching reality TV with their French bulldog, Bernie Mac; or relating way too hard to astrology memes.