BATTLE OF THE BRANDS: Elf Cream Eyeliner Vs. Boots Botanics Cream Eye Liner

I thought I would do a new segment for this blog. Battle of the Brands! Where I take two drugstore brands and put them up against each other to duke it out for a spot in my makeup stash and maybe yours.  First up:

Elf Cream Eyeliner (in Midnight) VS. Boots Botanical Cream Eye Liner. I chose these two products because

1. Elf is easily accessible and affordable.
2. Boots (a UK brand) while sold right now through Target, isn't really widely reviewed (at least I haven't seen it being reviewed all too often).  

PRICE: The most important factor to many of us. The deciding factor on whether or not a product will make it into our shopping cart. For these cream liners Elf is $3 bucks while Boots is a whooping $8. The winner here: ELF

PACKAGING: Please excuse the torn Boots box. My devilish pup got to it before I could photograph it. I like the simplicity that Boots has and it goes great with their Botanical line, But Elf looks a lot more polished and professional. And though this might be a difference of opinion, the winner here: ELF

AMOUNT OF PRODUCT:  Elf has 0.17 oz/ 4.3g. Boots has 0.12 oz/ 3.5g. Now while Elf has more in its container, when you look at them side by side, it looks like Boots has more. I know looks are deceiving but in the case after I spent 8 bucks, I would like to believe I bought more than I did. Winner: Boots

BRUSHES: Both came with their own brushes, which I appreciate so I don't have to make an additional purchase.  Elf's brush was longer in length than Boots. It has an angled brush with soft bristles. Boots on the other hand, was a lot smaller (almost half the size of Elf's) with a fine tip brush with soft bristles. Elf's brush was a lot more comfortable to hold and apply the product but the size of the brush make my eyeliner thicker than I was hoping for. Boots' brush was uncomfortable to hold but I was able to make finer brush stokes with it. Winner: Tie

FORMULA: Elf's formula was a little thick and dry. I had to pass my brush through the formula several times before I could pick up a sufficient amount to use. Boots was very creamy and smooth. I didn't have any difficulties with this formula. Winner: hands down BOOTS.

STAYING POWER/APPLICATION: Elf on the Left, Boots on the right. You can see in the pic that Elf's application was a little thicker. While I know this was mostly due to the brush, the drier formula didn't help things at all. (click on pic to enlarge for details)

This is what the two eyeliners looked like 12 hrs later. I didn't use a primer because I wanted to see what their true staying power would be.  Both formulas had fading but Elf's was much more faded than the other. Winner: Boots.

Recap:
Price: Elf
Packaging: Elf
Amount of Product: Boots
Brushes: Tie
Formula: Boots
Staying Power/Application: Boots

Clear winner for me was Boots. I know it's more than double the price than Elf, but in this case I do believe you get what you pay for.

If you have any suggestions for future Battle of the Brands products, email me.

Disclaimer: These products were purchased with my own money. All thoughts and opinions are solely my own.