Who are e.l.f.?

The brainchild of leading American makeup artist Scott Vincent Borba and business man Joseph Shamah, e.l.f. (which stands for eyes lips face) was born in June 2004 in New York, USA.

Borba, (the man responsible for Hard Candy’s cosmetics line), says the idea for the company came from driving past 99c stores (equivalent of our £1 shops) in Los Angeles and seeing BMW’s and Mercedes in the car park. Inside, he saw women with their designer handbags and obviously expensive tastes buying armfuls of bargain priced lip-balms and nail polishes. He soon realised there was a major market for low cost, quality branded cosmetics.

Borba met Shamah at a party in 2002 and shared his vision of a bargain beauty line. Shamah could see immediately that here was a major opportunity within a growing market for a product that had not yet been developed for the public. Within weeks they had formed a company and began to create the philosophy behind Eyes. Lips. Face.

With their combined backgrounds in business and beauty the two set about creating their cosmetic company around one goal – making high quality, innovative products at a low price allowing women to be able to play and experiment with makeup - lots and lots of makeup - without breaking the bank.


Borba and Shamah went on to spend over a year and a half streamlining colours, developing innovative delivery systems and formulating superior products that improve the quality of the skin as well as enhancing the features.


With a strong belief in the importance of bringing ‘added value’ to the customers’ on-line experience , Shamah developed the e.l.f. website into an interactive information portal using design and innovation features previously only associated with the sites of luxury brands.


Today, e.l.f.’s revolutionary approach to beauty has developed into a cosmetic phenomenon earning the brand a huge cult following across the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.


So how can products this fabulous possibly be so cheap?

Well, for starters, e.l.f. has low overhead costs, little advertising and minimalist packaging which means that the consumer only pays for the makeup itself. “ We never skimp on formulations but we do on packaging” says e.l.f. co-founder Joseph Shamah. “For example, we’d love to put mirrors in our compacts or have the same great containers as Nars or Stila, but we’re about something different: namely giving women the chance to try anything they want without the commitment to a major spend”.

Shamah also says that having factories that understand the company’s philosophy also helps keep costs low. Good quality ingredients can be expensive but buying them in huge quantities allows e.l.f. to get them for less.

e.l.f. Cosmetics UK

e.l.f. finally made it to British shores with it's much anticipated launch on 27th November 2007. The UK branch of the brand is run by Welsh brother and sister team, Neil Phillips and Jo Westlake from e.l.f. UK's HQ in sunny Swansea!!