I decided to start with the brand Essence because they are one of the cheapest brands but also have quite nice products. I tend to like their limited edition products the best but some of their permanent products are also worth mentioning. Below is a photo that I posted on my instagram as a teaser to this post and it shows most of the Essence products that are currently in my collection. I didn't include nail polishes as I just didn't want to have to go through them all and photograph them! Anyways, let's move on to the products that I am showing you...
To begin with, here are a few eye shadows and two eye pencils, a mascara, the chubby stick I bought yesterday (from their limited "Love Letters" edition) and one of my all-time favorite products, a fruity blush. I won't go into detail about all of the products, for instance I'm not so pleased with the eye pencils, they're okay but honestly nothing special. Neither is the mascara or the silvery eyeshadow.
Now this product is definitely something special. It's Essence's Fruity Blush Sorbet in 01 "Smoothie Operator" and I'm in love. I'm so sad that it was a limited edition as I would surely keep on buying it over and over again. It's a gorgeous blush that not only looks very natural and lovely but also smells amazing. It's one of those products that just makes you happy putting it on.
Sorry that this picture didn't turn out the best. I was trying to show you the actual blush but it photographs pretty badly as I was going for a very close close-up. But at least you get the general idea.
Next we have a super pigmented eye shadow (or well it's not really an eye shadow but just "pigment" and it's meant for the eyes and body). This was also a limited edition (I have warned you) from the Twilight saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 collection. Funny thing, I haven't seen the movie but I love this product. It's in the color #03 "A Piece of Forever". (I love it when make-up products don't only have a number but also a fun name to them. It just makes using the products so much more fun.) The product itself is basically like little tiny pieces of gold glitter. Very fun and I love gold for the eyes so I love it. It also lasts ages.
Next is Essence's Smokey Eye Set in #04 "Show off". The colors are both grey - one is a mat dark grey and the other is with some shimmer. I haven't really used this product that much but I think I'll be giving it a try this week in honor of this post.
As this product started it all, I want to give it some more mention. This is Essence's Jumbo Sheer Stick in #02 "Dear Peach!" (they had two choices and I think it was the name that made me buy this one though I am thinking of getting the other one as well the next time I go drug store shopping. But then again this is a limited edition so I should definitely hurry!) The color is a very light peachy color and it looks very natural on. I wore it right away and I don't think it lasts that long but I was pleased enough with it to repurchase so I guess that's really the biggest test right?
Besides making decorative cosmetics, Essence also make some other lovely products like nail polish removers. I have trouble with removing nail polish and a lot of nail polish removers just don't "do it" for me. I must say that the two nail polish removers shown below have been very effective and I'm very pleased with them both. The one on the left also smells quite nice (which is a welcome change for nail polish removers right??) and the one on the right has these flakes of glitter and so honestly, I just love them both. As for the pocket beauty stop shine oil control papers - well I don't really use these as I don't get oily at all but I just wanted to show you the range of products that Essence has available. They also have a huge selection of nail polish and nail products.
I couldn't not mention this product as again it is a favorite (wow so many favorites from a cheapo brand!) and it's Essence Glitter Eye Gel in #04 "Show Time". It's really just what it says - a glitter eye gel - and it works marvelously. I had a glitter eye gel from Too Faced Cosmetics and it just dried out super fast and I didn't really get to use it that much but this product - I've had it for longer and it still works. You only need to apply a little amount and it also lasts forever. You can see it "on" in one of the swatches photos below. I only used a tiny tiny dot of the product and even that really shows. (I didn't want to waste it and I think this was also a limited edition).
Now as it is absolutely obvious by now I love Essence's limited editions but as for their regular products, I'm mostly a fan of their lip product selection. Below you can see a lip gloss (XXXL shine lipgloss in #14 "Bubble Babe") - it's okay but I don't really use lip glosses that much, I'm more of a lip balm kinda girl, then another limited edition piece (sorry, I know, I know, this is getting annoying) Vampire's Love lipstain in #02 "True Love" - this thing is amazing, the color is beautiful and I'm a huge fan of lip stains in general so yeah. On the far right is Glossy Lip Balm in "Sweet Strawberry" - it's more of a lip gloss than a lip balm. It's okay just not a favorite.
Last we have the lipsticks. When I go to the drugstore I first check out Essence's limited editions and then I move on to their lipsticks. The lipsticks are very affordable and the color choices are quite nice. I'm actually surprise I have so few!
From left to right: #33 "Glam Girl", #55 "Coralize Me!", then #55 "Coralize Me!" again but surprisingly the colors are NOT the same! as you can see in the swatches, then #65 "Glow Neon Glow" - I don't really like this one, #52 "In the Nude" and I have this one twice as well and again the colors are different even though it's supposed to be the same product - this inconsistency is the only issue I have with Essence, and last is #54 "Honey Bee" which is a very shimmery lipstick, maybe even too much for my taste.
I swatched them in the same order as I listed them above. In the photo above the product that is the highest is 33 Glam Girl, then are the two 55s and you can really see a difference, one is more pigmented than the other, and last is 65 Glow Neon Glow. The photo above was taken in artificial lighting and the photo below in natural day light. The list is the same (these are the same swatches) so before it was top to bottom and now it's left to right. Oh and you can see the little tiny glitter eye gel swatch in these as well. I love that product!
Now the three "nude"lipsticks. Top to bottom and below it's left to right: 52 In the Nude, 52 In the Nude, 54 Honey Bee. The swatch above is a bit blurred, sorry, I was getting tired. Anyways, again you can see that the products that are supposed to be the same really aren't the same. I like them both so it's not really a problem but I think this is kinda weird right?? I guess you just really have to check the individual product before buying - looking at the lipstick not just the tester. Although when they were lined up next to each other the colors DID look the same. I really don't have an answer to this. I guess just risk it, plus they're really very cheap so it's not like buying a Mac lipstick and not getting the color you want. This really isn't such a big deal.
I just wanted to show you one last photo and that's of my pink Essence lipsticks and I quite like the packaging as well. I've already said I really like the quirky titles of the products and over all it's just such a nice brand. Very price friendly (I can't not stress this, the price is definitely a factor in buying these. They're really "guilt free") and very fresh and young. If I want to try out some make-up trend I'm not completely sure about I usually check out if Essence are doing it and buy it there first to see if it's worth further investing in. That way I'm not stuck with an expensive product I don't use and there's no regret. I'm not saying I go all crazy and buy everything but just once in a while I buy a few things and it just makes me happy. So thank you Essence.
Oh and this has NOT been a sponsored post or anything. I hope you enjoyed it and let me know if you liked it, what you'd like to change or any thoughts either through the comments here or by email. Next time I'm thinking of either doing the Catrice brand or Rimmel.
No comments:
Post a Comment