Essence Makeup

Affordable Essence Makeup

- Vicki 2 Comments
Essence Makeup at Wilko

Affordable Essence Makeup-

Essence has to be my favourite affordable makeup brand, it is available in Wilko stores and my local store always has a fantastic well stocked stand. If you have never tried Essence before you’re missing out they do everything well and most products are under £5 oh and they’re Vegan and Cruelty Free.

I have been trying a few products that I think we more aimed at Valentine’s Day but hey you can wear a red lip / nail polish any time of year, right!

Essence Makeup at Wilko

Essence Longlasting Lipstick in Tres Chic 

I have to say these Long Lasting lipsticks from Essence are always a safe bet, great quality and they’re really pigmented on the lips. This Trés Chic shade is a brownish red, the colour is intense without being too vibrant. I like that this is a wearable red and this formula is creamy and comfortable on the lips, these are long wearing but I do like to reapply after I eat & drink just so the colour stays even and with these more bold colours I hate the thought of them going patchy. These are so affordable that I challenge you not to want to buy the whole collection (there are 12 shades) – I think my next purchase will be, 04 On The Catwalk

Essence For-Bidden Volume Mascara

Essence Forbidden Volume Mascara

I have tried quite a few Essence Mascara’s over the years and my all time favourite has to be their Plump No Clump (great all-rounder) but it’s no longer available. This For-Bidden Volume one I have been testing out is OK for Volume as contains fibres but I also like my mascara to give my lashes fullness and this I feel just gives them length. The formula is long wearing and holds a curl so I am not disappointed with it I just like my mascara to add thickness to my sparse lashes as well as volume. I think I will try their Rock nDoll Crazy Mascara next.

Essence Makeup Swatches

Essence 2in1 Eyeliner Pen

Liquid liner is my jam, I use it almost daily and have road tested super expensive brands, budget friendly ones and everything in between and I have to say this double ended Essence liquid liner is pretty good. I do prefer the standard pen nib end (thin end), simply because I find it easier to use and less fiddly to use. I can get right up to my lash line and create a very precise flick whereas the thick line I find to be more of a novelty. If you’re not so confident in applying eyeliner then it is a good way of almost stamping an outline for your wing / flick and then going back in with the thin end to join everything up but I do not see myself using both ends.

This liner is black but I do go over it twice to get that intense deep black colour and it stays put, make sure you leave it a couple of minutes to dry before curling your lashes just so the colour doesn’t lift off. Great addition to my makeup bag.

Drugstore Makeup from Essence

Essence The Gel Nail Polish in Do You Speak Love

If there is one thing Essence are well-known for it is their Nail Polish & Nail Care Products. Their range is huge and always expanding. I own so many of their nail colours and their top coat is my Holy Grail. I have had this beautiful red shade on my toes for about 2 weeks now and it still looks great. It’s a pretty deep, dark red and it is opaque in 2 coats.

Essence Gel Nail Polish

Let me know what Essence products you love and would recommend.

Essence Cosmetics is available in Wilko Stores nationwide.

 

Essence Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets Palette

- Vicki 2 Comments
New Essence Makeup Collection

Essence bloggers beauty secrets palette

I adore the German brand Essence all their products are cruelty free and extremely affordable. I have so many favourites from their makeup range and since it launched into Wilko stores a couple of years ago its so much easier to get hold of all my Essence essentials.

Essence recently collaborated with four bloggers as part of the bloggers beauty secrets trend edition and gave them the opportunity to design their very own makeup palette & nail polish. I have been testing out the two products designed by the lovely Mary, who blogs over at Strike a Pose.

Essence Cosmetics Shape & Shadows Eye Contouring Palette

This palette is a multi use eye & brow palette and was inspired by glamorous Hollywood women who influenced style and fashion. It comes beautifully packaged in a sturdy cardboard flip top palette with a magnetic close and it has a fun geometric print.

Inside you get a fab sized mirror, which I did not expect to find as Essence is a more affordable brand but its nice to see that they have included one & I like the unusual shape of it.

New Essence Makeup Collection

Inside you get 4 shadows, a highlighter, a prime & fix brow wax and also a small dual ended brush. One end has an angled brush and the other a cute brow spoolie, I have to say I’ve been using this brush and its great, ideal travel size and the spoolie is fantastic as brushing through your bows to tame them and even out the product. Very cute indeed.

Three of the shadows are lovely neutral matte shades and these double up as both shadows and great brow colours too. I mix the two darkest colours to make the perfect shade to fill in my brows. The powder is pigmented and quite soft so they’re easy to blend and create that natural full brow. I don’t really use the wax as I prefer to set my brows with a clear gel but if you like wax then it is included in here.

These matte shades also work really well as eyeshadows and are great either all over the lid or blended out in the crease. They do take a little work to build up a good amount of colour on the lids and Hazel Grace is quite light so isn’t going to give yo too much payoff but I like to use this shade as a transition shade.

Essence Shape and Shadow Palette

Marilyn Metallic is a beautiful copper rose and is my favourite shade in the palette. Its not too sparkly but it has the most pretty metallic finish and when the light catches it looks really nice. I have been wearing this packed on top of Audrey Highbrow and I love the two together.

The highlighter Billie Vanilli is a frosty cream and it looks nice under your brows and in the inner corners to add some brightness and add a little lift to your eye look. Its not a subtle highlight but if you like to add that extra illumination to your eyes & definition to your brows then its a pretty shade for that!Essence Shape and Shadow Palette Swatches

Essence Bloggers’ Beauty Secrets Nail Polish in All Eyes on Me

The nail polish wasn’t for me, its a pretty grey beige shade but it has a matte finish and I’m not personally a fan of that trend so I have passed it on to my sister in law & she loves it. So it wasn’t a complete fail. The nail polish was easy to apply, it dried evenly, the colour was pigmented and only needed one coat. I didn’t wear it for long so I can’t tell you if it has good staying power, but I did like the colour just not the finish.

Essence Bloggers Beauty Secrets Collection

Above are all four of the palettes & polishes from this collection. Which ones do you like the look of?

Essence is available exclusively nationwide at Wilko Stores & online at www.wilko.com

Essence Cheek Products

- Vicki 8 Comments
Essence Makeup

I’m quite familiar with Essence makeup as I lived in Germany for a number of years, where it is a very popular affordable brand. It has a huge following in Europe and since they first launched a couple of years ago in the UK they have created quite a buzz. Essence are known for having very on trend collections and as I said a very affordable price point. I have written about their UK launch if you’d like to read about it.

I thought I would share with you 3 of my current favourite products.

Essence Makeup

These three powder cheek products from Essence are all gorgeous, I have two blushers and one bronzer to share with you and they’re all perfect for creating Summer makeup looks. Let me know which one is your favourite of the three.

Essence Blush in HeatwaveEssence Blush in Heat Wave

First up is Blush Up in Heat Wave £3.50 which is just the most gorgeous peachy pink, I love that this blusher has a ombre gradient effect and you get 3 different shades going from a stunning orange to a pretty pink. You can either swirl your brush to pick up all three shades or delicately sweep your brush down one shade to pick up that specific colour. I think the colours are pretty either way they’re pigmented and blend nicely too. Not too powdery or chalky and all three colours are matte so no shimmer in this at all.

Essence Blush in Pinky FlowPinky Flow Blusher

Another of the Blush up Blushers in Pinky Flow £3.50 has the same beautiful ombre gradient effect as Heat Wave but this one is a trio of pink shades from a deep pink to a light soft pink. Pinks blushers are always a favourite of mine and this one doesn’t disappoint, this really brightens up my makeup look and gives my skin a gorgeous healthy flush. This lasts about 6 hours on me, so I think a good amount of time & as with the previous blush its easy to blend and nicely pigmented. I am a huge fan of these two blushers & I like the packaging, its clear & simple and the product looks really pretty too.

There is no shimmer in this blush either but the lightest shade of pink does give a highlighting effect on the cheek, which looks really flattering.

Essence Bronzer in Sun GlowEssence Sun Glow Bronzer

Lastly, the All in One Sun Glow Bronzer* gives you that healthy sun kissed illuminating glow. It has such a lovely mix of shades and it also has some shimmer in it too which I like & its not too OTT just a hint. This bronzer gives a subtle warmth to your skin and is the perfect way to pretend you have been on a Summer holiday without leaving the country. I have also used these individual shades as eyeshadows & they work really well, especially for a bronze smokey eye.

Essence can be found online at www.wilko.com & in a selection of their shops.

Let me know if you have tried anything from Essence and have any recommendations for me.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.

Essence Makeup Launches in the UK

- Vicki 11 Comments

I was invited along with lots of other lovely bloggers to the Essence Makeup launch in Manchester & to say I was excited was an understatement. I’d read a few posts about their London launch and that looked like it was a lot of fun so I was looking forward to hearing all about the brand & meeting up with other bloggers (doesn’t happen often enough).

I met up with Natalie from Your Almost Alice & we managed to find The Studio without too much trouble, the room was really nice, it was lovely & bright with plenty of space. We were each given cute name badges – very handy when you only know peoples Twitter Handles. There were lots of tables laid out with all kinds of makeup on them, we were encouraged to try out the makeup & have a play – there was so many lovely products & people on hand to colour match us to the bases & give us advice on what best suited skin types. I have tried a few Essence products & I was so excited to see just how big the range actually was. I was lucky enough to have my nails painted by the Pamper Puff Girls & almost a week on my nails are still looking great.

Makeup

Beauty Event

They had a full size makeup stand, like the ones you see in a shop full to the brim with their whole range & we were given an overview to the brand by their German Team. they spoke of how Essence is sold in over 70 countries & that Britain will be getting the range Nationwide in Wilkinson Stores, so keep your eyes open for that in mid July. Also quite excitingly The Manchester Arndale & London Westfield will boast a huge 3 meter standalone Essence Booth, which will carry all of the limited edition products and a whole selection of exciting Essence Products so if you live near either location you need to pop in & have a look.

Essence

Essence Products

Essence ltd edition collection

Essence is a fun budget friendly brand that is focused on quality & they excel at being on trend with their range. Although their packaging is quite fun & youthful looking their brand is aimed at people who are young at heart (thats me for sure). They are proud to be manufactured in Germany & even though they have purse friendly prices they don’t compromise on quality. Of the few products I have tried I can honestly say this is something I have found, the nail polishes are long wearing & very pigmented, also the eyeshadows are buttery and blendable so they get a thumbs up from me. Essence prices start from as little as 99p & only go as high as £6.99 so very affordable. Another plus point is they are proud to be Cruelty Free.

Nail Polish

Essence Makeup

Essence

We had hours to spend chatting to the Essence Team who came over from Germany, they were lovely enough to tell us about their favourite products and spoke with a real passion for their brand. Also we were given free reign to test, try and get excited about the products, Heidi from Flipside PR was excited for us to really take the products that caught our eye & for a beauty addict that was dangerous, although I was very restrained & was already overwhelmed at how incredible the Goody Bags were.

Essence UK Launch

Its safe to say that we all had so much fun – nails were painted (by the lovely Pamper Puff Girls), beauty secrets were shared, food & drink were consumed & we all welcomed Essence to the UK & think they will be a huge success. They will be tough competition for other budget brands to compete with as their quality and product range it HUGE. I have quite a few Essence products to try out so expect a few reviews coming your way.

Let me know if you’ve tried any products from them & if so what you’d recommend.