My Favourites from Essence


Essence is probably the most affordable make-up brand available in Slovenia. They have a nice range of products in general and quite a few trend edition collections per year. Now, I obviously haven't tried all of their products, but here are my favourites so far. I only chose products that are available right now, so no TE (apart from nail polishes) or discontinued items. Coloured text are links to the original review and swatches.

I'm not a massive fan of lipglosses. I just don't like the look of them on me, especially the ones that are super shiny and glittery, but these are probably my favourite glosses. For a very affordable price you get a fantastic  gloss that is not too sticky, nicely pigmented (especially darker shades) and smells really lovely (kinda sweet-fruity). The shade range is fantastic, in my opinion, with two lovely nude shade and a really nice coral. I like to blot 03 Candy Bar and wear it more as a kind of a stain, I just find it suits me better than applying it straight from the tube. The wand is kinda odd, but it doesn't make the application any harder.


It's a really nice concealer for the price. I find the coverage sufficient enough for dark circles and even some minor spots. It is actually quite pigmented for a drugstore concealer. It has a doe foot applicator, which honestly I like a lot as it makes the application really easy. Also it blends really nicely. The only problem is that it comes in only two shades (10 Natural Beige and 20 Soft Beige) and both run very light. I own both, 10 is suited for very pale skins (Healty mix 51) and has yellow undertones, while 20 is just a tad darker (Healthy mix 52) and has pinker undertones. 20 suits me perfectly now that I'm self tanning.

3. my base illuminating make up base
This is a new product, I think it became a part of their standard range just about a month or two ago. It's basically a liquid highlighter that you can use by itself, or under/mixed with foundation. I like that the shine is actually quite subtle, there are no massive shimmer particles in it, so the glow it gives is really pretty. I tend to use it on my cheeks under blusher and then add my Jemma Kidd highlighter just on the tops of the cheekbones. The packaging is nice, with a pump, but it's a bit hard to squeeze just a small amount of product (it's quickly too much). You get 20 ml of product for 3-4€. There is also a peachier version available.

These are my absolute favourite cream eyeshadows and I've raved loads about them (here is another review and comparison to Catrice cream eyeshadows). They apply and blend nicely, don't crease and last really long on the lids. 

5. Gel eyeliner
I bought this eyeliner just a couple of weeks ago and I'm already impressed. Before I used Mac's gel eyeliner and this one performs just as good. It lasted the entire day without smudging or fading, which is very impressive, especially since it costs about 1/5 of the price of Mac's and honestly I see no difference between the two.


6. Smokey eyes set in 02 Punky Vibe
This is one of my favourite shades for my eye colour. It's a warm dark brown with bronze tones that are really flattering for blue/grey/green eyes. I like both product, the eyeshadow and the gel liner/cream shadow, although I use gel liner/cream shadow as base and then the powder eyeshadow on top. It does fade quite fast, however, it fades evenly and I actually looks quite nice.

7. Colour & Go and TE nail polishes
Again probably my favourite nail polishes. They have a nice colour range, they apply nicely and last really long without chipping especially if I use a good top coat. Fantastic quality for the price. My favourite is You Belong to Me, which is a dupe for Essie's Mint Candy Apple. 
From TE's my favourites are BBC Pink Heat (a coral red shade, very pigmented, it needs only one coat) and from one of more recent TE's 04 Bright Alert! (a bright coral pink, needs 3 coats).

So these are my favourites so far. Hope this was useful. Thanks for reading!
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