Liquid Ink Matt Eyeliner
I've tried this before and it's ok, but I'm so into felt tip eyeliners that these liquid ones don't appeal to me. Basically, it's a classic liquid eyeliner with a flexible thin brush, so you need really steady hands to apply it nicely, however, you can get a great result. The formula is super pigmented, very black and once it dries, it sets to a matte finish. However, I find that if you don't wipe off the excess from the brush well enough and therefore end up with too much product on the lids, once it dries, it's feels like someone put a thin strip of sticky tape on the lids. The key is using a very small amount of product and in that case it works great. This lasts all day on my lids and stays pretty much like freshly applied, it flakes off only in my inner corners. It's a part of the giveaway.
2.99 €
Liquid Ink High Shine Eyeliner
The same thing as the matte version only with a glossy finish. It's a part of the giveaway.
2.99 €
Lash Princess Volume Mascara
This is a very, very volumising mascara. Even with one coat I get tons of volume and two give a pretty damn huge, fluttery, glamorous look to the lashes, I have actually been asked if I'm wearing falsies. However, the volume comes at the expense of defined looking lashes, which is the look I prefer. Still, too bad this doesn't exist in a waterproof formula.
3.59 €
Effect Eyeshadow
06 UK's Stonehenge and 02 Brazil's Sunset
I've heard a lot good stuff about these eyeshadows and I was very excited to receive two in the goody bag. These are liquid/cream eyeshadows with a metallic finish that are easy to apply with fingers and can be used on it's own or as a base. Stonehenge is a lovely taupe-brown colour (Satin Taupe like, swatches are at the end of the post), while Brazil's Sunset is a toned-down liquid gold and as most gold eyeshadows, it looks orange on my eyes, so I'm not too fond of it. The large shimmer particles do bother me a bit because they look very out of place when it's wearing off. My cousin tried Stonehenge and she loved it so much, she ran to the shop to get one for herself one as well.
2.95 €
Metal Glam Eyeshadow
18 Choco-Chic
This looks absolutely stunning in the pan - it really looks like glittery metal. It swatches very pigmented on the finger, but on the lids I just can't built it up to look intense enough. I have no idea what's the problem. I must experiment more with it, because the colour is so pretty in the pan, however, in general, I'm not a fan of Essence eyeshadows, Catrice's are a lot better.
2.76 €
3D Eyeshadow
07 Irresistible Fullmoon Flash
A duo of shimmery eyeshadows with an interesting 3D design. This shade consists of a shimmery grey and champagne colour. It's a part of the giveaway.
3.18 €
Soo Blush! Cream to Powder Blush
10 Sweet as a Peach
A medium peach shade that reminds me a lot of
Catrice's blush from Siberian Call LE called Coral-al-al-al (swatch by Parokeets). It's a standard cream blush, not exactly cream to powder in my opinion and it's pigmented enough to show up on someone NC25.
2.99 €
Soo Glow! Cream to Powder Highlighter
20 Bright Up Your Life
Ok, this is just a bit too glowy for me. Not because the shimmer would be huge, but it's just so shiny. I prefer much more subtle highlighters, but I hear people really like this one. It's a pink-toned shade which suits my colouring and it's very similar to Benefit's High Beam. The texture is very, very creamy, almost too much for my liking as I have trouble getting a small amount, it's almost like it's melted, however, on the skin it feels kind of dry to the touch and I don't have I lot of time to blend it in.
2.99 €
Silky Touch Blush
80 Autumn Peach
I don't have anything similar in my collection, so I'm glad I got this. Actually I was just thinking a few days ago that I should check it out next time I'm near an Essence stand because I realised I only have pink or peachy blushes and I think this colour might go nicely with berry lipsticks. It's kind of an terracotta-peach shade and it looks a lot prettier on the skin than in the pan. I'm not a fan of Silky Touch blushes, I much, much prefer Catrice's Defining blushes and but this one is actually decently pigmented.
2.79 €
Essence Longlasting Lipstick
13 Love Me and 14 Adorable Matt!
I admit these aren't my favourite lipsticks, personally I prefer to pay those two euros more and get one from
Catrice. I already have
three shades and I rarely wear them, not because they are bad, but just because they are very average. Still, I picked up shade
13 Love Me from the brimming stand because I have been looking at it for quite a while. It's a super pretty light warm pink with peachy tones, very everyday-ish. The other shade
Adorable Matte is a matte red that
Taya reviewed, but I decided it's going to be a part of the giveaway.
2.49 €
Big Bright Eyes
01 Highlight it...Nude
Love this. It's such a great colour for me to put on my waterline because it's a neutral slightly pinkish nude that makes the eyes less tired looking. It's super soft and transfers fully opaque on the waterline with one swipe. This might just replace my trusted
Max Factor eyeliner in Natural Glaze that I've been using for the last three years. It looks great in the inner corners as well.
2.20 €
Lipliner
14 Femme Fatale
I was never a fan of Essence lip liners and this is a bit too soft for my liking, but it's very pigmented and doesn't drag on the lips. The colour is a neutral red, so it should suit a lot of red lipstick.
1.19 €
Glossy Lip Balm
07 Raspberry Sorbet
A lightly tinted lip gloss that smells like raspberries. I used to own the mint version and it was ok, but nothing to write home about. It's nice for a young teenage girl. It's a part of the giveaway.
1.19 €
Effect Lipgloss
08 OH LA LA! and 02 Jewels in a Bottle
Effect lip glosses come in a variety of interesting finishes - classic shimmery, with flakes, holographic and metallic finish.
Oh La La! is a pink-purple shade with tiny blue sort of holographic shimmer and
Jewels in a Bottle is an orange-coral shade with different sized flakes. Great swatches
here. Both are a part of the giveaway.
2.79 €
Effect Nail Polish
22 I Love Magic and 21 Icy Fairy
I Love Magic is a top coat with holographic shimmer that needs maybe two coats to get a decent holographic effect and it's best applied over a dark nail polish. But here is a more important shade -
Icy Fairy. I was so, so excited about this nail polish, I was actually planning to getting it myself ever since I saw
this image on Instagram. It is the most awesome effect top coat ever and it looks amazing over a black nail polish. I love galaxy manicures and this comes closest to it, but without all the nail art work
(which I suck at so bad). I just posted
a picture on Instagram where I'm wearing it. Love this so much and since I have two, I'm giving one away in the giveaway.
1.49 €
Nail Art Sparkle Sand Top Coat
As the name suggests, it's a sparkly top coat with a sand effect meaning it's quite gritty to the touch once you apply in on the nails. It looks quite pretty over darker nail polishes, but the textured feeling on the nails is something I'll have to get used to.
2.49 €
Colour & Go Nail Polish
144 Black is Back and 187 Juicy Love
I picked up a black shade called Black is Back purely so I would use it with Icy Fairy, while Juicy Love is a classic red. I like these Colour & Go nail polishes because they're really good for the price, better than Catrice's in my opinion and there is a huge selection of colours available. I'm wearing the black one at the moment and the application was a breeze due to a great, wide brush and a smooth formula. It needed two coats.
1.69 €
Click & go Nails Glow in the Night
Self-adhesive nails with the french manicure design and a cute butterfly print. Apparently these glow in the dark, but I'm not sure whether it's actually in the dark or it's like that
top coat I once bought from
Essence that, after reading the back of the bottle closely, turned out to glow only under black light
(what a waste of money that was…). These look quite narrow to me, but there is 12 pieces inside and I can't see all. These are a part of the giveaway.
3.29 €
Nail Art Stickers
13 Neon
There are
several versions of these stickers, we were given the neon ones with stars, bow ties, hipster glasses with a moustache (my favourite), peace symbol, leaves and lightening bolts.
1.39 €
Pencil sharpener
Just a revamped old version as far as I can tell. I've bought a few of these so far. It can sharpen two types of pencils - the classic thin and jumbo.
1.20 €
Nail Art Hello Foils! Transfer Solution
Meant to be used in together with the transfer foils (high five to Captain Obvious Mateja). You need to apply this before applying the foil so it has something to stick too and then finish off with a top coat. It's a part of the giveaway.
1.79 €
Nail Art Hello Foils! Transfer Foils
01 Hello Flashy
These have a metallic graffiti look, picture
here. Honestly, I'm not into the nail art also because I'm useless at this stuff and I admire anyone who can draw at least polka dots on their nails. It's a part of the giveaway.
1.49 €
Gel Nails at Home 2in1 Primer & Cleanser
Designed to be used before and after a gel manicure. It cleans and protects the nails from nail dust, oil and grease. After curing under the UV-light it can be can also be used to remove gel residues from your nails. It's a part of the giveaway.
2.99 €
Gel Nails at Home 2in1 French Peel Off Gel Base & Top Coat
This is a rosé nude coloured base that gives the appearance of the perfect french manicure. It's meant to be used in conjunction with the UV-light. It's a part of the giveaway.
3.29 €
Gel Nails at Home 2in1 Clear Peel Off Gel Base & Top Coat
A classic gel base coat over which you apply the regular nail polish (Colour & Go line is recommended). Again it's meant to be cured under the UV-light. It's a part of the giveaway.
3.29 €
Like Best Friends Forever
50 ml
I didn't expect to like this, but surprisingly I do. I went to check the
notes on Fragrantica and it was immediately clear - it has peach in it. Some of you may know about my of fondness for anything peach scented and I get super excited about such products. It's not a predominately peach scent as it is mixed with a more fresh apple note, but even more prominent are the sweet vanilla and sandalwood. It's a classic super sweet fruity-gourmand scent, very celebrity like and yes, generic, but I happen to like those. The staying power is unfortunately very weak and I can't smell it any more after an hour despite the vanilla note, which tends to linger longer that others.
7.5 €
You can enter the giveaway here. Have a great day!