Essence Be Loud Collection

Hey guys,

Today I bring to you new products from Essence that have recently been released at Target stores across Australia. The Be Loud collection has blushes, eyeshadows, jumbo lip pencils, nail polishes and eye liners. 

I picked up the blushes in Pink Me and Ap-ri(C)ot and the Jumbo lip pencil in Pink me.

The blushes look like baked blushes (Think Hourglass ambient blushes) with different colour veinings, but they are not baked. Pink me has red, candy pink and baby pink veining. Ap-ri(c)ot has orange, peach and coral veining. Both the blushes have very good pigmentation and a little goes a long way. The application was a little patchy but with a little blending it looked seamless. They did stay on for about 6 hours after which they faded. 

L-R Blush in Pink Me, Apricot and Lip pencil in Pink Me

The Pink Me jumbo pencil is a glossy, sheer lip pencil. The colour can be built up and is very comfortable on the lips. It doesn't last very long though, probably an hour or two if you don't eat or drink anything. It doesn't stain the lips either so reapplying throughout the day is necessary. 

L-R Blush in Pink Me, Apricot and Lip pencil in Pink Me

Overall not a very exciting collection but I am quite happy with the products I got. If you would like to purchase these products they are still available at most Target stores.

Did you pick up anything from the Be Loud collection?

Essence Trend Edition in Dark Romance

Essence is now out with another collection which is apt for winter here in Australia. Dark Romance is a collection of reds, berries and deep blues and grey. I picked up some of the products that I want to share with you guys today.

This collection also features some cool nail and body art products which I didn't pick up because I don't tend to use them. The products I got were the two lipsticks, two lipglosses, two blushes, one cream highlighter and one of the eyeshadow quads.

(Pic Heavy)

Top- Cream blush in 01 Painted Love, 02 Red Romance ( Swatched heavily/ blended in), Middle- Eyeshadow quad in 01 Mystery Glam,  Bottom- Lipsticks in 02 Painted Love, 01 Red Romance, Lipglosses in 02 Light up and 01 Black Shadow.

Cream Highlighter in 01 Light up.

The cream/ mousse blushes are very soft and creamy, but they do require a lot of product and work to actually blend and be seen on the cheek. Once blended they leave a slight stain that lasts for about 5 hours on my skin.

The Eyeshadow quads have some very nice smokey shades which are perfect for the winter but they are quite sheer if you do not apply a primer. They do blend seamlessly but have a bit of fallout too so make sure you tap of the excess before applying them on your eyes.

The Lipsticks are my second favorite products in this collection. They are super creamy and glide on so easily on the lips. The colour pay off is pretty good too. Two swipes and you get full opaque colour. If you are scared to rock red or dark berry lips then you could do only one swipe and pat it with your fingers to create a stain effect. They do have a chemically scent which is very faint and you cannot smell it when you have the lipstick on so thats a bonus.

Essence Lipglosses are the best lipglosses in my opinion. I am not a huge fan of glosses but when it comes to choosing between a MAC lipgloss and Essence, my vote will always go to Essence. They are creamy, non-sticky, and very comfortable on the lips. The two shades I got have a lot of iridescent shimmer which looks beautiful when the light catches it. 01 Black Shadow is a grey base with silver shimmer which is in no way gritty feeling on the lips. 02 Light up is a white base with pink and blue iridescent shimmer. Both these glosses smell like Watermelon Hubba Bubba. Yumm!!

I also got the Cream highlighter in 01 Light up which comes off as a beautiful pinky sheen on the skin when you blend it in. It reminds me of Benefit's Moon Beam but in a cream form. If you can pick only one item from this collection I would highly recommend this highlighter.

Available at Priceline now.

Have you picked up anything from this collection? What are your favorite products from Essence?

❤❤❤

March 2014 Makeup and Skincare Favorites

I have never done one of these before, but I love watching videos and reading posts on what others have been loving for the past month. There is always a first time so here goes my first monthly favorites.

The month of March has been a very hectic month for me but it has also been a very exciting one because it gave me the chance to try some amazing new products and I attended Salon Melbourne which was just fantastic. Anyways now lets just get right into it.

My very first favorite of the month has to be my ELES Micro Bubble Lipstick in Micro Mocha. I have been using this lipstick almost everyday since the time I got it. Its is the perfect everyday colour for my skin tone and I love the formula of these lipsticks. You can check out my review here. 

The next makeup favorite has to be the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure. It gives me the perfect neutral flush of colour. I have reviewed the blush here. To apply my blush I have been loving the Furless Perfectly Pink stipple brush PPF3. It helps pick up the exact amount of product needed and blends the blush in seamlessly. I will be having a review of a few Furless brushes soon so keep an eye out for that.

Moving on, my next makeup favorite is the Bourjois Happy Light Foundation in Golden Beige. I had been wanting to try this foundation for so long but was waiting for a Bourjois sale. I picked this up in the 40% off Cosmetics sale at Priceline a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I think it is my favorite drugstore foundation of all time. No favorites post is complete without a mascara and I have been loving the Essence Get Big Lashes Volume Curl Mascara. I love the brush and the volume it gives my lashes, plus it is very affordable. I am not too sure about the curling factor as it does not do that very well, but as a volumising mascara I love it.

Moving on to skincare favorites and my first skincare favorite of the month has to be my Enbacci Vitis Vinifera Rejuvenating Essence which is a toner. I don't use it as a toner but as a refresher throughout the day. It comes with a spray nozzle and I love spritzing my face with it when ever my skin feels it needs a little boost. I have reviewed the entire Vitis Vinifera range here. 

Next up is the Boots Optiva Nourishing Night Cream, I started using this just towards the end of the month but I absolutely love it. I have tried a few night creams and a lot of them started to break me out. Thats when I thought maybe my skin does not like night creams so I resorted to oils and day creams without SPF for my night routine. Since I started using the Optiva night cream my notion has changed. First of all this cream smells divine and does not leave my skin feeling oily or greasy. Most importantly it does not break me out and when I wake up the next morning my skin feels soft and supple. Before I started using the Optiva night cream, I used to use the Tarte Maracuja oil as my night time moisturizer. I have oily-acne prone skin but I love to use this oil as a moisture booster and it honestly helps revive my skin. If only this product wasn't so expensive I would repurchase it all my life. I still may repurchase the full size till I find a cheaper alternative to it. 

So those were my favorites for the month of March. I hope you enjoyed this post and if you would like to see more of these monthly favorites do let me know in the comments below.

Have you tried any of these products before and were they in your monthly favorites too?

❤❤❤

Essence Tribal Summer Collection

Essence released its Tribal Summer Trend edition at Target just a few weeks ago and I bought a few products to share with you guys. I did not go overboard this time and just bought the products I would use.

The Trend Edition came with

Liquid Blush - 01 Waka Waka $4.25

Pigments - 01 Na-Rock, 02 Waka Waka, 03 Inti Inka and 04 Copper earth $4.25 each

Nail Polishes - 01 Waka waka, 02 Inti inka, 03 Ta-la-ra, 04 Tipi-ya-yeah and 05 Na-rock $2.75 each

Long Lasting Lipsticks - 01 Na-rock and 02 Waka Waka $4.10 each

Bronzer - 01 Inti Inka $5.35

Oil Blotting sheets - 01 Matte Me Pacha Tulum $3.50

Feather hair extension - 01 Inka's soul $4.25

Tip Painter Set - 01 Aztecs Ceremony $5.35

I picked up the 4 pigments and the bronzer from this collection as everything else did not appeal much to me. I used to be a pigment hater almost a year ago because they are messy to work with. But I have found how versatile they are and I love playing with them now. Pigments are not cheap so when I saw these I had to buy them all. They are gorgeous colours and if I don't want to use them I could always press them into eyeshadows (or blush for the pink one)

Pigments in Na-Rock, Inti-Inka, Waka Waka and Copper earth.

What is a trend edition with out a powder, be it highlighter or bronzer. The Tribal Summer edition came with this bronzer which I think would make a better highlighter  for most skin tones. It is not dark enough to be a bronzer and its orange. When used with a light hand it picks up enough colour to be used as a highlighter for the cheek bones for my skin tone.

Bronzer in Inti Inka

Bronzer in Inti Inka

L-R Pigments in Na-Rock, Inti-Inka, Waka Waka and Copper earth. Bronzer in Inti Inka

Available Exclusive to Target in Australia. Did you pick up anything from this Trend Edition? 

❤❤❤

Priceline 40% Off Cosmetics Haul

Hey guys, 

Just a few days back Priceline had a two day 40% off cosmetics sale, which probably comes every 3 months. I was not going to buy anything this time as I was a little busy and thought I wouldn't find time to go instore. But I did end up going into one and picked up a few things.

L'oreal Paris False Lash Butterfly Mascara :

This is a fairly new mascara in the market and I usually don't buy mascaras from L'oreal as they are quite expensive, but this one was on sale so I thought this would be the best time to try it.

I have not opened it yet but will definitely review it once I have used it for a bit.

RRP: $25.95 Sale Price: $15.57

Bourjois Happy Light Foundation in Golden Beige:

I have heard so many good things about this foundation that I had to pick it up but I was waiting for a Bourjois sale. I got to the store just in time as this was the last bottle on shelf and they had no more stock. Score!

RRP: $29 Sale Price: $17.40

Maybelline Fit Me stick foundation in 240:

Again this is a much talked about product so I thought of trying it out for myself. I wouldn't have bought it at full price since I have heaps of foundations to use up but with 40% off who can say no.

RRP: $15.95 Sale Price: $9.57

Essence Lash Mania Mascara:

This mascara was always sold out or been used and gunky at every Priceline I have been to and I really like the brush on this one. I think it was my lucky day that day. I have heard this is a dupe for Benefit's They're Real Mascara. Will let you know once I have tested them side by side.

RRP: $4.95 Sale Price: $2.97

Maybelline Baby Lips Pink Glow in Pink Blast:

I have been using the regular baby lips every morning, but since I have pigmented lips it makes them look dull and grey. Since this one will tint my lips a bit I thought of giving it a try.

RRP: $3.95 Sale Price: $2.37

Total Amount before discount= $79.80

Total Amount after discount= $47.88

Savings= $31.92

I love these 40% off sales at Priceline as it gives you an opportunity to try new products you normally would not like spending full price on or even to stock up your daily essentials.

Did you pick up anything from the Priceline sale?

❤❤❤

Essence Blushes and Highlighters Collection

Hey guys,

This is part two of my Essence collection post and in this post I will b sharing with you all of my Essence blushes and highlighters. I absolutely adore some of these blushes and highlighters. 

Most of them are from their trend editions so they would be limited edition, but Essence comes out with trend editions almost every two months so you would definitely find something similar sooner or later.

(L-R) Circus Highlighter powder in It's Magic(L.E), Silky Touch blush in Secret It-Girl, Silky Touch Blush in Babydoll, Beauty Beats Blush in Groupie at heart(L.E), Twilight blush in Renesmee Red (L.E), Me and my Icecream Cream blush in Ice Bomb(L.E), Silky Touch blush in Life's a cherry, Twilight shimmer powder in Bella's Secret(L.E), Ticket to Paradise Shimmer Powder in Tropical Heat(L.E), Beauty Beats Shimmer powder in Swaaaag(L.E).
(L.E= Limited Edition)

(L-R) Bella's Secret, Tropical Heat, It's Magic, Swaaaag.

(L-R) Bella's Secret, Tropical Heat, It's Magic, Swaaaag.

I absolutely adore Essence shimmer powders. They all look similar but are quiet different on application. Bella's Secret is a champagne gold with very fine shimmer, Tropical Heat has more bronze tones to it. 

It's magic, is a pure yellow gold shimmer and Swaaaag is a frosted silver white with a tiny tinge of pink. 

Out of all of these four Bella's Secret had the least noticeable shimmer particles, next was Its magic. Both Tropical Heat and Swaaaag have noticeable shimmer particles and can look very chunky if not blended properly.

If your lucky you can still be able to find Swaaaag and Tropical Heat in some Priceline stores as they are from very recent Trend Editions.

(L-R) Renesmee Red, Life's a Cherry, Babydoll, Groupie at heart, Secret it-girl, Ice Bomb

Essence blushes are very hit and miss. Some I absolutely love, some not so much but they are not bad either.

 First off we have Renesmee Red which is a warm red with orange undertones and matte, to be used with a very light hand this gives a beautiful natural flush of rosy cheeks. Next is Life's a cherry, this is beautiful poppy pink with a satin finish, this blush is from the regular line so you can find it at all Pricelines and Targets. 

Babydoll is a cool toned baby pink with a satin finish again from the regular line. Groupie at heart is a vibrant watermelon pink with a matte finish.

Secret It-girl is a light peach with golden shimmer, the shimmer is not very chunky so it won't make you look like a disco ball. The last of the lot is the cream blush in Ice bomb. This was a part of the Me and my icecream collection that came out a few months ago. It is a smooth pinky coral with a satin finish.

Out of all the blushes I prefer the Renesmee red, Life's a cherry, Groupie at heart for my skin tone. The others are a little too light and I have to build up the colours to create the intensity. In saying that I do still like all of them.

(L-R) Renesmee Red, Life's a Cherry, Babydoll, Groupie at heart, Secret it-girl, Ice Bomb

Essence Cosmetics can be found at all Pricelines and Targets in Australia.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my Essence cheek collection. If you have tried any of these products before then let me know what you think of them in the comments below.

My Essence Collection- Part 1 Eyeshadows

Hey Guys,

I was going through my make up collection and found that there were so many products from the brand Essence that I have collected in a couple of years and that I absolutely love and recommend. I love reading one brand posts and thought it would be fun to write about it too. I will talk about the products in 4 posts starting with eyeshadows then lip products, face products and random. 

Today's post is going to be all about Essence Eyeshadows. I absolutely love all Essence products and they make some of the best quality eyeshadows. I have a couple of their regular eyeshadows and some from different trend editions. 

With all Essence eyeshadows the pigmentation is amazing. The eyeshadows are super soft and easy to blend. Even with the new metal glam eyeshadows, they have a glittery overspray but there is no grittiness to the texture. They remain crease free for a long time too. Even without an eyeshadow primer, they are true to colour and what you see in the pan is what you get on your eyes. Some of them are a little powdery, but by tapping off the excess you don't get any fall out. 

They retail from $2.85 to $5.25 for some special edition eyeshadows. For the price I honestly did not expect such awesome quality but all the Essence products AMAZING!!

L-R Olive Garden, Metropolitan, Baby Baby Oh, Frosted apple, Coffee to glow, I'm a marine girl (1), I'm a marine girl (2)

{All swatches are without using any base or primer}

L-R: Olive Garden, Metropolitan, Baby Baby Oh, Frosted apple, Coffee to glow, I'm a marine girl (1), I'm a marine girl (2)

{All swatches are without using any base or primer}

My favourite picks are Olive Garden, Baby Baby Oh and Frosted Apple. But I still like all the other shades too. If you are looking for a really cheap, good quality, pigmented eyeshadow then do check out the Essence line either from Priceline or Target in Australia. 

Also if you liked this post and would like me to do more one brand posts please do let me know in the comments below.

Essence Ticket to Paradise collection exclusive to Priceline

Hey guys,

I was wandering around Priceline in one of the shopping centres in the eastern suburbs when the new Ticket to Paradise collection by Essence caught my attention. The bright colours of summer pulled me into buying a few things. I had read a post by Sophie from BorntoBuy talk about this collection in one of her posts in November and fell in love with all the products. You can read her post here.

The collection consists of 

4 nail colours RRP $2.95 each

2 glossy lip pencils RRP $2.25 each

3 lip glosses RRP $3.50 each

1 shimmer powder RRP $5.35 each

3 cream eyeshadows RRP $4.95 each and

2 hair mascaras RRP $5.35 each

I could get hold of only a few of the products so I don't have the whole collection to show you.

I bought the shimmer powder in 01 Tropical Heat which is a bronze gold highlighter. It is a beautiful highlighter especially for the summer. I love Essence Highlighters overall so this is no exception too.

The two lip glosses I got are in 01 Sun said red which is a clear lip gloss with a teeny tiny hint of orange through it. On the lips it shows up clear. It smells exactly like the other Essence lip glosses, wish it was a little pigmented instead of completely clear. The other lip gloss I bought is in 03 Dive with me to the island which is a blue clear lip gloss with shimmer. This is a great lipgloss to top off a matte lipstick or to wear on its own because the shimmer looks beautiful and is not too overpowering.

The glossy lip pencils in 01 Sun said red and 02 My Treasure Island are basically lip crayons in a thin pencil form. They glide on smoothly and do stain the lips a little. Since these are not matte they do keep your lips feeling hydrated and you can wear these on their own or under lip glosses.

The cream eyeshadows in 01 Dive with me to the Island, 02 Deep Sea Baby and 03 Tropical Heat are gorgeous shimmery cream eyeshadows that look great on their own or use them as a base. They have a plush pillow like consistency and are super smooth. 

Over all I love the products of this collection. It is available at selected Priceline stores right now but by January most of the Pricelines in Australia will stock this trend edition. 

Have you seen this collection at your local Priceline yet???

New Essence Lipsticks

Hey guys,

Essence has come out with a new range of lipsticks which are the Long Lasting lipsticks. They have 10 colours ranging from nudes to reds. I bought three of them to try out and I am definitely going back to buy more.

They retail for $4.10 in Priceline and Target and the colours available are

01) Coral Calling

02) All you need is red

03) Dare to wear

04) On the catwalk

05) Dare to be nude

06) Barely There

07) Natural Beauty

08) Colour Crush

09) Wear Berries

10) Cotton Candy

I bought Number 5, 7 and 9 and would go back to buy 8 and 10. The swatches are as follows

These lipsticks lasted me 4 hours without any food and drinks and faded after that. They are a creamy satin finish which moisturizes your lips and does not dry them out. I would not call them long lasting because they do wear off within 4 hours especially if you are eating or drinking but for the price reapplying them is not a big issue for me. They are quite sheer on the first application but you can build the colour up.

The lipsticks come in a sleek black tube with the letter "E" embossed in the lipstick. The middle of the tube has a band of the colour of the lipstick, so you can see what colour it is without opening the product.  They do have a funny scent, similar to the Rimmel Apocolips but not as strong. Once applied you can't smell it so thats a good thing for me because I hate that scent. 

Overall I love these lipsticks and would definitely recommend trying them out. Packaging and colour selection wise Essence has done a great job.

Have you tried these lipsticks out yet???

Lush, L'Occitane and Essence Haul

Hey guys,

I shopped a bit, I know I don't need any more products but you know how it is when you see something and immediately feel the need to own it. The same thing happened to me last week. So I gave in and bought the following products.

Lush Sweetie Pie shower Jelly:

I am a huge Lush fan and I have tried a lot of their products but not this  one. I really liked the concept of using a jelly like a bar of soap for your shower so I picked this up. It smells like cherries. So excited to try it out. Retail price is A$6.25 for 100 gms

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub: 

This is a repurchase. I have used this lip scrub before but when I went to India in January I forgot it back there. I love that it has a sweet candy smell and honestly makes your lips super smooth. Retail price A$9.95 for 25 gms

L'Occitane Hand Creams :

L'Occitane hands down makes the best hand creams ever. I actually recieved the shea butter hand cream in a magazine once and fell in love with it. When I went to repurchase that, I smelled these two and had to buy them. The shea butter hand cream does not have a distinct smell but these ones smell amazing. The one on the right smells like roses and the left smells like cherry blossom. They retail for A$12 each.

Essence Me and My Ice cream Hand wipes and Shimmer Pearls:

Next stop was at Priceline and I really wanted to try some products from this Me and My Ice cream collection but unfortunately these were the only products I could get my hands on that were not tampered with. The hand wipes smell delicious and the shimmer pearls look like a dupe for the Guerlain meteorites pearls. They are basically supposed to give your face a radiant illuminated look. I have not tried them out yet so I can't say if they work well. The hand wipes were A$2.25 and the shimmer pearls A$5.75

That was all I bought, If you have tried any of the products mentioned do let me know what you think about them.

Till next time,

❤

Recent empties and products I am chucking out

Hey guys, 

I am on a mission to finish up products I already own before buying new products, which is hard and almost impossible for me but I am trying. I am really excited that I could complete a few of them atleast.

Without further adieu I present to you my empties,

Impulse Illusions body mist : I used to carry this in my gym bag and finally I am done with it. It was a fresh smelling body spray I bought from Safeway.

Estee Lauder Day Wear moisturizer for Oily skin : Unfortunately I am out of my favorite moisturizer and it is very expensive to repurchase, so I will be saving up some money before I can splurge on this again.

Essence 24h Hand Protection Balm : It was my husband who finished up this product actually, but I thought I will just include it in here because I had bought it for myself originally. It is just a hand cream which is apple cinnamon flavored and he loved the smell of it.

Essence Get Big Lashes Mascara : I did not use up this product completely, it just dried out on me in no time. I think I had it for like 2 months and hardly used it but now it is completely dry and useless so I am just chucking it out.

Revlon Lipbutter in Pink Truffle : Yay!! I used up another lip product. With the amount of lipsticks and glosses I have I never thought I will use up any of it. But I did completely use this one up again. My previous post of May empties had one too. Love this lip butter for just a natural flush of colour everyday.

So today I thought I shall clear out some of my clutter and started with the eyeliner drawer. The following eye liners are being chucked out either due to poor performance or just dried up sitting there. It includes brands like Essence, VOV, Savvy by DB, Revlon, Maybelline and Jordana. The Revlon Colorstay on the extreme right is actually used up completely but I don't know why it was still in the drawer. I loved that blackberry colour, unfortunately it has been discontinued.

Have you used any of these products before and what do you think of them??

Essence Shimmer Powder in Bella's Secret

Hey Guys, 

The product I am reviewing today has been the only product that has been a staple in my makeup routine almost every single day. This has been a product I have been using religiously for the past 8 months. Its is the Essence Shimmer Powder in Bella's Secret, which came out in the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn collection. It is a shimmery champagne colour which you can use on your face as a highlight colour. I have used it on my browbone for a subtle highlight a lot of times too. Essence products are stocked at Priceline and Target in Australia.

I think I had purchased this for $5.50 or somewhere around that and you get 11g of product. I doubt I will ever hit pan on this even if I use it everyday for the next 10 years, because you only need a tiny amount of it.

This powder is very finely milled and looks gorgeous on the skin. It is not shimmery but it gives a beautiful sheen to the skin. I generally just tap my brush in it twice and sweep the product on my cheekbones. If you have pores this does accentuate them but if you prime your skin before makeup then it is not as obvious. I have seen a lot of people comparing this to The Balm's Mary Lou Manizer and I since I don't own it I can't really tell the difference. But by looking at the swatches online I can say Bella's Secret has a tiny bit more gold to it. 

In the swatch below I have used it quite heavily and done flash photography for it to show up on my skin. The left swatch is a finger swatch and the right one is same swatch blended in lightly. You can see there are no shimmer particles that stand out, but instead a soft sheen that can instantly brighten up your face.

Unfortunately this was limited edition but Essence does come out with different shimmer powders like it did with the Circus collection and they are quite similar. If you can still get your hands on these online I would definitely recommend it. 

Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Love,

Reshma

Essence 50s girls Reloaded Haul and swatches

Hey Guys,

Sorry for being MIA, I have been very sick lately but all is good now and I am back on track with a small haul cum first impressions cum swatch post. I recently spotted the Essence stand at Target with the 50s girls Reloaded special edition items and this is a re-promote trend edition, as it had earlier come out last year as well. I stocked up on a couple lipsticks and some eye stuff so lets just get right into it.

So I bought the lipsticks in 01 Back to the 50's which is a red and 02 I'm Sailing which is a peach. The eyeshadow duo is in 01 I'm a Marine girl and the brush is a dual ended eyeshadow brush.

Below are the swatches of the eyeshadows and the lipsticks.

The lipsticks are very creamy, super pigmented and glide on easily. I love the packaging because they look exactly like Mac lipsticks. The peach is a very light colour for me to pull off but I will be trying to pair it with maybe a darker gloss or just mix both the colours and create a wearable shade. The red is just a classic red with more orange undertones. The eyeshadow brush is just average, good enough just to apply eyeshadow. Nothing major about the brush. The eyeshadow duo is a pretty champagne colour and a pretty blueish purple. More blue in the pan and more purple on application. The eyeshadows are powdery and do take a few swipes to create intensity.

Overall I love the lipsticks, not so much the eyeshadow brush and the eyeshadows but I could still make it work.

Hope you guys enjoyed my haul cum review.

Love,

Reshma