Hiya, I'm Kelly, join me each week as I share with you my views on beauty, fashion and lifestyle choices.

Thursday, 16 June 2016

Essence Eye Shadows

Hello everyone,Unless you have been hibernating for last month, you will probably know that I recently went on holiday. After only a couple days of being in Malta, I had already become bored with the ONE eye shadow I brought with me. I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I just packed one and it was a neutral colour as well! So I popped down to the local shops and tried to find some more shadows. After searching the shops and failing to find anything, I started to think that maybe the Maltese just don't wear make up. By this time, it was extremely hot and I was both thirsty and tired so I popped into the supermarket on my way back to the apartment and what should I see - a whole Essence stand full of make up!

I started to look at all the eye shadows but was disappointed because they were all very neutral tones apart from some purple ones which I knew wouldn't suit me and would just make me look like I had a black eye. After walking for what felt a lifetime, I didn't want to go back empty handed so I choose two that I would try out. The colours I picked were number 08 Apricotta and number 18 All I Need.

By the time I got back to the apartment, I had just enough time to have a shower and get ready for dinner so I chose to wear the Apricotta shade. The first thing I noticed was have soft the shadow was on my skin. In the past I have sometimes found eye shadows to be quite harsh and almost gritty on my eye lids, yet these felt more like I was apply on cream than a shadow. The downside of this was it took a few more coats to build the colour to how I wanted it which of course took more time I didn't have. In terms of lasting power, they stayed on for the whole evening. Since being back home, I have been trying them out on work days and have found that they only last about four hours which is fine if you are in a position where you can re-apply.

The second shade I bought (All I Need) I had mixed feeling about. The formula is the same, yet no matter how many coats I apply, it doesn't seem to get better. To me, this shade would probably work better as a highlighter as it just leaves a slight shimmer to the skin. To give you a idea using the swatches above, I applied the one on the right (Apricotta) four times to get it to that colour, whereas the one on the left (All I Need), I ended up needing to apply eleven coats for me to become happy with the colour.

Overall, I think the shade Apricotta would work well if you were going out for a drink after work or something along those lines where you would only be out for a few hours. The shade All I Need definitely works better as a highlighter - I have been using it to highlight my brow bone to create a more defined look. I have noticed that these are available in selected Wilkinson's stores, so if you want to try them out, I highly recommend doing swatches all the colours first to make sure you pick shades that will suit your needs.