New Essence Summer 2014 Collection & First Impressions
Essence Cosmetics has only been in the United States for less than five years, but my overseas readers might be familiar with their trendy, budget-friendly makeup. I’ve got a few of their newest releases for their spring/summer release to show you; let’s take a look.
One of my favorites from the summer collection is the Metal Glam Eyeshadow. This one, in the shade Chocolate Jewelry, is a bronze with golden shimmer. It’s soft and blendable with good pigmentation. It’s most shimmery on the top layer, which is sprayed over, but you’ll still get some sparkle after you work your way into the product.
The newest intiaties to the Sun Club collection are the All-in-One Bronzing Highlighters. These have a combination of highlighting, bronzing and blush shades. Pictured is the shade Sun Glow, which has a warm medium bronzing effect with coral undertones.
This is certainly not a contouring product, since it’s packed with shimmer and not strongly pigmented, either. It’s much more useful for dusting over the cheeks and perimeters of the face for added radiance. I wish the deepest shade omitted the sparkles, to add a little bit more balance.
Another highlight from this selection is the Get BIG! Lashes Triple Black Mascara. This has a fat, dense wand with many bristles to help lift and separate lashes. I love how it fanned out my eyelashes and added natural looking– but noticeably enhanced– length. The formula is on the drier side, but it doesn’t flake throughout the day. The brush is a little big for my liking, since I’m a klutz and always snag my eyelid with the tip. Either way, I like the results I get with this for less dramatic looks.
The Lipsticks line got 3 new shades, one being Flirty Pink: a sheer, sparkly pink that can be layered for more intensity. The formula is pretty comfortable– moisturizing, even. I built it up with a few layers to create this swatch:
Lastly, new shades were added to the Long Lasting Eye Pencils line, including this one in Berry Merry. I really like this shade of eyeliner for my brown eyes. It’s a mahogany plum with fine shimmer. It loses a bit of pigmentation when you start blending it out, but it’s buildable.
After swatching it, I let it chill on my arm for a few hours where it stayed put smudge-free; impressive!
I’m so excited to have been introduced to this brand, because the price points are low while they perform well.
The only store that sells Essence near me is Ulta, but I’ve heard they can be found in select drugstores. Have you been able to spot them in your area?
Shop this Collection:
We have lots of pretty new essence stuff launching here too.
I LOVE Essence. To Cindy Ingalls below, I purchase mine at Fred Meyer but Ulta carries the brand too…wait, i’ll tell her…
I’ve never seen this brand in my area.
Cindy, you know Fred Meyer sells Essence. So does Ulta…I imagine they have Ulta in Spokane? But hit up your nearest Fred’s for Essence. IT’S WORTH THE DRIVE!
I’ve never tried this brand. Great swatches.
I’m in love with the mascara and the price.
Ooh, that mascara is a must!
The bronzer/highlighter is way to pretty
I like Essence makeup! Great swatches!
How fun! I actually like bronzers that aren’t too pigmented, because I tend to be a bit heavy-handed.
Then this might be great for you! Although since it is pretty shimmery, it’s still not ideal for contouring.
That highlighting bronzer is so pretty! I think I’ve tried Essence lippy in the past, I actually liked it for the price!
Want that bronzer, asap!
Love the pattern on that bronzer!
I love this entire line. It is so fantastic!
That mascara is gorgeousssss
I like Essence. Their nail polishes are cheap and good! I really like the berry eyeliner and the chocolate jewelry shadow. The mascara is really impressive, though your lashes look blue to me. Even if that’s just my monitor… I kinda like it. In fact, I just bought some colored mascara, so having a blue-black one would be a plus.
I love that eyeshadow shade!
These look great on you! I have found Essence to be hit or miss, but not enough miss to make me quit trying the brand. When they get it right it is love!
wow! I have to try this mascara!
The Metal Glam eyeshadow looks great! I hope more of their limited edition items come to my local Ulta
That mascara looks great! I’m always leery of trying out a new brand until I read a lot of reviews from bloggers I trust. Thanks for adding another positive note to my list!
Same! After I read a lot of good things about essence from other bloggers, I really wanted to try some of their products.
Yes please. I need everything. I love your lashes with that mascara!
Gorgeous Gorgeous gorgeous. The shadow is beautiful and that mascara looks BOMB. Some va-va-voom lash action. For some reason I rarely see Essence products, so I need to find them to check them out. Great pictures and post.
Yes, the only place it seems they are available in the US is ULTA
I have a number of products from essence that I absolutely love: I Love Crazy Extreme Volume Mascara, Nail Drying Drops, Gel Look Topcoat, Coverstick Concealer. They are such a bargain. Unfortunately, we don’t get the limited editions here since Ulta doesn’t carry them. I gotta go check out the summer lineup. Like the look of the mascara you used!
Ooh, Nail Drying Drops? I’m intrigued!
It all looks very pretty, but the pigmentation is kind of lacking. That bums me out. But to be honest, if you like a light natural look this might work and it’s inexpensive!
I always see the Essence collection at Ulta but never check it out! I’ll have to stop by next time and see what it’s all about.