Saturday, July 20, 2013

Revisiting Essence Mono Eyeshadows

It's been almost a year and a half since my first foray into Essence Mono Eyeshadows, and while my overall experience with the brand has been hit and miss, I didn't expect to be drawn to any more of their single eyeshadows. With the exception of Mystic Lemon (43), which I've tried to unsuccessfully pass off as a NARS Albatross dupe, I've barely touched the other two eyeshadows I bought, Taupe of the Pops (46) and Blue Mission (38). Given my lukewarm feelings, it's somewhat surprising that in the past week, I've purchased two more of their Mono Eyeshadows, Cappuccino, Please! (58) and "metallic effect" Party All Night (35). I guess you really don't need much of a push when they're a mere $2.85 each.








l-r: Party All Night (35), Cappuccino, Please! (58)

Cappuccino, Please! was something I rushed to take to the counter after halfheartedly trying out the tester and being amazed at how soft, buttery and smooth it felt. There is absolutely no powderiness, chalkiness or fallout normally associated with cheaper brands. It felt like a product that was worth ten times its price. I like how it's not overly metallic and shimmery — it has more of a subdued satin finish while still retaining a lustrous quality. In terms of the colour, it's your standard beigey/champagne highlighting shade which I foresee mainly using to brighten the inner corners of the eyes for more dramatic nighttime looks.

Party All Night is an eyeshadow I've contemplated buying on countless occasions but have repeatedly resisted, rationalising that I simply do not need it given the bazillion eyeshadows I have at home exactly like it. Well, one night I just cracked, because who cares at $2.85? Carly's recent review may or may not have given me the final push I needed. It's definitely something I could've done without due to its similarity to a suite of metallic taupey/bronzy eyeshadows I keep on high rotation, but another one in the mix can't hurt.

l-r: Blue Mission (38), Taupe of the Pops (46), Party All Night (35), Cappuccino, Please! (58), Mystic Lemon (43)

My Essence Mono Eyeshadow collection now consists of five shades, four predictably neutral and shimmery, one random matte cornflower blue. To this day, it boggles the mind why I bought Blue Mission. Yes, it was cheap and a unique and vivid colour, but come on now ... I know I'll never use it. It's just sitting there, taking up space, collecting dust, waiting to be thrown out. Let's not fool myself into thinking I'd ever reach for it, not even for attempted "bright"/"colourful" looks during summer, or concentrated on the lower lashline for a more accessible "pop of colour". Not going to happen.

l-r: Maybelline Bad to the Bronze, NARS Kalahari, Essence Party All Night, L'Oréal Tender Caramel, Urban Decay YDK

Party all Night compared with shades that I thought would be close. To a layperson, these five would be virtually indistinguishable. They're all very metallic and nicely pigmented. Urban Decay YDK is the most coppery, followed by NARS Kalahari (I have this shade in the NARS And God Created the Woman palette, which is the left side of the NARS Kalahari eyeshadow duo). The base colour of L'Oréal Tender Caramel underneath its overpowering frosty overlay is actually quite similar to Maybelline Bad to the Bronze. Party All Night appears the most pale and slightly dirty/ashy, more neutral than YDK and Kalahari, which are warmer. My favourite is Kalahari, because it reflects the least silver. Overly frosty eyeshadows are my pet peeve.

l-r: Urban Decay Bootycall, Laura Mercier Buff Pearl, Essence Cappuccino, Please!, NARS Alhambra, Urban Decay Sin

Except for the peachier and darker NARS Alhambra (again, from my NARS And God Created the Woman palette, this time I believe it's the right side of the regular Alhambra duo), the other four shades are basically the same with only very subtle differences. I usually opt for the slightly pinky Urban Decay Sin to highlight the inner corner of the eyes, as I find Urban Decay Bootycall and Laura Mercier Buff Pearl a little bit too white for my yellow skin tone. Cappuccino, Please! is a bit more yellowish-beige which works better for me. The texture is pure win considering how affordable it is.

34 comments:

  1. I realised that I have never tried any of essence's mono eyeshadows; or any of their eyeshadows at all...
    BUT being influenced by this post, I think heading out to pick up party all night would be a good choice, even though I have enough browns to last forever....

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  2. I love Blue Mission! I just bought Party All Night on a trip to Germany (we don't get Essence in the UK) and I kind of love it :)
    S xx

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  3. A trip to the Essence stand is in order! Cappucino Please! is right up my alley for a lid colour- and you make the formula sound so dreamy. I've also swatched Party All Night loads of times but never felt captivated enough to buy it. I've never delved into their mono eyeshadow range, I've only tried a quad which didn't prove itself. Glad to know there are still some gems to be found in the brand!

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  4. I've bought an Essence palette before and wasn't impressed, so I've totally disregarded all of their eyeshadows. I'm not much of an eyeshadow person but you've made great choices; Cappucino Please! is a great everyday colour. x

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  5. I can't believe these are less than $3 apiece!! Definitely need to pick a few up :)

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  6. I have both of these and use them regularly on rotation as part of my daily makeup. Thinking about adding a couple more to the collection :)

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  7. Oh I love Capuccino Please! Crazy pretty. Looks like any other UD shadow.

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    Replies
    1. Applies almost like one as well! It is very similar to more high end equivalents :)

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  8. That beautiful eyeshadows, I love the colors! *-*

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  9. I haven't tried the Essence shadows and thanks for your post. I am really impressed with the pigmentation and will definitely check them out.

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  10. Party all night looks very nice!! I'll take a look next time I visit drugstore ;D
    Essence eye shadows' quality is okay, but its sister ; Catrice has great mono eyeshadows. I have heard that Catrice has recently hit Singapore's drugstores so I hope it will come to Australia very soon! :))

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    Replies
    1. I wish! I would be really excited if that happened - I really want to try their eyeshadows in particular (powder and cream!) :)

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  11. These look so ridiculously pigmented, and they are such a great price! Great buy!

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    1. I really like the party all night one, such a lovely colour :) xx

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  12. I almost caved to these a few times but knew it would lead me to an unmanageable stash - I really dislike having too many solo shadows and prefer palettes instead. You make them look so pretty!

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    1. Unmanageable stash you say ... I think I passed that point about 3 years ago. I do want to depot them - they seem to be pretty easy to as well! They're practically made to be put into a mini Z-palette or something similar. If only I could be bothered :p

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  13. I've seen these in my local drugstores before but I've never considered getting them, for whatever reason. It's probably because there's something about single eyeshadows that bother me because I like to keep everything together. These look like they're seriously worth a try though.
    xx

    Celina | The Celution

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  14. Hahah sometimes I wonder why we do nothing but purchase the same neutral shades over and over again... and then you line them up in swatches like this and it's apparent that it's because THEY'RE NOT THE SAME; I totally see a difference between each swatch which justifies owning all of them ;) That blue color though... lol I had to laugh at your explanation of that one. I do the same thing, thinking that I'll be creative during the summer or go for subtle pops on an everyday basis... but no, it never happens. At least you know you're not alone!! :)

    ♥Cassie
    thriftthick.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Haha glad to hear I'm not the only one! At least it's good to have options I suppose - you never know when you might need it (i.e. never) :p

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  15. I love the blue shade! And you could use it as an eyeliner! It's nice and vivid and a dash of colour will look great!

    xx


    http://ms-jelena.blogspot.com

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  16. Those neutrals look sooooo pretty. I want to try them but I'm not really into powder eyeshadows, I like looking at them though. :)) I have a couple of palettes that I don't really use. God I'm weird. For eyeshadows I'm more into the cream ones, so I'll most likely try the cream pot shadows from Essence.

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  17. All those colors are gorgeous and they looks so pigmented!! Hope you can check out my blog, followed you :)

    http://itsjessicachoy.blogspot.com/

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  19. *Had to delete previous comment. Double commeted, sorry!*

    For the prices of the eyeshadows, I would say I wouldn't complain much. I'm a huge fan of how affordable the brand is, especially to test run an eyeshadow shade I'm foreign to.

    I'm thinking of purchasing their eyebrow setting mascara (less than $5!) cause my eyebrows are pointing in every direction imaginable!

    M.May

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  20. Wow what gorgeous shadows... they're sooooo pigmented! I love the look of Party All Night! xx

    Gemma | ♥ Miss Makeup Magpie

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  21. Hey lady so happy you picked the shadow up and liked it! I knew you would love it! I have to check out some of these other shades too. :)

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  22. They are incredible and gorgeous too. I cannot believe how cheap they are, I'm going to try and get my hands on some I think :)

    Your swatches are fantastic by the way, what camera do you use if you don't mind me asking?

    Amy xx
    -A Little Boat Sailing-

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    1. They're terrific given how affordable they are :) And thank you Amy, I use a Nikon D7000.

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  23. Kind of unbelievable how cheap Essence products are. The eyeshadows look great and I think i'll need to pick a few up haha. I still need to get my hands on their cream eyeshadows! The colours I want are always sold out at my drugstore >_<

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    Replies
    1. I don't like their Stay All Day ones but their limited edition eye souffles (Pas Des Copper particularly) are AH-MAZING.

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  24. I haven't really dabbled into Essence much, besides their eyebrow pencil (wrong colour match for me and smudges like hell) and nail polishes. The swatches look so beautiful and I'm a sucker for neutral shades. It boggles my mind too why you would have bought Blue Mission- it definitely isn't an easy shade to incorporate into your eye makeup! :P

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  25. These look like really good shadows for the price :)

    xoxo

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