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Affordable Eyeshadow Palettes You Need: Essence All About Nude & Bronze Review + Swatches
13:47Alice Grace
Everyone loves a neutral eyeshadow palette. There are so many in my collection already, yet I'm always suckered in by a new one. Admittedly, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to eyeshadow, as high-street formulas always used to disappoint in terms of pigmentation, texture and blend-ability. To avoid wasting my money, I'd always opt for premium palettes. In the past couple of years, though, cheaper brands have really upped their game and now you can achieve stunning looks for a fraction of the price. At just £4 each, the Essence All About Eyeshadow Palettes are some of the cheapest out there, but can they perform as well as the likes of Urban Decay, MAC or even L'Oreal?
The Essence All About Eyeshadow Palettes come in five colour ranges: Nudes, Bronze, Vintage, Roses and Greys, all of which are really versatile and can be used to create a variety of looks. I decided to plump for the two most wearable, Nudes and Bronze, as I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to eye looks and rarely stray from neutral or golden tones.
All the palettes contain eight shadows, but each one includes a varying amount of matte, satin and shimmer finishes. The palettes may look slightly cheap and not particularly glamorous, but they're nice and simple and do allow you to see the shades easily, thanks to the clear lid. They're isn't a mirror or brush included, but I never usually use them anyway, so I'm quite happy that they've skipped adding unnecessary cost to the product.
Texture-wise, I'm really surprised at how creamy and buttery-soft the shadows feel. The satin-finish and finer, shimmery eyeshadows are particularly smooth and almost feel like a cream-to-powder consistency when you swatch them with your finger. As you'd expect, the glittery shades saturated with chunkier reflects do feel slightly grittier to the touch. The shadows do kick up some dusty excess when you dip a brush into them, so it's essential to tap off any loose powder before sweeping onto the eyes. Nowhere near as much as I've experienced with Urban Decay eyeshadows, though!
What would give the eyeshadows away to any beauty addict, in terms of them being so affordable, is the level of pigmentation. To be fair, the darker, metallic shades can look pretty much opaque with just one layer applied, but it's a struggle to build up the lighter colours as quickly. The matte and satin shades are surprisingly pigmented, but the lighter shades don't apply quite as smoothly and can blend out to a patchy mess, if you don't pack on the colour with a flat brush first and only blend the edges.
I must say, used alone they do create such a beautiful, ethereal effect, so even though they aren't the most intense eyeshadows I've found, they're ideal for when you want a softer look. They're perfect for subtly brightening the eyes and giving a gorgeous wash of colour. If you make sure to apply a generous dose of eyeshadow primer or a cream shadow underneath first, then this gives the Essence powders a bit more grip and improves the pigmentation ten fold. Most of the time, I don't need to prep with a primer first, but if I'm using these to create a lot of drama and smokiness, I will.
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| Essence All About Nudes Eyeshadow Palette Swatches |
The Essence All About Nudes Palette contains a small selection of warm tones, but predominantly leans on the cooler side. It's a great option for everyday use, when you want to add subtle definition, or are going for a 'no makeup' makeup look. Four of the shades are very light in colour and a couple barely show up on even my fairer skin, so if you're any darker than a light, olive skin-tone, then these shadows would act as more of a highlight. The majority of shadows within this palette have a satin finish to them, along with a couple of shimmers and one particularly gorgeous, glittery taupe.
Shade 1 - An off-white cream (matte)
Shade 2 - A peachy camel (satin)
Shade 3 - A warm cocoa (satin with a few, silver flecks)
Shade 4 - A dirty grey-brown with golden flecks (shimmer)
Shade 5 - A pale oyster full of pink, iridescent flecks (shimmer)
Shade 6 - A soft beige (matte)
Shade 7 - A soft, sheer grey (satin)
Shade 8 - A browny taupe with chunkier, silver glitters (metallic)
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| Essence All About Bronze Eyeshadow Palette Swatches |
For me, the stand-out palette of the two I picked up, is the Essence All About Bronze Palette. Apart from one off-white shade, the rest are all deeper in colour compared to the Nude palette, with all of the shades being much warmer in tone. Every shadow is full to the brim with shimmer and they're all super smooth and creamy in texture. So, whilst you can certainly create a show-stopping look, you can't really add too much depth or really sculpt the eyes just using this one palette.
Shade 1 - A sheer, peachy pink with silver shimmers (shimmer)
Shade 2 - A muted copper full of golden glints (metallic)
Shade 3 - A slightly cooler-toned bronze with silver shimmer (metallic)
Shade 4 - A darker bronze with iridescent purple particles (metallic)
Shade 5 - A frosty off-white with yellowy/silver shimmers (shimmer)
Shade 6 - A bright, yellow-toned gold shade with yellow/golden shimmer (metallic)
Shade 7 - A true copper full of golden shimmer (metallic)
Shade 8 -A blackened brown shade with silver shimmer (metallic)
Overall, I'm actually really surprised and impressed with these palettes. As to be expected with more affordable formulas, these shadows do take a bit of extra work to get a similar finish and longevity to rival the high-end brands. They're great for everyday looks when you might not want to pull out your expensive options, though. For anyone who is new to makeup or doesn't feel they have the skills to warrant forking out on the likes of MAC or Chanel, they're the perfect palettes to practice your application techniques with. My only annoyance about the brand in general, is that Essence products are currently only available in Wilko stores or online, in the UK.
Have you tried any makeup from Essence?
AGB X
8 comments
The colours in the All About Bronze palette are so nice, I definitely prefer warmer shades! They sound like pretty good quality for such an affordable price too.
ReplyDeleteLouise | www.talkingbeautyblog.blogspot.com
They really are, I'm so impressed by the pigmentation and texture of the shadows! x
DeleteI have both of these eyeshadow palettes and it's amazing some shades are chalky some others are so pigmented
ReplyDeleteBeauty Candy Loves
Yeah, some shades aren't quite as nice as the rest, but I'm very impressed with the majority, especially as they're so affordable! x
DeleteCan't believe these are from Essence! The shades are just gorgeous and the pigmentation is fantastic. Definitely need to hunt these down xox
ReplyDeleteBeauty with charm
I know, as soon as I spotted them and then saw the price, I couldn't believe it. Then I tried them at home and was blown away! x
DeleteI realllyyyy reallyyyyyy want to try these!!!! :D Look so good!
ReplyDeletexx SofiaaDot
sofiaadot.wordpress.com
You really really need to! x
DeleteThanks for taking the time to read this post and leave a comment! I try to reply to each and every one of them within 24 hours! x