Cup of Reviews: Essence Eyeshadow Box – 03 My shell is my Castle & 04 One Way Only

Hello my beloved Brownies,

Today I have a review of not one but two eyeshadow boxes by Essence. I got these as soon as I saw them at Kruidvat, which is literally MONTHS ago. I picked up the 2 cutest out of the 4, with the more exciting shades. I’ve had a hate and love relationship with these pallets for some time now, but I finally know what was going on, what made them perform bad and good. So here is my review!

The Packaging

I’ve always found Essence packaging to be very cute. But this time around they really outdid themselves. The packaging is so modern and fun. The bottom case is white with the eyeshadows that come in different shapes. The lid is transparent with drawings on top, tracing the shapes of the pans. It’s the cutest thing ever! I’m not a huge fan of the fact that each eyeshadow has another pan shape. You get more of some shades and less of some shades. Some pans are a bit narrow making it perhaps difficult to put your brush in there. It’s also easy to dirty the white pallet… The idea is really cute though. The plastic packaging feels sturdy. As it is transparent, you can easily see the shades through the drawings.

04 One way only. The pans on the side are very small and it’s difficult to dip you brushes in. The black shadow has been falling out of the pan also. It luckily hasn’t broken, but it keeps “wandering” around in the box :p.

The pans are bigger in the 03 My Shell is My Castle pallet. The drawings are also very cute on top of the pans.
The Shades and Swatches

03 My Shell is My Castle

The shades all lean to silver, blue, turquoise and pink. One shade seems a bit purplish and one shade is a golden topper. All are shimmery except for one matt pink. The golden topper works great as a highlighter, especially very flattering on the inner corner. The dark green blue shade is stunning, but doesn’t show well on the swatch. The shade is deep with lot’s of shimmer, I just can’t get enough of it. These Mermaid themed shadows look very flattering and complement each really nicely. The shades are soft but pigmented nonetheless.

04 One Way Only

The shades of this pallet lean to the warmer smoky side. The camera doesn’t capture the beautiful reflection of these shades, which is a pity. I wish I could show you how it looks like. There are 3 purple-ish shades that seem to be quite similar. But the first purple shade you see is more of a taupy shade. The one above the dark green is actually dark navy blue. And the deep purple on the right side of the pallet is a true deep purple. These colors look very nice together. The smoky looks you obtain with these are very flattering and natural looking.

The Texture and Pigmentation

As often with Essence eyeshadows, the shades look very pretty on their own or in combination with 2 or 3 colors. But a complicated eyeshadow look using several brushes and lots of blending is not Essence’s FORTE. If you try to blend, it will move or fade the eyeshadows. But I find that applying the powders with the ring finger is the best method! I don’t mind…

The eyeshadows always feel very soft and have a very pretty and flattering shimmer. Wearing them I often get compliments. As usual, I find these Essence eyeshadows not crazy pigmented, however naturally looking and beautiful nonetheless. Even when the shades are bright and colorful, it somehow ends up looking natural.
The Longevity

They pretty much stay the whole day. But in the beginning, I had some issues with these shadows at first, because there was some major creasing going on. Literally a couple of hours, say max 5 to 6 hours, it would start degenerating, look oily and creasing. It was not a pretty sight. I eventually found out that because I was using an eye cream at that time (not the typical cream for around the eyes, but a cream for extremely dry eyes that I applied IN my eyes before I went to bed), that that causing the creasing. Luckily I didn’t post my review back then. Because after I stopped using that (very oily might I add) cream, the shadows performed completely differently!
Some Make Up Looks

I did various make up looks with these pallets of which I’m very pleased. The looks were really effortless and some didn’t even require brushes, just a little bit of finger work. Here are some looks I did with 03 My Shell is My Castle:

And some I did with 04 One Way Only:

My Final Thoughts

Beautiful eyeshadows, really!! I enjoy the one for brighter more fun and playful looks and the other for more sultry and smoky looks. The use of colors is, as often with Essence, effortless and natural looking. And as with most of their eyeshadows, it’s not made to make complicated looks, but the easy and wearable ones. Even if you’re scared of using bright colors, trying out some bright Essence eyeshadows doesn’t cost much and it’s a great way to get you used to using bright shades.

I have done several looks with these and often get compliments. Each time, I pass by a mirror, I’m surprised at how wet and shimmery looking they are.

I definitely recommend this to everyone who’s on a tight budget or just doesn’t spend too much time on their make up and still want something colorful and natural looking.

Have a lovely week beautifuls!

Love,

Sarah