So this week I'm going to tackle Beauty Essentials cosmetics! These guys are super affordable and overall very good quality! I got a whole bunch of their products in the big Priceline Haul earlier in the year, and I have been using these regularly since their arrival! One thing that is very disappointing is that they are manufactured in china, meaning that they were more than likely tested on animals.
I was actually gathering up all of the items to take photos of them to put on this review on Sunday, and I sadly dropped one of my shadow palettes on the tiles in my bathroom, smashed the mirror and broke one of the hinges. I was most displeased! (then, yesterday I knocked off a basically new foundation and smashed it to smithereens. I've had a bad makeup week!)
So this week I have a few items to go through. Three are combination lip & eye palettes, two shadow palettes, a brow kit, and a contour kit.
I'll start with the combination lip & eye palettes:
I got the Corals, Smokey and Nudes palettes, and they have been really good to use! I've not used the lipsticks on my lips as yet, as I have a selection of liquid lipsticks an standard lipsticks that I prefer to use than the pots, mostly as I cant seem to use a lip brush to save myself without product winding up all over my face! :p
The pigment in the shadows seems quite good, they do tend have a little bit of fall from them, but I have been using the shimmers wet lately, and this does seem to eliminate that issue. They also do need an extra bit of layering as some have less colour payoff than others, but this helps especially in the beginning as it prevents you from going in with too much too fast! The colour selection is good but as each palette is designed with a colour scheme in mind, this works for a complete look, therefore not a huge variety of colours. Each shadow is a good stand alone colour as well working well in a multi shade more complicated look. There are also a good selection of shimmers, mattes and metallics and transitions, although the lip selection in the Nudes are all shimmers, where the Corals and Smokeys both have a combination of shimmers and strong base colours.
So each palette includes 12 shadow Pans, and 6 lipstick pans, they also some with a eye-shadow sponge applicator and a lip brush. while this is a nice freebie, I would recommend spending a few dollars for a good brush in store, or a full set online, as this will make application 10,000 times easier, especially if you are a beginner like myself!
They all come together in a sturdy and quite sleek looking compact, that also comes with a decent sized and good quality mirror for on the go touch ups, and its roughly the size of my phone, so it would fit nicely into most clutches and purses/ handbags without being too bulky or heavy. All three palettes have a pleasant vanilla scent. I paid $6 for each of these palettes, and I would highly recommend them, even at retail which I believe is currently $10.
(After double checking that, I've seen one I don't have, and I am actually going to pop in and get it :p)
Over all I rate these items: Price I paid 5*, Retail 5*, Quality 4.5*.
Next up! The shadow only palettes:
These are a 10 shadow pan set, I purchased Smokeys and Naturals, and these were a measly $1.80 each. That is insanely cheap! These have the same formula i'm guessing as the above palettes, and that means they have some of the same fall issues as the above palettes, which again, is fixed by using wet, or with setting spray/ primer on the eyelid prior to applying. I've not swatched these as they are mostly the same colours as the above palettes, but if you would like to see them, just comment and let me know :). Again, these palettes come with a mirror, although this one is a bit smaller and harder to work with being long and skinny. these would also be a little less purse friendly, but not impossible to carry around by any means. If you aren't interested in the lip products, this is a more cost effective way to purchase the shades in the palettes above, for just $3 per palette. You cant be unhappy with that!
Overall I rate these items: Price I paid 5*, Retail 5* and Quality 4.5*
Brow Kit Next! Now, I have thick-ish brows, but sparse at the same time. They are a little darker than my natural hair colour, and this makes it really difficult for me to find a brow kit, brow gel, pomade, pencil or any other product that works without being insanely obvious that I've filled them in! They have all either been too dark, or too light or one was too yellow!? That one looked very, very strange!
This one, I got without high hopes, as I had not found anything even in the more expensive brands that suited me, and when it arrived, I left it untouched in the box for a while. Eventually I pulled it out and thought i'd give it a go. I have used it, every. Single. Day. Since. It has a brow wax, and two powders, All are coloured, and I love them! I dip my brow brush into the wax, then into the darkest powder shade to line and fill, and the left over product on the brush to shade in the thickest part of my brow. I paid a whopping $1.80 for this item, and I will be going to purchase a back up in the very near future! Regularly retailing for $3, why would you not!
Lastly I got a contour kit. Now.. This is probably the only item I got of this brand I didn't enjoy fully. This came with a very small cream contour compact, a slightly larger powder compact, a blush, a concealer pen, and a mini kabuki brush and small beauty blender sponge. As my skin effectively glows in the dark, it was way too dark for me, even in the lightest shade. The concealer pen is very thick and gummy, and remains quite sticky even after powder is applied to it, the powders are far to dark for me, and the blush is falling apart after a few uses with next to no colour payoff. The kabuki brush is scratchy and rough on the skin, and unevenly cut - I had to give it a haircut. I don't have a photo of the creme contour compact, because to be honest, I lost it.. that's how small it is! This kit i would not recommend if you have oily or combination skin, as it bunches and spreads, and I would also avoid it if you a pale like me. I think I paid $9 for this so regularly about $15 and I would say that's too much.
I rate this kit: Price 3*, Quality 3*
Thats enough of that now!
Thanks for reading! Millz
xo
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