Essence Happy Girls are Pretty TE

I bought something from Essence's TE - I know, hold the phone, what is happening? But to be fair Sanja (Sparkle with Laughter) made me do it. We have such a similar taste in makeup that every time she posts one of her Sparkles post, I end up with a new list of products to try. Honestly, Happy Girls are Pretty was to me just another in a long line of TEs that I just glanced at the press release and said to myself: I can't be bothered with tracking this down. Then I saw the sheer lipbalm at Sanja and it just appealed to me, so I actually went to the drugstore with an intention to get this. Luckily I live near a town where these TE's don't tend to disappear so quickly and I found an almost full stand in DM (Műller didn't have it any more, so I'm guessing these are the last days of this TE).

Happy Girls are Pretty Sheer Lipbalm

01 Pretty You

Even since I found Bourjois' Nude-ist (which I think might have been Sanja-inspired as well), I had this urge to experiment with more rosy-brown lip colours. Pretty You is precisely such a shade and it's one of those classic autumnal shades that it's safe to say was very 90's inspired, but thankfully they restrained themselves from making it too brown. I think it might even look like a my-lips-but-better lip colour on medium skin tones, especially because of the texture. 

Ironically, the one time Essence could call their lip product a lipstick, they call it a sheer lipbalm. The pigmentation is far from sheer, it's almost fully opaque with one coat, however, this starts disappearing from the lips in about 15 minutes or even less, so it does end up looking more like a tinted lip balm or one of their Sheer & Shine lipsticks. The texture is thicker and creamier than their usual lipsticks, which makes it very comfortable on the lips and this is definitely the product for those with dry lips. The finish is quite glossy that's why it's disappearing from the lips so fast and I must admit I'd love a more matte version a lot more. I don't know why Essence does this, but they put the nicest fruity scent to their limited edition lip products, but not to their regular line. I really enjoy the scent of this, despite it being a bit teenage-y. The packaging is a slim tube, but after only two days of use, the lipstick broke off the base, so it doesn't twist back inside any more and I have to push it manually.

I like this. It's not amazing, but I had a chance to experiment with some interesting new shades for me for a very reasonable price. I got mine in DM for 2.49 €

Happy Girls are Pretty Multi Colour Blush

01 you sweeten my day

This one, on the other hand, was totally spur of the moment purchase and I kinda, sorta regret it. I got this because the colours looked so "me", though admittedly the design of the blush was part of the reason as well. This has almost no colour pay-off on me. I was told that only the top layer is like that, but I've been trying to get something from it and I'm still failing miserably. I did some rubbish swatches, the heart is a light pink with brown tones and the other part is a pink-ish highlighter. It looks rosy-brown on my cheeks, but it's subtle, I took a picture, but my camera isn't the best at taking pictures of very pigmented blushes, let alone a sheer one and it's been so rainy for the past few days, so it's not the best. 

I also got this blush in DM for 3.29 €

Have a great day!