Essence Winter Wonderful! TE

Not surprisingly Essence released a winter inspired edition. They do it every year and they tend to pass me by. The only item that was of any interest to me in this one is the hand cream and even that because of the snow flake design, though I have to admit that some of those nail polishes and the topper do look rather good. Unfortunately I found myself standing in front of a completely empty stand in Müller. That never happens where I live, I guess it must be a super popular collection, but I don't think this has reached DM's and other shops, so there should be more coming. I got sent four products to swatch for the other blog I write on. They haven't posted my review yet, but I like to work fast when it comes to LEs, since these things tend to run out fast.

ESSENCE Winter Wonderful! TE Blush

01 Winter Kissed Cheeks

There is only one blush in this collection and it's a mix of warm pink-coral, peach and kind of a golden tone. To be fair the other two colours don't really matter much as the pink-coral star provides most pigmentation. If you focus your brush on that star you get a very decent amount of pigment, though it might take you some layers to get a nice flush. Use a denser brush if you have a feeling it's just not happening with this blush, but I got it to look pretty intense on my cheeks. It's a pretty classic colour - a warm pink with a matte finish. The design is adorable, snowflakes inside stars - Essence knows how to impress when it comes to these things. Unfortunately I almost ruined the design already when making the swatches (*sobs quietly*), though just using a brush shouldn't ruin it straight away.

It costs 3.29 € on Click2Chic. It's probably a similar price elsewhere.

ESSENCE Winter Wonderful! TE Highlighter

01 You Melt My Heart

 I was worried how I'll swatch this since it does not look like a highlighter in the pan. However, it's not too subtle, which I hope you can see on my picture with the blush. It's a mix of light pink, lavender and peach, but it swatches basically white, not even shimmery, instead almost like a powder, though on the cheeks it gives that cool toned pink glow. It's not a Mary-Lou Manizer glow, but pretty decent. I used a Jessup eyeshadow brush which is dense, but quite big, so I got the most out of this highlighter, but I also used a big fluffy brush to dust it all over the face as a finishing powder and it works without being to shimmery, just a bit glowy. 

It costs 3.29 € on Click2Chic. 

ESSENCE Winter Wonderful! TE Tint & Oil  for lips

01 If Kisses were Snow Flakes… and 02 …I'd Send you a Blizzard

Lip oils are having a sort of a moment and at Essence they are always quick to follow the trends, so here is their version. Well sort of. These are actually just clear moisturising lip glosses that react with your skin's pH levels and tint the lips, or better said stain them. I've tried Clarins' oil for lips and it's miles better, really something different and innovative, but these Essence ones aren't different to me than their regular lip glosses (their old discontinued Stay All Day ones I mean, which were my favourite budget ones). They are moisturising, but no different than any other lip gloss. As I said these react to the pH levels creating a unique lip colour and they go on clear, but very quickly start to change. On my lips both of these turn into a sort of a fuchsia shade as do all such products and once the shine wears off the stain sticks. 01 clearly has less of that ingredient that reacts with the pH, so it ends up lighter than 02. These could end up looking completely different on you than on me, both in terms of tone and intensity. 

01 If Kisses were Snow Flakes… 

02 …I'd Send you a Blizzard

If you apply these on the back of your hand and wait for a few minutes, you'll see how it tints the skin and when you wipe off the gloss, the skin stays stained and it's difficult to get them off. The lips stay stained after the shine wears off or even if you blot/remove the gloss. Barry M's Touch of Magic lipstick works the same, but more intensely. The packaging is metal which makes them look a lot more expensive than they are. I notice not particular scent though I hear they are supposed to smell sweet, but I get only some faint chemical scent.

These cost 3.29 €.  

A pretty collection to look at, there are very cute designs and the quality is typically Essence - ok for the money. The blush is cute, the highlighter glows well enough on the cheeks and the experimented with the tints or at least tried to, but they need some more work to be the real deal. I guess calling them colour changing lip gloss was just too mainstream.   

Did you get anything from this collection?

Have a great day!