Essence Pure Nude Highlighter in Be My Highlight - Swatch and Review

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Hey everyone! Today I have a review of the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter, a baked highlighter that's a new addition to the line. I've been on a real highlighter kick and have been snatching up many of the drugstore I could find. I was so tempted by the fact that it was less than $5.00 so I thought it was so worth a try. You've probably been hearing a lot about this highlighter lately and I'm here to say it's worth the hype!
 

Where to Purchase: Essence, ULTA, ULTA stores
Price: $4.49 for 6.5 grams/.22 oz
Do they test on animals?: The company does not test on animals.
Packaging: The Pure Nude Highlighter comes in a black compact with a clear lid.

Formula:

Essence says "Bring out your natural glow with this baked powder that has a slightly marbled effect. Works on any skin tone and is perfect for adding a subtle shimmer to your face."

Just looking at it in the pan, you wouldn't think that this would be that much of a highlight but oh man looks are deceiving. This is a wonderful golden peachy champagne that doesn't have chunky glitter or obvious sparkle. It applies lighter on the skin than it appears in the pan. It brings a beautiful sheen to your face but what's amazing is that it layers so well so it's buildable to a sheeny highlight without over accentuating pores. This is what you want for days when you want that "lit from within" look but also when you want to look like light is emanating from your face.

The baked formula is smooth and not dry at all so it blends out well. The formula doesn't kick up a lot of powder as long as you're not using a dense brush so you don't have to worry about picking up and applying too much product. If you're someone who wants a versatile highlighter that can give you both the subtle sheen and more glowy highlight, I highly recommend you give this a try. For less than $5.00, you have practically nothing to lose.

Wear Time: I was able to get 7-8 hours of wear over my foundation.

Swatch:

I do think this is a difficult product to swatch. I swatched it with my fingers on the left and with a brush on the right. Though it looks quite dark in the pan, it applies much lighter like a champagne beige on the skin!

Conclusion: 

I highly recommend this highlighter, especially if you're still new to the world of highlighters and don't want something too strong. The formula is very forgiving, especially since it's smooth and not powdery so you won't pick up too much product. If you see this in stores, I definitely say pick it up!

What's your current highlighter of the moment? Are you a fan of powder highlighters?

Disclaimer: I purchased this highlighter myself. All opinions are my own. I was not paid for this post. The post contains an affiliate link which provides me with a commission based off your use of the link to make your purchase.

You'll Want These Essence Sheer & Shine Lipsticks for a Great Casual Lip Look

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Hey everyone! Today's review is on the Essence Sheer and Shine Lipsticks. For someone looking for an everyday relaxed makeup look, these are promising a sheer lip with a bit of shine for only $2.99. I'm glad to see Essence expanding their makeup line and these were a surprising welcome. They have started launching in Target stores but are they worth the scope?

Continue to read the review!

Essence Meet_Me@Holografics.com Collection Swatches and Review

I won a contest from Essence Cosmetics' twitter and was sent this amazing prize pack from them. I was so so surprised at how generous they were and I was glad to see the Holografics collection because I wanted to try some of their products but wasn't sure about availability. The team at Essence was really sweet and put a nice letter in the package too.

The collection should be named Meet_Me@Duochrome.com though because these are duochromes, not holographics. Holographics make me think of a rainbow sparkle and I don't see much of a holographic sparkle.

The collection which was released in May/June had five nail polishes, two liquid eyeliners, three cream to powder eyeshadows, three lipglosses, a body oil and a bracelet. I received a prize of two of the polishes, one of the eyeliners, two of the cream to powder eyeshadows and two lip glosses. I haven't got swatches of the nail polishes because my nails are so short but The Swatchaholic has excellent swatches of them here.

Everything all laid out.

Cream to Powder Eyeshadows first. You get .17 oz/5 grams of product.

Jar picture of 01 Gagalectric. It's a blue teal with a purple flash in the jar and green glitter.


Jar picture of 02 Lil@c. It's a pale pinkish lilac with a blue flash.


Open jars


Swatches of the cream to powder eyeshadows. 01 Gagalectric on the left, Lil@c on the right. The colors look nice in the jar but apply so sheerly and you can't build up the color. I know it doesn't seem like it but I actually did get that purple flash on my eyes with Gagalectric, the way it appeared in the jar.


Lipglosses next. I got two glosses, 01 Lil@c and 03 Prismatic White. You get 4mL or .13 oz. These have a slightly fruity smell to them, I think maybe a grapefruit. Prismatic White is the top gloss, Lil@c is the bottom gloss. They come with a doefoot applicator. The gloss on me lasted over two hours. The pictures were taken in direct sunlight.



01 Lil@c. Lil@c is a light lavender gloss with green sparkle. I actually thought I was going to like Prismatic White better because of the base color but the lavender gloss is relatively sheer and the sparkle looks rather nice. It looks rather holographic in the picture above but it isn't in real life.



03 Prismatic White. Prismatic White is the closest thing to a holographic gloss as it's a light baby pink with with red and green sparkle. Hopefully you can see the red and green sparkle on my upper lip. I wasn't too fond of wearing this one alone, the green sparkle/sheen is really prominent with the baby pink base which made my lips look a little too icy.

Liquid Eyeliner in 04 Prismatic White


Swatch of it. It's rather sheer on and so I wanted to show the duochrome effect over a black liner. The blue sheen has so much depth over the black liner. Unfortunately sometimes I have a bad reaction to liquid liners. Some liners tingle and have a burning feeling when I wear it. For the life of me I couldn't wear Estee Lauder's black liner but I do well with Wet n Wild's. This liner falls in the category of burning and tingling for me, even over a black liner so it's not something I personally can wear.

I'm not sure if you'll still be able to buy them now, especially since I'm unsure about whether they were released in the US. In Europe at least, the nail polishes retailed for €1.99, the cream to powder eyeshadows retailed for €2.29, the eyeliners retailed for €2.79, the body oil for €4.49 and the lipglosses for €2.39.

Of the collection, I liked the lipgloss the most. The liquid eyeliner was unusable for me, and I was a little underwhelmed by the cream to powder eyeshadows. I was hoping for more pigmentation out of them. I can't comment on the nail polishes because I've yet to use them but they look so nice in the bottles don't they?

Essence Gel Eyeliner Swatches and Review

I remember reading about London Baby on the MakeUpAlley forums ages ago and it was in the back of my mind when I went into Ulta before work. I didn't think much of it but was happily surprised to find it and the other gel eyeliners in the permanent Essence display.

As much as I like Essence I'm annoyed that basically none of their products are sealed. I had to search through three London Babys before I found one that was untouched. My Berlin Rocks was the only one untouched out of the two or three out. Only one out of the three Midnight in Paris gel eyeliners were untouched.

None of their mascaras are ever sealed so I am always wary to buy one there. I don't like seals with indie cosmetics since they're never in the hands of other people but I think seals are a must with drugstore cosmetics. There is .1 fl oz/3 mL of product for $3.49

Either way, product photos first because London Baby is gorgeous in the pot. How can you say no to this glorious taupe pewter brown?


This is Berlin Rocks which is a gorgeous purple with predominantly pink and multicolor sparkles.

I did a heavy swatch and then a one pass stroke so you could get an idea of how you could build up the color.

These eyeliners are so soft, they feel like a really soft whipped mousse. These are a little bit sheer so I would say use a pointed eyeliner brush as opposed to an angle brush to apply it. These claim to be "High Precision Eyeliners" that are "Waterproof".

I will give it to them that they're rather sturdy and waterproof on my arm when I tried to get the swatches off. These do transfer the slightest amount on me. I noticed the faintest amount on my eyelid after about 6 hours when I wore it on my upper lashline with no primer. I tested it on a primer'd eye (ELF Mineral Eye Primer to be specific) and didn't notice any. The colors are still so gorgeous so I wouldn't mind buying this again!

We're Blasting Off to London, Baby! EOTD

I wanted to use my We're Blasting Off trio in a look and actually added on the liner later. The liner is Essence London Baby 02 and is a dark taupey pewter color. I wore it today earlier before I did the look and unfortunately had some transfer onto my lid. It's weird since I swatched it and it took a lot of effort to get the swatch off of my hand. Either way, I shall keep testing it so see how I like everything.

It's not prominent in this picture but I've been wearing individual lashes with the Lashtite adhesive because I saw the adhesive on sale and I wanted it. I'm still experimenting with application because some of the lashes are all jacked up but I'm liking how everything is looking!

Eyes:
ELF Mineral Eye Primer
Wet n Wild We're Blasting Off Trio
-"Eyelid" shade blended over the eye
-"Browbone" shade mixed with "Eyelid" shade in the crease
-"Crease" shade on the eyelid
Wet n Wild Brulee as a highlight
Essence Gel Eyeliner in London Baby on the upper and lower lashline
Wet n Wild Coloricon Liner in Mink Brown in the eyebrows