essence Cosmetics isn’t a brand that I buy from often. I’ve never really been impressed with anything I’ve tried from them, that is, until now. I noticed that they released three new eyeshadow palettes and a few new highlighters so I decided to pick up one of each. I also bought an older blush of theirs because I had heard good things about it. Surprisingly, I really love all three of these products. Let’s review the palette first!

Spice Up Your Life Eyeshadow Palette

I knew I had to have this palette as soon as I saw it. It’s only $10.00 for sixteen eyeshadows and it is perfect for fall. There is eleven satin/shimmer shades (one of these is more of a matte with glitter) and five matte shades. I’ll get into all the pros and cons and then show you four looks I made just using this palette!

Pros:

• The shadows in this palette range from warm to cool which allows for a good variety of looks.
• You can easily do very neutral to very bold looks just using this palette.
• Most of the shades blend very easily.
• The shadows aren’t overly pigmented but can be built up.
• This is my ideal color story for fall. It’s not just super bright yellows and oranges. I really love some of the more muted shades.
• This doesn’t matter at all but the packaging and shade names are adorable, lol. The packaging is also fairly sturdy and has a magnetic closure.

Cons: 

• Every single one of these shades has intense amounts of fall out. You will definitely want to use the shimmers wet and tap your brush off for all of them. The fall out did not stain my face, however.
• The shade Wild Pepper, bottom half of the palette on the end of the top row, was my least favorite. It is basically a matte with glitter. It’s very crumbly and just not a good shadow.
• The shade Cinnamon Rolls, top half of the palette on the end of the bottom row, is a good shadow but it can be hard to blend.
• Caramelts, bottom half of the palette on the bottom row, is really the only good inner corner highlight shade for me but it’s incredibly crumbly. Glitter from it actually got into my eye.
• All of the mattes can be patchy.

*I am not the best at creating eyeshadow looks. I like to include these looks so that you can see the eyeshadows actually on my eyes. Since this palette does have eyeshadow names I won’t be describing where each shade is in the palette but I do go in order of the swatches on my hand. As always, you can click on each picture to see it in more detail. 

I really loved the way this look turned out. The green shade, Party Thyme, is one of my favorites from the palette.

1. I used Vanilla Bean all over my lid and up to my brow bone.
2. I used Coco Loco in the crease.
3. I used Cinnamon Rolls on the outer part of my crease blended into Coco Loco.
4. I used Party Thyme over the majority of my lid.
5. I used Curry in a Hurry on the innermost part of my lid.
6. I used Caramelts as my inner corner highlight.
7. I used Cinnamon Rolls and Coco Loco mixed on my lower lash line.

I have a deep love for fiery red shades and these did not disappoint. Another favorite shade from this palette is Hot Chili, the red shimmer.

1. I used Vanilla Bean all over my lid and up to my brow bone.
2. I used Mulled Wine on the outer part of my crease.
3. I used Cha Cha Sriracha on the inner part of my crease blended into Mulled Wine.
4. I used Hot Chili all over the lid.
5. I used Caramelts as my inner corner highlight.
6. I used Wild Pepper and Mulled Wine mixed on my lower lash line.

This look was much prettier in person. The eyeshadows used in this are pretty cool toned and I do love that. The shades Spiced Apple Cider, shimmery orange, and Chai Chai, shimmery brown, are gorgeous.

1. I used Vanilla Bean all over my lid and up to my brow bone.
2. I used Cinnamon Rolls all in the crease.
3. I used Chai Chai on the outer part of my lid and on the inner part.
4. I used Spiced Apple Cider on the middle of my lid.
5. I used Pumpkin Spice mixed with Caramelts on my inner corner.
6. I used Cinnamon Rolls on my lower lash line.

My makeup just would not cooperate this day so this is by far my least favorite look.

1. I used Vanilla Bean all over my lid and up to my brow bone.
2. I used Cinnamon Rolls all in the crease.
3. I used Maple all over the lid.
4. I used Caramelts as my inner corner highlight.
5. I used Cinnamon Rolls on my lower lash line.

This look actually turned out more pink than I thought it was going to. It wasn’t my favorite but I did like it.

1. I used Vanilla Bean all over my lid and up to my brow bone.
2. I used Cayenne My Man in the crease.
3. I used Habanero Honey all over the lid.
4. I used Mulled Wine on the outer part of my crease.
5. I used Caramelts as my inner corner highlight.
6. I used Mulled Wine mixed with Cayenne My Man on my lower lash line.

Overall, I highly recommend this palette. It does have some issues but I just love the theme and the color story of it so much that I’m willing to deal with those issues. I foresee myself getting a lot of use out of this little palette in the next few months.

Pure Nude Spacelighter & Satin Touch Blush

I own the original Pure Nude Highlighter and I really like it but it’s just a tad too dark for me so I was excited when I saw they had released a pink one called Spacelighter. This highlighter is $4.99 and you get a ton of product. These highlights are amazing because they’re not glittery at all. They apply smoothly and don’t cling to texture. This is a white based highlight with a pink shift but it’s very wearable. The pink looks natural on my skin but this might not work well for deeper skin tones because of the white base. NYX has a duo-chrome highlighter called Snow Rose that I did want but it’s basically identical to this one and it’s $7.99 verses $4.99 for this highlighter. If you’ve wanted the NYX one this might be a cheaper dupe.

I got the Satin Touch Blush in the shade Satin Coral. It is $2.99 and one of the best blushes I’ve ever tried. It is so creamy and not powdery in the slightest. It’s pigmented but not so pigmented that you look like a clown. It’s just a very buildable, matte formula. This is probably the most natural looking blush I own because something about it just goes with my skin’s undertones. I will be buying the other shade that they have as well and I really hope they expand this blush line.

I’m wearing the highlighter and blush in these pictures.

As you can probably tell, I recommend all of these products. After trying these three things it’s really made me wonder what other hidden gems essence might have. If there’s something that you’ve tried and loved please tell me about it! Also, let me know what you think about these products! Thanks for reading and have a great day!