Again, an Essence post. Sorry! I want to make up for posting so rarely thus I try to put as much product as possible into one post. I'm so shallow! =D
Anyway, you might not care about Essence (it's hard to get outside of Europe anyway), but I promise you, this collection has a true gem no other LEs had before. I'm a bitch and won't reveal which one it is, also, I won't even tell where you'll find it......in the middle, or in the end? Maybe it's the first product coming up? Who knows~
You'll have to read it through! =]
Good luck!
Yet another vampire themed collection...maybe the third? Surely, there were two of the vamps already...if not more. But! This time it's Vampire Diaries themed, not Twilight....I'm so sad...loathing VD as I do, I happed to find this edition a tiny bit better than the Twilight themed ones. >.<
I have to confess, this Limited Edition is not freshly out, probably the new one is already out on the shelves, don't know, since I can't find this brand in Georgia (like a gazillion other things I can't either.....>_>). I had to make my Mom buy these for me while I spent this Xmas & New Year in Hungary and in bed because of my fractured knee. Oh, I know how to live, right? Flying back home to almost break my leg....go Me!
I only have the things seen above, not the entire collection as I planned, coz my Mom is picky and called me when she was in the drug store and the "which-one-to-buy-I'm-paying-with-your-card-anyway" mechanism sounded somewhat like this:
[insert me in front of the PC checking out the Essence homepage]
Is it pretty? - No. - It should be pretty! What color is it? - grey - it should be yellow. aren't there any yellows? - no - and white? - everything is ugly grey - it looks totally different on the internet - what does it feel like? (e/s) scratchy? buttery? - uhm - easy to apply? - ugh o.O - pigmentation? - err O_O" good? I suppose.
As part of the collection there was a bottle of eau de toilette too, and smelled good. I trust my Mom's taste and if she said it smelled good then it smelled good. However, only the tester was left, not one f@cking piece was left in the store =(
I really-really wanted it....*sniff*
Onto the products....
Picnik is closing....what a shame! But it remains pigheaded and will not keep my pics rotated. Cropping and touch-ups are ok, but rotating....
You have to bear with them, sorry!
First of all, the Shimmer Powder. Color is 01 lil' vampire.
Every single one of the collections has a shimmer powder! So frustrating! And the most frustrating part is that all of them are the same! Some are obviously shimmery, make you look like a glitterball, some are more subtle with a nice sheen or invisible glow, perfect for highlighting, but the color is always the same. Even their fragrance is the same. Damn guys alternate the mixture of the very same ingredients a tiny bit every time and put the stuff into a little bit different casings......and I'm a huge Sucker (with capital 's') to buy them again and again! XDDD 10 people's lifetime wouldn't be enough to use up all the highlighters I've acquired so far.
It's like the disease the lipstick or blush hoarders have. Only difference is they make sense: there are so many colors one can get, while highlighters are.....ahem.....not that colorful! =D
But, back to the products, right?
I tried to capture the tiny bit, finely milled shimmers the powder had, and this is the best shot I could make, sorry.
As for the swatches, on the right side it's a fingertip swatch, so you can see something, if anything at all. On the left side it's blended out. It's so soft that you can hardly see it.
There's an eyeshadow palette (color is 01 love at first bite) with 6 shadows and a double-ended applicator (sponge and brush) which is totally tossable. Oh, and why is it so spacious for the applicator? There's enough room for two of them too! I bet this palette is/was made for another collection and they reused it! HAHA It would be soooo like Essence!
From the very beginning I was head over heels for that dark, yellowish black or rather blackish yellow on the top right. I wanted this palette only for this one color...even tho I stay away from yellows. Figures.
It just looks so pretty and interesting.
In the pan.
As you can see on the swatches(top left color), it's not that interesting or pretty anymore....only...blah. T_T
What a let-down!!!!!
Actually, the silver-gray duo in the middle fares better.
The pink and purple shadows are also disappointing.
Don't expect any of the colors to walk off proudly your eyes due to the overwhelming pigmentation hehehehehehe
Next contestant is a nail polish. A purple one at that. Color is 03 True Love.
I suck at painting my short and gnawed nails so no sample, you have to believe me when I say that one coat is uneven and streaky, while a second coat makes it even and pretty on the nails. Like in the bottle.
Aaaaaand a typical Essence move: Blush gelee (color is 01 Bloody Mary....Now, are we talking about vamps or ghosts?)
It's a nice little pump bottle which doesn't remind me of anything.....least something called Make Up For Ever's HD Blush for example....not at all! =D
Only, Essence's bottle is cheaper, cheaper looking and cheaper feeling, and the product inside is gel textured, not cream. Oh, and comes in only one color.
See? It's such a pretty blood red gel! *.* Like a drop of rich blood. Totally vampy =)
Blended halfway....
Blended out almost completely...I didn't blend it more since I wanted to show you some color, but you can go even more sheer. And working on it some more, with more product one could make lovely makeup for dressup times. Sporting a vampire queen look would be fun! ^.^
For now don't pay attention to those two dots (red and purple). They are there for......uhm......color comparison! hehehe
There's still more to come, this one is the Volumizing Lash Powder.
I had no idea what this was until I opened the jar. I expected powder, as the name suggests but what I found was pure FIBRE!!!!!
For God's sake! They packed a jar full of 1,8g of pure fibre! Bwahahahaha Can you believe it? Copying other brands twice in the same collection and one knock-off is soo exaggerated that its collness is unbelievable! *___*
It comes with a clean mascara wand which is not good for anything else but applying fibres onto lashes.
Let's see the official description, it's worth a read: "do you want stunning lashes that will make even the strongest vampire go weak at the knees? the volume lash powder conjures-up a seductive look with extra length and extra volume in seconds. simply apply mascara as usual, sprinkle the powder on your lashes with the practical brush applicator and then apply a second coat of mascara – done! a must-have for those who love a bit of drama! available in 01 eye need you."
Sprinkle? Sprinkling would be such a waste, and just who would apply anything on the up side of their lashes anyway? You only have to tap it onto your mascara covered lashes, while the mascara is still wet. If you wait for it to dry then much less fibre will stuck to your lashes and you'll end up with lots of fall-out. Add another layer of mascara to color and coat the fibres. You will experience fall-out anyway, since the fibres and mascara are not mixed together like in the famous Japanese fibre mascaras. With practice it gets better, but minor fall-out will occur. Good news that the fall-out is easy to swipe away ;)
It really adds volume and length and you can build it endlessly since it doesn't make your lashes spidery! wow
So far the most layers I've done was 5....afterward I got tired of adding more and more layers. The result was stunning, however, the difference became obvious only after the second layer of fibres. I didn't get meter long lashes (sadly hehe) but I kept on looking at the mirror and checking the fan of lashes from below. Oh, this sounds sick @_@
I know, you won't believe unless I show proof, right? But all the photos I took came out blurry thus not doing justice for the lashes. You know how mascara comparisons only make sense if done in macro and the lashes are detailed and clear. *sigh* I just suck big time at making clear photos of my own eyes....If nothing else, an FOTD will have to do.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well, if anyone has read so far without cheating then 1) Congratulations to You, 2) I just made a record with this terribly long post so Congratulations to Me, 3) you found the true gem item of the Vampire's Love collection! *grin*
Lipstain
Available only in 01 bloody mary (purple) and 02 true love (red)
It's a miracle I even own these lipstains since I don't wear reds and the purple one is just too purple to wear on the street or for the office. But I said "Toss them in maybe they're gonna be good for something!"
Well, turns out these are pretty good, true lipstains, would beat any other high end stains for the fraction of the price.
Both colors are cool toned so they aren't for everyone, unless you wear them for a special occasion, like Halloween and manage to pair with a good full coverage foundation not colored like honey, ok?
The purple is ok, does not look that opaque like the red one in the pics, but serves well on lips and turns a nice mauvy cool toned purple. I can totally imagine it in photoshoots, no need for touchups!
The red, oh my God! The red! It's the most beautiful cool toned (blue!) red I've ever seen! Such a true red. No stupid orange or yellow or brown, rose or any other hint in it. If you click for enlarged pics you'll see that around the edges it's almost purple due to the blue in it.
On the lips however you'll only see that pretty red in the middle.
The staying power? Incredible! It will not come off unless you use a hardass industrial makeup remover. It really is a pain in the butt, but the next day you'll have a beautyful rosy pout without any lip products. After application you'd better wait 1-2 minutes before starting a kissing battle as it needs that time to dry. Until then it's sticky, but when dried it feels like there were nothing on lips. The finish is opaque, no streaking or bleeding.
Exactly because of its full coverage I wouldn't call this a lipstain. In my mind a stain is supposed to be a stronger liptint which won't wear off in an instant- But when it does, it does so evenly.
And this product does fade evenly. Slowly but evenly. No double lip effect like some longwear lipsticks produce, you know, when the product disappears from the place where your lips touch, leaving a screaming line n the middle of your lips horizontally. Eating and drinking helps to speed up the fading, but you have to eat all day long to make it disappear entirely.
IMHO both colors are gorgeous, but sadly none of them matches my skintone T_T
I'm in love with them, but cannot wear them.
Pros:
-they wear off beautifully, like true lipstains,
-coverage is full and even,
-long-wearing,
-beautiful colors,
-cheap
Cons:
-comes only in 2 colors,
-LE, so unavailable unless some drugstores have it in their stockclearing sales,
-impatient ones will hate it for it's really hard to remove
Pricewise...I have no idea how much these products cost, I don't have the receipt, but judging by the usual prices LEs have:
lippies should be 7-8 USD
highlighter should be 9 USD
eyeshadow palette around 13 USD
nailpolish 5-6 USD
blush gelee 5 USD
lash powder...?
