Everyone has a little angel on one shoulder and a bold divil on the other around this festive season and Essence - the budget cosmetic line - have brought out a new limited range of products to reflect both your yellow cardigan wearing Sandy Olsen side and your tight leather trouser wearing Sandy side.
Included in the line are eyeshadows, blushes, nail polishes, eyeliner, lipsticks and gloss and eau de toilette and we got our hands on a good bag of swag!
The products come in contrasting colours so that you can go for the Bold Girl look with bold shades and the Nice Girl look with pastels and nudes. Since all items are cheaper than chips (have you seen the price of a small bag from a chipper these days? The Lord bless us and preserve us!) you can't expect the staying power of higher end brands but there are a couple of goodies in there.
I tried out the Hello Sweetheart €2.89 lipgloss and Caught In The Middle €2.49 lipstick. The brush on the gloss is horrific but it actually gave quite a good plumping effect on my lips which I was surprised with. I applied the gloss on my hand and swept it on my lips with my finger. A great last minute fix.
The lipstick certainly is vibrant. It's one of those that you buy to match a certain look and never wear again but, hey at under €3, that's fine. That's the whole point of the collection!
The nail polishes (€2.49) are very, very gloopy so apply with care. I gave 03 Who Am I a go and it just dripped all over my hand. It's supposed to give a 'porcelain effect' but ...what? The 06 Once I Was An Angel is a good strong shade of fushia and once you get the knack of applying it with the terrible brush (mine had a very long stray hair sticking out of it) it could definitely do for a night on the town. Oh yeah, it's supposed to have a snake effect but I don't know what that's supposed to mean.
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I quite love the Effect Top Coat! The 02 Once I Was An Angel looks like metal shavings in the bottle - and on your nails. It's only €2.49 and really is a glittery little gem. Also demonstrated above is the 05 It Wasn't Me 'glitter effect' nail polish which was also gloopy but quite dramatic and not as girlish as other sparkly offerings.
Another little gem is the eye liner (€3.79 ). It is a truly deep black - which is rare! - with a three-tip applicator. It's perfect for my shaky hands and it's going straight into my make-up bag.
The eyeshadow quattros (€3.49) and blush are...ok. I was expecting the The Bad Gal offering - 02 Once I Was An Angel - to be strong and vibrant but it wasn't. Just try to make out the colours on the swatch below. The peach blush (€3.09) is actually quite nice and natural looking but far too subtle to show up well in a picture.
The new line is already in Penneys and pharmacies nationwide and will be available till January.
Do you peruse the Essence stall when you hit Pennys? Will you be stocking up on any of the new products? Most, importantly - are you a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?!
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