Beauty Vixen: essence

Recent Purchases / Summer 2019

By Jill Oliver-Fox Wednesday, July 31, 2019 bite, essence, haul, indeed labs, Mac, no 7, sephora collection, the inkey list, wet n wild

Favourite Drug Store Highlighters

By Jill Oliver-Fox Saturday, August 26, 2017 best of, drug store, essence, favourites, Hard Candy, highlighter, joe fresh, wet n wild, wet n' wild

Recently all I have been crazing is an amazing glowy highlight. While I do have quite the collection of high end highlighters, I also have a bunch of drug store ones that I absolutely adore.Today I am looking at some of the more affordably options in my collection.

Essence Pure Nude Highlighter ($5.99)

I had heard so many amazing things about this hightlighter I just had to try it. Essence is a pretty darn decent value brand and heck Temptalia even gave it an A-, which is pretty impressive for any highlighter. It took me about 6 months until I found a store that actually had it in stock, but I am so glad I found it. I love it. Not too light or dark, it is almost my skin tone, but gives a gorgeous illuminating glow without the need for sparkles particles. Just pure glow here.

Essence is online, at Shoppers Drug Marts and Lowblaw's stores.

Gosh Contour n Strobe Kit

This strobe kit is my everything right now. Every single time I wear it I get complements on my highlight. Very similar to the Essence in tone and glow, it also comes with some blush that is pretty nude and glowy and two contour shades. Together these shades make an all in one that is just fantastic. I love it so darn much. You can play up or down the glow depending on the look or mood you are going for, making it super versatile.

Gosh can be found at Shoppers Drug Mart.

Hard Candy Just Glow! Baked Illuminating Duo in Candle Lit

This is a duo that attempts to dupe the luminescent look of Hourglass Ambient light powders, but at a much better price point. I have an Ambient powder in Mood Light and honestly cannot get it to work on my skin at all. These come with two shades, one a bit more glowy and one more matte (? more like the Hourglass), but neither are over the top or over pigmented. They work together really well or on their own. Hard Candy makes two version of it, Candle Lit (lighter and less shimmery ) and Twinkle Star (a bit darker and way more shimmery). I really like Candle Lit and don't really like Twinkle Star, it is just too shimmery and gritty in its shimmer. Click here to see some swatches of it and a bit more details.

Hard Candy can be found at Walmart.

Glow All The Way Baked Bronzer

I have been through oh so many of these, not because I used them up (they are massive, that isn't an easy task), because the packaging keeps on breaking. Hard Candy's one downfall is the hinges always break on me. But they are cheap so when I see them in stock (after months of looking) I'll just re-buy it. Tiki is the lightest shade of this technically bronzer, but it matches my skin tone to a tee (mac Nw/Nc 15 by the way). To others with anything but pale skin it will make a great highlight. Since it matches my skin tone it adds the perfect glow.

Hard Candy Glow All The Way Baked Trio

I have this in 3rd wheel, and while I love it there is still that packaging issue that many Hard Candy items have (they break). It has a blush, highlight and bronzer all in one that work pretty well on my skin tone. The price point for the product makes it prety amazing, plus it covers blush and bronzer at the same time giving it extra value. They make other shades too, and while I like them , I can only justify having one in my collection right now or I risk going into complete hoarder territory. Want to see some swatches, click here.

Joe Fresh Highlight Powder in Luster

There isn't a whole lot to be said about this one, it is a powder highlighter that looks fantastic. It is a but more pigmented then others in my collection and runs a tad bit on the orange side. It looks great in the summer or when you want a more bonzy highlighter.

Joe Fresh is found at both Shoppers Drug Marts and Loblaw's/Superstores.

Joe Fresh Highlighter Stick in Pink Pearl

Another fantastic highlighter from Joe Fresh. It is pretty hard to find an amazing drug store cream highlighter, making this one extra exciting. Pink Pearl has somehow become my go to cream highlighter. It has zero chunky bits of glitter to it, and has an amazing light pink colour to it. It blends amazingly well and gives you a gorgeous glow. You can also find it on a few other shades, but this one is my absolute favourite.

Wet n Wild to Reflect

I love these. They used to only be available in the USA under the Fergi line. I picked one up about 4 years ago in Boston and fell in love. When they re-branded the line and launched it here in Canada I went and got all three shades. They are a beautiful baked highlight/blush that has natural swirls of colours in it. If you love Mac's mineralized skin finishes but want to save some money get theses. They are just as good if not better and wayyyyy cheaper. I personally really love all of them, but Boozy Brunch with its gold, bronze and pink makes such a beautiful colour when combined I cant help but feel love towards it. It also has the most gold tones in it, making it so much more of a highlightery shade. I also love the drinky names (I'll have a cosmo, too cute).

Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder

If you want to glow, and I mean glow, this is the highlighter for you. It is practically metallic. You think it is just an overspray, but it isn't, the whole pan is like that. *insert squeal here*). This is by far the most stunning highlight I have seen in a long time, there is a reason it is hard to find.

Do you have a favourite drug store highlighter? I clearly have a few.

Family Day Weekend Haul

By Jill Oliver-Fox Tuesday, February 17, 2015 annabelle, blush, blush duo, collection, essence, fit me, flame, foundation, haul, like an unforgettable kiss, lip liner, lipstick, maybelline

Neutral November

By Jill Oliver-Fox Tuesday, November 04, 2014 annabelle, challenge, essence, eyeshadow, l'oreal, maybelline, naked, neutral, nude, Smashbox, sonia kashuk, tarte, Too Faced., Urban Decay, wet n' wild

Essence Dark Romance Collection Haul and Swatches

By Jill Oliver-Fox Monday, September 29, 2014 blush, collection, cream blush, cream highlight, essence, highlight, limited edition, lipstick, mousse blush

Deep, dark and beautiful! with the new essence trend edition “dark romance”, things are going to get mystical and romantic with a touch of darkness – a perfect match for the catwalk trend of the coming winter season: “gothic glamour”!
a mysterious color scheme consisting of red, dark red, purple, beige, gold, dark blue, grey and of course black implemented in unique products. in addition to awesome beauty items for your eyes, lips, face and nails, the must-haves of this trend edition are the two effect lipglosses in beige-grey and black with a mega-sparkling finish as well as a trendy nail art decoration kit. rivets, rhinestones and little gems in gold and silver turn your nails into an absolute fashion statement. on top, there are cool tattoos for your face and body for a romantic goth chic look!

Essence has done it again, another limited edditon collection I just had to hunt down. This time rich with deep and dark shades and once again unique products you just don't see in a value line, I just had to have it.

The collection featured amazing nail polishes that I wanted all of, but resisted just because I already had so many. I also skipped the eyeshadow quad, black lipgloss and nail stickers, I did get some of the other items though.

Cream Highlighter - 01Light Up!

This is a very slick and slippery cream highlighter that is really sheer but leaves a pink iridescence on the skin. Pink being the main word here. I find it quite complimentary on my skin tone but if you go heavy with it you will see quite the pink popping out at you. That being said I like to use it over a BB/CC/Tint Moisturizer sparingly for a subtle pink glow. I really wish Essence would consider adding some highlighters to their permanent line, so far I've loved everyone I've picked up, this being the first cream one.

Lipstick- 01 Red Romance

I'm already a fan of Essence's lipsticks so grabbing this was a no brainer for me. This is a pretty deep red, just perfect for fall.Nothing much more to say about it, I love the shade and the formula.

Velvet Mousse Blush - 01 Painted Love

So this little tub is creammed full of cream blush, actually there is a whole lot of product in here. Decorated in lace this might be one of the nicest looking cream blushes I have ever seen. Now it is definitly a mousse, it is the exact same texture as the Joe Fresh ones out there right now. The formula blends out really nice and is quite a deep red colour, a nice change. You don't need a lot, so this will last you forever.

Swatches!

left to right: lipstick in Red Romance, mousse blush in Painted Love(unblended) and cream highlighter in Light Up!


left to right: lipstick in Red Romance, mousse blush in Painted Love(blended) and cream highlighter in Light Up!

So overall I am loving this small but great collection, the brand has once again hooked me with great prices and products not seen in their regular line.