Finally, after stalking two separate Targets for what feels like forever, I found an untouched display of the new Essence “Tribal Summer” trend edition. (In the Indooroopilly Target, I have also spotted it in the Brisbane CBD Target)
Essence has only really come on to my radar in the last year or so, and while I love their inexpensive products, the lack of attention that many stores put in their displays annoys me (though, unkempt makeup displays annoy me in general). Also, their lack of tamper proof packaging means that unlike a lot of the “drugstore” products you can get here, there is a serious risk of contamination of these products.
I grabbed the liquid blush, the two lipsticks, and one of the nail polishes (though I may go back for more, the $2.75 price point is irresistible)
First up the blush, in the shade Waka Waka ($4.25) is not exactly what I would call a “Liquid” as you can see in the photo below, it has more of a gel type consistency. Once blended, it gives a lovely pink flush to the skin- I’m looking forward to experimenting with this, as I usually shy away from non powder blushes.
I grabbed the polish in Inti Inka ($2.75) as Miss K has a mild *cough* serious *cough* infatuation with the colour yellow, so I was being a nice housemate and grabbed it to add to our polish stash. Its a lovely shade of yellow (The essence website describes it as gold..uh no), bright without being fluorescent and is mostly opaque in two coats.
The lipsticks in the shades 1 Na Rock and 2 Waka Waka ($4.10) were my main target for this hunt, after seeing them online, I just needed them. I wasn’t disappointed; the shades are gorgeous, and the pigmentation is great;it could be a little heavier, but with their glossy finish it looks fine. I haven’t done a proper wear time test of these yet, but I expect I will only get probably 4 or so hours before another application is needed. In my preliminary wear test of Waka Waka it held up quite well, and even after drinking out of a water-bottle, the colour was still good and the wear was minimal; after 2 hours I needed to touch up the inner areas of my mouth (caused by eating and drinking)
Na-rock
Natural light, light application (2 coats max)
Waka Waka
Natural light, light application (2 coats max)
The things available that I didn’t grab were; Feather hair extensions (not for me, $4.25), tip painters (at $5.35 for a pack of 3 in pretty average colours, I passed), bronzer (looked lovely, but I hardly use bronzer already, $5.35 ), the other nail polishes ($2.75), blotting papers ($3.50), and finally, the loose pigments ($4.25).
I thought about grabbing the pigments before walking away, but decided that I really needed to work on my brush technique before grabbing something like that. I imagine they are going to fly off the shelves along with the rest of the collection, so If you see something you were thinking about getting, don’t hesitate! (Another essence pet peeve, lack of trend edition stock. Me and My Icecream anyone? )
Good luck finding it if you’re after it (If you see Metal Glam, let me know!!)
-Miss A
Mind Over Mattifier 