Is this too brown?
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| Essence #99 Wanna Say Hello |
C xx
Showing posts with label essence cosmetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label essence cosmetics. Show all posts
Brown Nail Polish - Essence #99 Wanna Say Hello
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Dear everyone who is more fashion forward than myself.
Is this too brown?
C xx
Is this too brown?
C xx
Review: Essence MySkin 4in1 Cleansing Cream
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#thatawkwardmomentwhen you really enjoy a cleanser that's meant for teenagers...
I gave the cleanser a try out of curiosity before I intended to pass it on to someone more adolescent than myself, but I think I'm gonna keep her. It's really quite complex, so I'll try my best to explain.
It's labelled as a cleansing cream, but that's not quite right. It's also not a milk or a gel. Texture-wise, it's somewhere between a jelly and a soft clay. It gives a squeaky-clean feeling, but with zero of the tightness I associate with squeaky-clean cleansers - the tight, stripped feeling is why I am so picky about which cleansers I use. It rinses off easily, and the only down side I can find is the granules in the product. Aside from the fact that I prefer not to use granules on my skin at all, this also means that you can't use the product over or close to your too-delicate eye area. Luckily it wins redeeming points for being a dual function product: you can also leave it on for a couple of minutes to act as a deep cleansing mask.
When I had a look at the ingredients, things made sense. The base ingredients are all familiar to me from beauty college mask mixing 101 - Kaolin, Bentonite and Glycerin form the base. The first two ingredients are clays that absorb oil and impurities, and the latter is a humectant, which attracts moisture to the skin. Other noteworthy ingredients* are Pomegranate (anti oxidant), Bamboo Shoot extract (anti inflammatory), Jojoba esters and Lactic acid. These will probably only benefit you when you're using it as a mask, as I doubt the 30 seconds it takes you to wash your face will give them much time to act effectively.
Essence products are available from Clicks and DisChem stores.
C xx
*Triple bonus points to Essence Cosmetics for having fair amounts of the featured ingredients - they're listed just after the base ingredients. Too often the 'star' ingredients (pomegranate and bamboo in this case) are listed close to dead last on the ingredient list. This scam is called label-claim ingredients, and unfortunately it's legal. To check if the wool is being pulled over your eyes, skim through the ingredient list of your product. If the product is called "Face cream with Collagen', but 'Collagen' is listed after things like 'fragrance', parabens and other preservatives - you've been had. If it's one of the last five ingredients listed, step away. Depending on how complex the formula is, and how many ingredients are used in the product, I would go as far as disregarding the last 10 ingredients in a conventional off-the shelf cosmetic product with 30+ ingredients. This is not a hard and fast rule, as some ingredients are only required in minute quantities to be effective, but it is something to consider - when shopping for products, don't be mollified by a label claim.
I gave the cleanser a try out of curiosity before I intended to pass it on to someone more adolescent than myself, but I think I'm gonna keep her. It's really quite complex, so I'll try my best to explain.
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| Essence MySkin 4in1 Cleansing Cream, R30 |
It's labelled as a cleansing cream, but that's not quite right. It's also not a milk or a gel. Texture-wise, it's somewhere between a jelly and a soft clay. It gives a squeaky-clean feeling, but with zero of the tightness I associate with squeaky-clean cleansers - the tight, stripped feeling is why I am so picky about which cleansers I use. It rinses off easily, and the only down side I can find is the granules in the product. Aside from the fact that I prefer not to use granules on my skin at all, this also means that you can't use the product over or close to your too-delicate eye area. Luckily it wins redeeming points for being a dual function product: you can also leave it on for a couple of minutes to act as a deep cleansing mask.
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| The jelly-clay texture |
When I had a look at the ingredients, things made sense. The base ingredients are all familiar to me from beauty college mask mixing 101 - Kaolin, Bentonite and Glycerin form the base. The first two ingredients are clays that absorb oil and impurities, and the latter is a humectant, which attracts moisture to the skin. Other noteworthy ingredients* are Pomegranate (anti oxidant), Bamboo Shoot extract (anti inflammatory), Jojoba esters and Lactic acid. These will probably only benefit you when you're using it as a mask, as I doubt the 30 seconds it takes you to wash your face will give them much time to act effectively.
Essence products are available from Clicks and DisChem stores.
C xx
*Triple bonus points to Essence Cosmetics for having fair amounts of the featured ingredients - they're listed just after the base ingredients. Too often the 'star' ingredients (pomegranate and bamboo in this case) are listed close to dead last on the ingredient list. This scam is called label-claim ingredients, and unfortunately it's legal. To check if the wool is being pulled over your eyes, skim through the ingredient list of your product. If the product is called "Face cream with Collagen', but 'Collagen' is listed after things like 'fragrance', parabens and other preservatives - you've been had. If it's one of the last five ingredients listed, step away. Depending on how complex the formula is, and how many ingredients are used in the product, I would go as far as disregarding the last 10 ingredients in a conventional off-the shelf cosmetic product with 30+ ingredients. This is not a hard and fast rule, as some ingredients are only required in minute quantities to be effective, but it is something to consider - when shopping for products, don't be mollified by a label claim.
Essence Gel Style Nail Stickers
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I tried these before a big night out this past Saturday. The stickers are see through, and as per the recommendations I painted a layer of lilac-pink polish underneath. Have a look (but not too closely - my cuticles look dire, as I had just cleaned up excess nail polish with a nail corrector pen and I didn't immediately realise they look so horrid):
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| Essence Gel Style Nail Sticker 01 - It's called Cult Object from Cape Town :) |
I think they look really cool, but I'm sad to say they only lasted a few hours before they started peeling off. I'm definitely trying it again without nail polish, since I have my suspicions about this - they didn't peel off from the nail polish, they came off together with the nail polish, like solid little false nails.
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| Essence Gel Style Nail Stickers in Cult Object From Cape Town, R30 |
Application tip: I found filing them difficult - trimming them with good old nail clippers was the easiest way to go.
Essence Cosmetics are available from Clicks and DisChem stores.
C xx
Catrice and Essence Cosmetics Get-together
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Yesterday I got to hang out with cool chicks like Lauren from DearHeart Beauty and Leigh from Lipgloss is my Life while Cindy Nell hosted a grown-up playdate for Cape Town's Beauty Editors and Bloggers. Cindy Nell's company, Cosmetix, imports Catrice and Essence products. Both are exceptionally well priced, with Catrice being the slightly more sophisticated older sister to Essence - think 25+, but with no lack of funky, edgy colours and products to choose from.
As Cindy was chatting to us re Catrice, she explained that women want more than one blusher/eye liner/mascara to experiment with, and they want to have makeup items to suit specific occasions. I do remember a time where I had one 'staple' item of each, and that seemed to be the norm. Like if a peach coloured blush suited you, you wouldn't dream of trying a pink one in summer. And once you got the hang of an eye pencil, liquid liner was a no-go. Those days are long gone, though.
The price point of Catrice allows you to dabble in more experimental products without having to sacrifice your basic items. To give you an idea - mascaras, blushers and eye shadows are all between R40-R60, and nail polishes are R35. She went on to say that the products are made in Europe, which eliminate the made-in-china quality issues associated with many budget cosmetic products - so just because it costs R50, doesn't mean it's crap.
Essence is clearly aimed at a much younger market, but the teenager packaging isn't going to stop me from trying it out. There is a massive variety of colours and speciality products - think nail art stencils, magnetic nail polish, volumising lash powder, and beauty tools and brushes. The products are even priced a tad lower than Catrice - Single eye shadows come in at R20 each, for example.
I'll be reviewing a whopload of Essence and Catrice products over the coming months, so keep an eye out for them. Essence products are available from Clicks and DisChem, and Catrice is exclusive to DisChem.
C xx
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| Hostess Cindy Nell and the gorgeous Ilse Nel, who is currently in the top 10 of Masterchef SA. What you can't see is that Cindy is wearing leather pants, and she was pulling.it.off. |
As Cindy was chatting to us re Catrice, she explained that women want more than one blusher/eye liner/mascara to experiment with, and they want to have makeup items to suit specific occasions. I do remember a time where I had one 'staple' item of each, and that seemed to be the norm. Like if a peach coloured blush suited you, you wouldn't dream of trying a pink one in summer. And once you got the hang of an eye pencil, liquid liner was a no-go. Those days are long gone, though.
The price point of Catrice allows you to dabble in more experimental products without having to sacrifice your basic items. To give you an idea - mascaras, blushers and eye shadows are all between R40-R60, and nail polishes are R35. She went on to say that the products are made in Europe, which eliminate the made-in-china quality issues associated with many budget cosmetic products - so just because it costs R50, doesn't mean it's crap.
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| I fell in love with this limited edition vintage shimmering powder from the Catrice Welcome to Las Vegas collection. |
Essence is clearly aimed at a much younger market, but the teenager packaging isn't going to stop me from trying it out. There is a massive variety of colours and speciality products - think nail art stencils, magnetic nail polish, volumising lash powder, and beauty tools and brushes. The products are even priced a tad lower than Catrice - Single eye shadows come in at R20 each, for example.
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| So Essence Vampire's Love was clearly aimed at a much younger market, but @lipglossgirl discovered that the lip stain (far left) is amazing, and we're queueing to try it now. |
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| I also quite liked the bohemian vibe of the Catrice Nymphelia Limited Edition collection. |
I'll be reviewing a whopload of Essence and Catrice products over the coming months, so keep an eye out for them. Essence products are available from Clicks and DisChem, and Catrice is exclusive to DisChem.
C xx
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