This beautiful eyeshadow palette was the final gift in my essence DIY advent calendar and I did my makeup on Christmas Eve with it, plus I played around with it today as well. I just love the essence brand because they have such a variety of affordable makeup for all ages and preferences. Naturally, I’m glad to review it.

This eyeshadow palette was part of their autum/Halloween releases last year and I’m glad they included in the advent calendar because this alone was worth more than half of the price of the entire advent calendar.

Packaging:

The packaging is beautiful, made of a sturdy cardboard and with a large mirror. On the front is one of those changing pictures (I don’t know how to call it) and the girl opens and closes her eyes depending on how you move it around. It’s a 15-pan eyeshadow palette, being one of the larger ones essence made and there are actual shade names, something they don’t do with smaller palettes. The makeup on the front matches the colors in the palette. The palette contains 19.5 grams.

On the left we have the darker shades, in the middle the transition shades and on the right the lighter shades. However, it’s a neutral palette, so it’s perfect for everyday makeup or for sultry makeup looks in the evening.

Texture:

The finishes range from mattes to shimmers and metallics and there are also some flake designs on some eyeshadows which is not an overspray but once you use them, the colors do mix and they don’t look as nice. All the colors are soft and buttery and I didn’t experience any fallouts. Even the metallics were easy to apply because I was just careful not to pack on too much on my brush.

Ingredients:

TALC, MICA, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, SILICA, DIMETHICONE, HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE, POLYBUTENE, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, MAY CONTAIN/[+/-]: CI 16035 (RED 40 LAKE), CI 19140 (YELLOW 5 LAKE), CI 42090 (BLUE 1 LAKE), CI 75470 (CARMINE), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77742 (MANGANESE VIOLET), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE). AND/UND INGREDIENTS: MICA, DIMETHICONE, TALC, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, DISILOXANE, DIMETHICONE/VINYLTRIMETHYLSILOXYLSILICATE CROSSPOLYMER, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, CI 75470 (CARMINE), CI 77007 (ULTRAMARINES), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES CI 77742 (MANGANESE VIOLET), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE). AND/UND INGREDIENTS: MICA, TALC, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, SILICA, DIMETHICONE, HYDROGENATED POLYISOBUTENE, POLYBUTENE, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, CI 16035 (RED 40 LAKE), CI 77007 (ULTRAMARINES), CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77742 (MANGANESE VIOLET). AND/UND INGREDIENTS: DIMETHICONE, MICA, TALC, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, DISILOXANE, DIMETHICONE/VINYLTRIMETHYLSILOXYLSILICATE CROSSPOLYMER, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, PHENOXYETHANOL, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE).

Unfortunately this doesn’t have a vegan formula since it was released before essence went full on vegan with all their products, but it is cruelty free.

Swatches:

Like usual, I did my swatches on my bare hand, without any primer or foundation or anything else, but I did use finger swatches because I wanted to show the colors better and it’s more difficult to do that with a brush. I did one row at a time.

Gloomy – this is a shimmery dark green color. It almost looks like a black, but it’s not. It is a nice shade, however and it looks very interesting on the eye.

Wicked – metallic vintage gold shade, very beautiful.

Ritual – this is a very light creamy shade, that looks almost like my skin tone so that’s why it’s not noticeable. It has a matte finish and it would work as a base color.

Talisman – shimmery light brown shade.

Power – metallic baby pink shade, it looks gorgeous on the eyes.

Potion – matte burgundy/rusty brown shade.

Spell – matte cool toned brown shade.

Supernatural – matte cafe-au-lait shade.

Wish – matte peachy shade.

Charm – matte light pink shade.

Shadowy – metallic copper shade.

Haunted – shimmery golden-green shade.

Magic – matte light brown shade.

Amulet – metallic silver-golden shade.

Enchanted – shimmery peachy shade.

Price and accessibility:

essence products are widely available in DM stores and in various online shops. This palette is still available in some online shops for around 15 euros.

My overall opinion:

I was a little bit disappointed at first, because the packaging looks more colorful than the shades in the palette, but after using it a couple of times, I like the quality of the eyeshadows very much and after all, I use neutrals all time time, so at least it’s a palette that is useful to me. Once I understood the color story, ranging from light colors to darker and richer ones, plus the transition shades, I realized there are many ways in which I can use it.

I’m very happy to have this palette in my collection and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to add some affordable neutral shades in their collection. Plus, if you enjoy beautiful packaging (like I do), the design of the palette is very beautiful.