“Calling all cars! Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for cheap makeup thrills. Repeat, cheap makeup thrills.
“Suspect was last seen shimmering on eyelids for $2.99. I repeat, $2.99. Over.”
With the Essence Stay All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadows, shimmery, long-lasting color is just 299 pennies away.
These pigmented cream shadows are great for quick washes of shimmery color, and they cling like crazy to my skin. On my combination dry/oily lids, I get from 7-8 hours with primer and 5-6 without.
Not bad for $2.99, but I think they’d be even better if it weren’t for a few things…
The texture
Seems a little hit or miss. Of the four shades I’ve tried, 09 For Fairies feels the best — almost like a mousse. It’s soft and fluffy and just glides across my lids.
The other three shades, however, 01 Coppy Right (great name!), 02 Glammy Goes To, and 07 JM-ME Blue, feel denser and drier to me, which makes them a tad tougher to blend and apply.
Blending
I’d hoped to be able to easily blend a few of these colors together in the same looks, but they have a tense relationship… The colors don’t transition well, or at least easily, into each other.
If all I’m doing is softening the edges of a single shade on my lids, no problem — the blending goes a little better — but they’re still not as easy to blend as a MAC Paint Pot or Benefit Creaseless Cream (although they’re an awful lot less expensive).
Layering
Tricky! Apply a milligram too much, and these begin to appear heavy and caked, and almost too metallic. For me with these, one thin, single layer works best.
From the left: 02 Glammy Goes To, 09 For Fairies, 01 Coppy Right and 07 JM-ME Blue
From the left: 01 Coppy Right, 02 Glammy Goes To, 07 JM-ME Blue and 09 For Fairies
Wearing 01 Coppy Right
The Essence Stay All Day Long Lasting Eyeshadows really come into their own when I keep things simple, like when I apply one sheer layer of a single color to my lids and blend out the edges with a finger. Then, I think they’re great for $2.99.
And to tie the look together, I’ll line my water line with a black pencil, curl my lashes, and apply two coats of mascara. 🙂
If you’re a guy or gal who hearts streamlined makeup, these are pretty good at that.
PRICE: $2.99 each
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Ulta stores and online (a couple of them) at ulta.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Lovely look! Coppy Right seems like a “just-perfect” wash of shimmer on the lids!
it sound actually very good 🙂
Is Glammy Goes To a platinum color?
02 Glammy Goes To looks gorgeous and I can’t believe it’s only $3, which you can get even cheaper during sales!! I’m not really bothered by the blending issue because my Royal & Langnickel Revolution brushes blend out all kinds of products, including powder, liquid and cream, effortlessly. =)
$2.99??? Hell yeah! I am SO there!
What’s the grey line going from the edge of your eye up to your temples?
I think for the price it can’t hurt giving them a try. They sure look good. 🙂
I’m a fan of Essence make-up. Doesn’t hurt your wallet but still delivers good quality. I like! These shimmery cream eyeshadows look nice.
I personally really like Essence’s powder eye shadows. I don’t use them on models but I do like to use them myself. The quality of Essence eye shadow has improved a lot over the years, and there are a lot of of great colors to choose from. I also like this summer’s limited-edition cream blush.
For the price, I think this would be good to add to my collection. Did you try them with powder eye shadows & layering? 🙂
The colors are SO shimmery and super gorgeous!! I’ll definitely try, for the price!
I have seen these here in Germany but I never picked one of them up, I got the Catrice version instead which I love because they have such pretty colors and unlike what you said about these not blending well with one another the Catrice ones actually do transition well. I havnt used those under shadows yet though, only as an all over color and they really last so no complaints on that end 😉 if you are ever in Germany make sure you check out the Catrice line, its really affordable and great quality.
These shadows are amazing value! I really like glammy goes to – easy for a quick rush out the door when I’ve slept in.
I love the pink one! I wish there was an ulta around where I live!
We’ve just gotten Essence here in Canada in select Shoppers Drug Mart stores. They tend to run out fast and re-stocks are rare.
I now know why, as those look very good and are a steal for that price. 🙂
Those look beautiful on you! I use SeneGence’s ShadowSense because they have great colors that last ALL day long, and they are easy to blend! Some of them come in a liquid to powder formula that’s just fantastic. They are a perfect blend-able texture, try them out!