Hi babes! I bet you are like me in at least one aspect: you love pretty budget makeup. Essence is one of those budget beauty brands I always keep an eye on because they regularly introduce cute new stuff that doesn't break the bank if you get a little too frisky with your little grabby hands. I read about their newest additions to their collection of matte lipsticks, and spotted a couple of gorgeous neutrals when I dropped by my local Kruidvat drugstore. Here's a review of the two beauties I picked up: 06 Don't Stop the Nude and 08 (no name).
I said two, and you see three, but that wasn't a mistake on my part. I included the Essence matte in 06 Barely There (which I already reviewed here), so that people can compare the swatches of the shades. I still find it hard to accurately represent makeup colours in pictures, and it's something that bothers me when I read other beautyblogs too. How to picture swatches in such a way that people can really see what a colour looks like, when lighting and skintone etcetera influence a shade so much? All I can say is: compare shades to other colours you already know or have, and look for swatches on people with a skintone that is very similar to yours. That's the only way to properly assess swatches. All those gorgeous neutral mauves that look so good on Kylie Jenner and other light brown girls? Look like brown/beige shit on me. Just doesn't work because of my skintone.
Anyway, here you have the swatches of my three Essence mattes.
Essence needs to get its number/naming act together. Two 06's and one that doesn't have a name? WEIRD. Their colour range is spot on, though. Look at those lovely neutrals. Distinctly different but all very wearable. The formula does differ from one lipstick to the next: 06 Barely there is a creamy satin-matte that keeps the lips nicely hydrated; Velvet Matt 08 is the most matte and drying out of the three, thinner, almost "powdery" in formula like the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipcreams; and 08 Don't Stop The Nude is more sheer than the other two, and more satin than matte. I immediately noticed that Velvet Matt 08 has a slightly greyish cast to it, so I decided to swatch it next to LA Splash Ghoulish.
You definitely see how these colours are similar. The grey/lilac tinge is there, Velvet Matt 08 is lighter and a bit pinker, making it more wearable and less "corpse" than Ghoulish.
Let's see what these look like on the lips.
Essence 06 Barely There has been one of my go-to MLBB (My Lips But Better) products for the past year and a half. A muted, mauve leaning pink that is so very wearable and has the loveliest feel on the lips. When I'm at my palest, like I am now, it reads more mauve, and when I've got a bit of a tan it is more like a soft pink terracotta. Gorgeous either way. Barely there wears nicely, because its colour is so close to my own lip colour I don't have to retouch all that often.
UGH I love this shade so much. Brown lipstick is NOT the easiest to pull off. I look like crap when I wear a brown that is too yellow/orange based, or anything that is too beige. Urban Decay's 1994 is a difficult one for that reason, it doesn't make me look my best. 06 Don't Stop the Nude works perfectly for me, its particular shade of brown is very flattering and sexy. It almost reminds me of marsala colored leather or something, luxurious, feminine, and rich without being too dark. Love! It does wear off easily if you eat or drink, but it touches up easily. Wear could be improved drastically by wearing a lipliper underneath.
Finally, Velet Matt 08. Again, a colour I love 100%. It's soft, matte, mauve pink with a neutral grey/tan leaning undertone. Again with the leather references, but it reminds me of a really fancy pink leather handbag. Velvet Matt 08 does dry the lips a bit after some wear, so make sure to keep those lips moisturized by using lipbalm between reapplications. The powdery finish also emphasizes the fine liplines, but that doesn't bother me. This neutral shades works gorgeously with a more intense makeup look, but as you see it also looks really sweet with a natural face.
I love all three of these, and they're hands down my faves of the Essence matte lipstick line. If your local Kruidvat is sold out on any of these shades, don't forget to try the Kruidvat.be webshop: you can have products delivered to your local storefront for free if something is out of stock.
Have you tried any of these? Which is your fav?
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