Hi everyone! It's me Julie from Swatch and Review and am so excited to be guest posting today on Courtney's blog, and did you know she is the Canadian Beauty Bloggers blog of the month?
The theme for September is Fall beauty. So naturally I wanted to provide some swatches and a review of one of my fave brands, essence Cosmetics! Every month or so, this brand releases what they call Trend Editions. For Fall, they have put out some real eye-catching shades in the Dark Romance collection, which is what I am sharing with you today.
Quattro Eyeshadow Palette in A ROMANCE TO REMEMBER - These four shades work really well together! The purple is a matte (although it looks metallic in this pic) as is the taupe. The silver and green are metallics that are buttery and soft.
Swatched, medium density. These all have great pigment pay-off except maybe the purple which was a little bit patchy. I think the green shade is my favourite.
The eye look I created has the purple on the lid, green in the outer corner of the lid and the silver blended from the outer V into the crease. I used the taupe to blend and soften out from the crease up to the browbone. Under my brow and in the inner corner, I used a bit of the cream highlight (stay tuned for more on that one).
Velvet Mousse Blush in PAINTED LOVE - A bright red cheek stain that has a bouncy, soft mousse texture.
Cream Highlighter in LIGHT UP - A vanilla cream highlighter that reflects pink in some lights!
The blush texture was a bit odd to be, but I like it. It can be hard to even out if using your finger so I suggest using a stippling brush. As for the highlighter, it is GORGEOUS. It can be a bit slippery on non-primed skin so make sure to set it or wear primer.
I applied a small amount of the blush on the apples of my cheeks and blended out. The highlighter is on the top of my cheekbones, the tearduct and under my brow arch.
Lipstick in RED ROMANCE - A dark vampy berry satin lipstick that is creamy and hydrating.
Lipgloss Effects in BLACK SHADOW - Grey lipgloss with multi-chrome shimmer. It is supposed to be worn over lipstick to darken and add sparkle. I believe they released something similar previously in the Twilight collection.
Lipstick swatched 3x with gloss over top to show effect.
The lipstick was very smooth and creamy, it glided on and didn't feather at all. I applied a dab of the lipgloss effect to the centre of my lips to add depth.
The finished look! essence really did their homework on this. The shades really go well together and the products, despite their drugstore price tag, are really high quality!
I predict dark jewel-toned eye looks and rosy cheeks this season, what are your Fall beauty predictions?
