I’ve been taking a look at Essence Cosmetics. I mentioned this to a colleague at work and she’d never heard of them but she had noticed my nail polish which she loved and said it reminded her of a favourite shade and look from a high end brand. That’s when I told her it cost £1.60!
It makes you think doesn’t it. Are we spending money on high end products unnecessarily? Maybe it’s the prestige of the brand, the advertising campaign or the packaging that drives us to select high end products.
Quality is something that really matters to essence. They don’t spend huge amounts on advertising (their brand ambassador is a cartoon character called Cosma). Instead they invest developing products that you can trust. They don’t test on animals and they publish all their ingredients – they’ve even published their own negative list.
So I’ve tried out four products to see if they really stand up to scrutiny.
The Metals Eyeshadow in Frozen Toffee
The Essence metals eyeshadow range has nine colours including extremely dark green, rose-gold and silver. This little beauty gives an intense metal effect and it’s just £2.00!
The Gel nail polish in Gossip Girl
This nail polish formula has it all: it’s long-lasting, has an amazing shine and offers intense colour and perfect coverage. I’ve used this when I’m feeling lazy with no base coat or top coat and it covers in one layer! There’s a huge range of colours and they are only £1.60 each.
This is a perfectly adequate mascara. It’s got a slightly curved brush and is branded as a volume mascara. It didn’t blow me away but it did the job as well as any other high street brand and – you guessed it – it’s crazy cheap – £2.80!
Matt Matt Matt Lipstick in It’s A Statement
Chic packaging and a creamy intense coverage and a classy matt look – everything you need in a lipstick for just £2.30!
I’m honestly blown away by the range and quality of the brand that quietly sits in Wilkinson’s waiting for you to discover it!
All this got me thinking about the post I did on how much my face is worth. (You can read it here if you missed it). The cost added up to over £148 for a mix of high end and high street products.
So I took at look at what it would cost if I chose equivalent products from Essence. Here’s my list – it adds up to less than £25. That’s £123 less – has to be worth a look doesn’t it?
- Foundation: Pure Nude Make Up £3.80
- Bronzer: Large Bronzing Powder £3.00
- Highlighter: Strobing Highlighter £3.00
- Brows: Make Me Brow Pen £2.50
- Eyelid primer: Eyeshadow base £2.50
- Eyeshadow palette: Nudes palette £4
- Lip pencil: Lip liner £1
- Lipstick: Long lasting lipstick £2.30
Total £24.40
Thoughts? I’d love to read them.
Hazel
This post contains PR samples and affiliate links
strandonbeauty.com 
I loved this Hazel! I shall be taking a trip to Wilkinsons very soon I can tell you X
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Thanks Teresa it’s definitely worth trying. You’ve nothing to lose with such low prices!
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Such a low prices! very nice;)
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Love the lipstick shade, really like brick reds for Autumn.
H x
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