Review and Swatches: Essence the Beach house & Catrice Sound of Silence

It's been forever since I last posted anything on here and I've missed blogging like crazy. Due to uni work, jobs and personal life, there simply was no time left for this. However, I now managed to grab a few minutes to write the review I've been planning to do for the longest time.

Essence and Catrice presented their summer collections that are coming out in June and July and I was lucky enough to receive a few bits to try out.

Essence the Beach house lipstick in 02 a summer kinda girl

While I wouldn't call this a lipstick, as the texture and pigmentation remind me of a lip balm, it's a nice product to carry around with you, especially to the beach. It gives the lips a nice pink tint, and the darker core creates a subtle ombre finish that is not really detectable, but gives the lips a nice dimension. The staying power is not impressive, probably due to the lip-balm-like texture, but for using by the beach (what I am planning to do) it will be just perfect, as it is easy to re-apply without a mirror during the dips in the sea.

Essence the Beach house beach glow fluid in 01 girls just wanna have sun

It took me a while to figure out how to use this, but I finally figured out how to make it work or me. For optimum effect, you can either mix it with your primer/foundation or simply apply a minimal amount to the tops of your cheeks. It gives the face a nice subtle glow and looks like you just got from a summer vacation. Just be careful not to use too much, as the glitter is quite intense and it might result in a not-so-desirable disco-ball effect.

Essence the Beach house duo-eyeshadow in 02 sea you soon!

This is the only item in this post that didn't really impress me. It's not a bad product, but I've always been more into the palettes that include enough shadows for a whole look, and I have quite a few neutral-peachy product similar to this one. It has a nice texture and blends nicely but the shade is not something I would tend to reach for (I might go and check out the other shade though, as it look like something that would suit me more).

Essence the Beach house kabuki brush

I've always wanted a kabuki brush like this, but never got around to actually getting one. Getting this in the mail got me really excited and I immediately fell in love with the design. The bristles are incredibly soft and the brush is quite big, which makes the application of a setting powder really easy, but might not be useful for any other coloured powder.

Essence the Beach duo-blush in 01 give me vitamin sea!

An absolute winner in my book was the gorgeous duo-coloured blush with an adorable design. I was always under the impression that corals do not suit my skin tone, but I stand corrected as this blush gives me a gorgeous natural looking flush of colour. The formula is surprisingly creamy and wonderfully pigmented and it blends flawlessly on top of foundation. Even though I was pleasantly surprised by the formula and pigmentation, but what completely blew me away was the staying power. I am used to my blush being the first product to disappear from my face, and coming home to my foundation nearly gone but the blush still intact, was a serious indicator of impressive staying power. If your are looking to buy only one piece from this collection, this is the one I would suggest the most, I love it!

Catrice Sound of Silence lipstick in C01 Golden Spirit

This lipstick comes from Catrice's incredibly sophisticated summer collection. Again, I wouldn't really call this a lipstick, as there is almost no pigmentation, but I absolutely love it. Even using on bare lips with a lovely bronzed look, this creates gorgeous looking juicy lips, and applied over any lipstick it adds some extra dimension and a glossy shine without feeling sticky. The gold core is not as scary as it might look in the tube, the tiny gold shimmer visually perfects the lips and helps to add some extra glow to a fresh, summery look.

Swatched (from top to bottom): Beach glow fkudi, Catrice lipstick, Essence Lipstick, eyeshadow, blush

To see the rest of the items in the collections click here for:

Essence TheBeach House

CatriceSound of Silence

How about you, has something caught your eye? I'm definitely going to find the Sound of Silence in the stores and see if there is anything else that catches my eyes.

Thanks for reading and see you in my next post!

Rawr,

your Beautysaur