winter Archive | Berries in the Snow

Review: Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection

17. December 2015

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / MAKE-UP //

Another post to bring you into the winter and Christmas moods! After yesterday’s Etude House Snowy Dessert Collection today it is all about the latest Christmas/Winter collection by Essence called “Winter? Wonderful!”, which was kindly sent to me for reviewing purpose.

Essence is a european drug store brand, which is easily available here in Germany, but also in many other countries around the world. Their brand philosophy is against animal testing and their products are really affordable, providing a reasonable quality. The new Essence Trend Edition “Winter? Wonderful!” is available from mid of December until January 2016 and will be perfect for those of you who love winter-themed products. The color range of these products reaches from white, grey and iceblue to warmer, nude shades like light pink and apricot. The key piece of the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection is definitely the eyeshadow palette, but also the four nail polishes from this collection have each different effects like “frosted”, “crystallized” or “iced”.

Let’s start off with two of the lip products from the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection: the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil No. 01 “if kisses were snowflakes” and the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Lip Balm! The Lip Balm comes in a clear plastic container, so you can see the bullet inside. The bullet looks like ice, since it is a clear balm with shimmering particles. It gives a soft, shimmery finish to the lips. The moisturizing property of the lip balm is okay, but not overwhelming. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a simple lip balm with shimmer particles this product might suit you. The Lip Balm retails for 1.99€. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil caught my attention because recently oil tints are gaining more popularity. I was hoping for a tint similar to the Tonymoly Shaking tint Delight. No.01 is a light pink color, almost clear with a strawberry scent. It comes in a silver container with an included applicator. Compared to the Tonymoly Oil tint the Essence Tint & Oil is much more similar to a gloss, which means it is kind of sticky and not watery/oily. Unfortunately, I’m not a friend of sticky lip products, especially not during cold and windy seasons, so this one is not my cup of tea. The Tint & Oil is also available in another pink shade called “02 …I’d send you a blizzard”. They retail for 2.99 € each.

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencil comes in two shades aswell: 01 cold as eyes and 02 eye candy. I will show you shade 01, a white highlighting pencil, which you can use under your eyes, in the inner corner of your eyes, or in the water-line. The pencil has a harder texture, which means it is good for precise lines, but not suited to be used for eyeshadow, since it is not creamy enough. The color payoff is nice and visible. It doesn’t come with an included sharpener, so make sure to have one at hands. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencils retail for 1.99 €.

The last face makeup product I will show you is the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eyeshadow Palette in “All Ice On Me!”. This palette comes with five different shades: white, grey, light pink, light brown and darker brown. The grey and the light brown color contain shimmer particles, whereas the other shades are matte. The packaging design of this eyeshadow palette is eye-catching, too, since it is illustrated with snow crystals all over. I really love the design of this palette!

The backside of the palette contains some description and how to use the eyeshadow palette. The palette doesn’t come with any applicator or brush. The color payoff of the colors is not very pigmented. Even with a primer the colors are very soft. The palette also creates some fall-off, when I’m using my brushes. I would say the colors are more suited for a very natural and soft eye makeup. It will be hard to create any bold makeup though. Also the shimmers are very soft and almost not visible when swatched. The palette retails for 3.79 €. Below you will find the swatches for all the face makeup products:

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Nail Polishes are available in 4 different shades, plus one Top Coat. The nail polishes are available in 01 the frosted, 02 the semi matt, 03 the iced and 04 the crystallized. The top coat is an ice-topping called 01 a winter’s tale. Below, I used No.01 and No. 03 on my hands. 01 “the frosted” is a white matte nail polish which, which looks like sugar icing. With two coats of that nail polish you can achieve a nice opaque layer on your nails. It dries very quickly, so it is also super easy to apply in several layers. 03 “the iced” is a shimmery, rough effect nail polish. I used it on top of the white nail polish, but it can be used on its own, too. This one needs a bit longer to dry than the frosted nail polish, but they look both very pretty and winter-y on the nails. The nail polishes retail for 1.79 €. The top coat which I didn’t show retails for 1.99 €.

And in order to have nicely hydrated hands the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Hand Balm is ideal! The packaging of the tube is beautiful and fits perfect to the season. The balm feels nourishing but not too heavy. It absorbs fast into the skin and has a nice scent, too! It retails for 1.99 €. Last, but not least, the collection also includes two hair ties with an attached fake fur pompom! I bet it looks super cute on a ponytail. The hair tie is available in white and in pink/apricot and retails for 1.49 €.

How do you like the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection? What is your impression, or did you try any of the products already? My favourite is the frosted nail polish and the hand balm. But I also like the eyeshadow palette despite the natural pigmentation. The design of the collection is really pretty in my eyes, too!

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.essence.eu/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

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beauty review

Cold-days Favourites: Neutrogena Hand Cream and Smith’s Rosebud Salve

5. April 2013

Hey ♥

Winter doesn’t seem to end these days and the cold weather makes me and my body totally unhappy, dry skin all over :( Especially hands and lips (also the whole face) seem to suffer a lot. Nevertheless, I figured out a good “winter-combo” for my handbag, which is my constant friend in these times. This combo is made by Neutrogena Hand Cream and a jar of my beloved Smith’s Rosebud Salve.

Neutrogena’s Hand Cream is a concentrated cream based on glycerin, hence it has not a creamy consistency. It is concentrated, that means little goes a long way, and it has a soapy clean smell. There is also a perfume-free version of this cream, which I gave to my boyfriend, because he started to complain about dry hands, too. This might be an alternative for scent-sensitive people. The main ingredient is glycerin, which is supposed to permeate through several layers of the epidermis and prevent the loss of moisture through it. A 50 ml tube costs around US$5 and it lasts for ages…

Here is the description from Neutrogena’s US web page, the German web page gives more information, though:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Neutrogena® Hand Cream delivers effective relief for dry, chapped hands.This clinically proven, highly concentrated formula rapidly heals dry hands. It noticeably improves the look and feel of your skin.Hands feel soft and smooth after just one application.

Long-lasting
Glycerin-rich
Concentrated
Available in Original and Fragrance-free

Ingredients:

Aqua, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Dilauryl Thiodipropionate, Sodium Sulfate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Perfume

The second product I want to share with you is Smith’s Rosebud Salve, a classic for most people, and I also really love it!♥ The one I own is the classic Rosebud Salve with it’s wonderful rose smell. It consists of a petrolatum base and has thus a similar effect to the Neutrogena hand cream by building a layer on the skin and preventing the loss of moisture. It is greasy as petrolatum is supposed to be, but it doesn’t feel sticky or unpleasant at all. The lips have a feel like velvet. The best about this product is, that you can use it for all other things, like for removing make-up, for putting it on rough and dry parts of your skin in general and it is good for nails and cuticle as well. It costs US$6 at sephora and contains 23 g in a retro style metal tin. This is quite a lot product and it will last you a while. At German stores you find Rosebud Salve sometimes, but it costs 12 €, which is way too much!

Here is the description from Rosebud’s web page:

Smith’s Rosebud Salve
A miracle in a can! Our world famous Rosebud Salve has been a family favorite since 1892. Celebrities love the consistency and emollient texture of this #1 selling lip balm and all purpose salve for chapped lips, dry skin, and minor burns. (0.8 oz)
Ingredients: Cotton Seed Oil and Aromol, with essential oils blended in a special petrolatum base.

Cosmetic Uses:

Outline lips with lip liner of your choice about ¼ inches from the outside of your lips toward the center. Then use a lip brush to blend the salve to achieve a “pouty look”.
Use Rosebud Salve alone or over your favorite hue of lipstick to moisturize and give a “dewy effect”.
Apply Rosebud Salve to eyebrows to tame an unruly brow line while also giving sheen.
Rosebud Salve is great on fly-away or frizzy hair. Dab a small amount on the palms of your hands and apply sparingly to tresses.
Use Rosebud Salve as a subtle accent to cheek bones, collar bones, shoulders, or any other body part that you want to moisturize or enhance.
Apply Rosebud Salve lightly to the skin above the eye as a base for powered eye shadow, and then add the desired colors you wish to dazzle your eyes with. The rich emollient properties of the Salve will help to hold that look all day.

All Purpose Uses:
Rosebud Salve is perfect for travel as an eye make-up remover, cuticle softener, sunburn easier, dry skin healer, and frizzy fighter. Use Rosebud Salve around the eyes and on the throat for severely parched, dry, or wrinkled skin.

I really like both products a lot and they do a good job during these cold days and I recommend them a lot!♥

Rating:

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