At last! Essence is making it to the UK. I blogged a while ago about this German brand which has limited distribution in Wilco Stores currently, and said I hoped to see it have wider availability. If you don’t know Essence, it’s a budget beauty range that punches above its weight in terms of quality and innovation.
I’ve pulled out a few items that I really like already – namely, Essence Blush Up in Heatwave (£3.49) with an ombre effect, Essence Pro White Glow (£1.99) to brighten up nails, Essence Waterproof Gel Liner (£2.29) (already tested and performing just as well as any other) and the Essence All About Nude Palette (£3.99) with six shimmering nude spectrum shades.
Swatches above of the nude palette and Essence XXL Longlasting Lipgloss in Baby Doll’s Favourite and Silky Red (matte effect). Essence is available in 70 countries worldwide, so the question is, what took you so long? Essence UK has a nice ring to it!
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So, the news is that Essence is going to be available in all Wilko Stores in a much fuller range that currently available (mid-July), with stands at Westfield in Hammersmith (2nd June) and Arndale in Manchester (mid-June). The range is huge – absolutely huge, with everything from liquid effect eyeshadows to body tattoo stamps.
One thing I did notice is that they use a cartoon image as the ‘face of’ but this marks it out as very young range – it’s a mistake really, if it makes anyone out of their teen years bypass the brand because there really is something for everyone. Most of their make-up translates well across all age groups and I’m all for making savings. I’ve been playing around with the products and so far haven’t come across anything that doesn’t perform well – although I can only be about a 10th of the way through the lines!
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All products are sent to me as samples from brands and agencies unless otherwise stated. Affiliate links may be used. Posts are not affiliate driven.
23 comments
They’re nail polishes are amazing also and they have a great nail care range….love this brand 🙂
I’ve never come seen Essence, but looking at the photos, the product look cute and quirky and it’ll be fun to get another good quality budget brand in the shops. The pigmentation look good too so I hope I can find Essence somewhere near me :o) Xx
Makeup by Candlelight
Those are some pretty impressive swatches for some pretty impressive prices! Would love to try them so it’d be great to see them in Superdrug/Boots soon.
Maeve // Thrift O’Clock
We’ve had the brand here in Ireland for years, but it’s never in either of those stores, unfortunately. But it is available in many chemists and every Penneys (Primark), so maybe it’ll end up there eventually. Unless Wilco have some sort of distribution rights. Fingers crossed! I’d love for more people to be aware of it.
I love your blog 😀 and i would love to try these!
Interesting to see how much they upped their prices! Yes, still very cheap for UK standards, but that Gel Liner is €2.25 in Austria for example…
Also, you do mean the Wilkinson (Wilko) stores, right? The only Wilco I found googling sells car accessories lol
totally not *that* Wilco. It’s wilco.com – supermarket site x
wilKo.. that’s where I went wrong!
I love most of their makeup but there are misses sometimes. On the whole – it’s really an all-encompassing range!
How exciting!! Will definitely be trying some of their products!
http://rosebeautynow.blogspot.co.uk/
Interesting to see Wilko carrying the brand! These do look really good! This sounds really stupid, but my sister lives on a very low income and shops a lot at Wilko, so she’s going to love these! I’ll tell her about it this weekend!
Stephanie
http://missstephanieusher.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3436251
xxxx
Not a big fan of Essence , it has always been a brand targeted at preteens (their eyeshadows used to have next to no pigmentation at all and the brand actually claimed that this was intentional because they wanted to prevent kids from looking too made up. I kid you not!). In the German beautycommunity (oh god, here i am, sounding like a pretentious knob…) these are probably the items that are considered pretty good:
-Nail Polish base coat and “better than gel nails” top coat
– their long-lasting lipsticks (the ones in the black tube I think – i don’t use them myself but they get a lot of love)
– Limited edition blushes (The Silky Blush range is ok as well)
– Multi action Mascara (looks natural, doesn’t clump – not good for me, i can only use tubing mascaras, everything else smudges)
– essence long-lasting effect pencils
– Stay no matter what eyeshadow pencils (the colours are a bit blah but these do not budge)
– Infinite shite lipglosses (I like nude rose but yeah it is sticky)
– essence all about matt powder (make up forever HD powder dupe apparently)
– gel liners – fully agree! these are great!
– ESSENCE ‘Sun Light’ Sun Club All-in-One Bronzing Highlighter – unusually finely milled golde highlighter from the high street.
-essence Sun Club Bronzer “Blonde” – it’s matt! Too orange for my corpse-like skin but the quality is great for the price.
I’d stay away from their liquid skin products – these are all absolutely awful- and their eyeshadows. Most of them have little colour payoff, don’t last, don’t blend well and are glittery in a very cheap-looking way.
Thank you, your “infinite shite” comment is priceless!!!
I’d add the Longlasting lipsticks, too. They’re nice for the price. And, unlike their other lipstick ranges, not a glitterbomb.
So glad to hear this! That ombre blush looks gorgeous 🙂
This makes me so excited, I think I’m going to be going a little mad when this hits my local Wilkos! I need that blush!
Midnight Violets Beauty Blog
So great to read this as I am going to their event on Sunday and cannot wait to learn more about the company itself! The eyeshadow looks superb! Thanks for such a lovely review xx
Ooh silky red looks lush 😀
That ombre blush looks gorgeous!
Mia
x
http://www.prettyeclectic.co.uk
Omg…that gradient blush is to die for! I’ve yet to buy any of their glosses but I think I could use a few!
Their all-about-matt-fixing-powder is absolutely brilliant. Basic packaging but great product.
For just € 2.99 in the Netherlands.
Oh, I just realised that XXXL Matte finish is the repackaged version of their Stay Matt lip creams. But yes, there are some pretty good products in that brand.
I’ve got friends in Germany so I asked for feedback.