The sweet peeps at essence sent me a veritable sack o’ new goodies the other day and I’ve had a lot of fun playing with them. I also found a few gems in the process and thought I’d share them with you, starting with their fab new Stays No Matter What jumbo eye and shadow pencils (R34,95.)

These are available in several shades and I was given Chocolate Brownie, a lovely copper brown hue that makes my blue eyes pop. The secret to using it successfully, if you’re using it as a liner, is to give it time to set. Then it really does stay in place. As a shadow, this colour works well too. Simply colour in your eyelid, blend the edges with a bullet brush and BAM; you’ve got cream-style smokey eye shadow that goes the extra mile. Even more so if you team it with a primer. Very, very nice and at a price you’ll struggle to beat.

Next up? Lashes Go Wild mascara (R36,95).

Packaged in a cute li’l tube, it boasts a five ball wand that promises to rev up the volume and – surprise, surprise – it works. (It’s the mascara I’m wearing along with the jumbo eye pencil up top.) I’ve tried a couple of essence’s mascara’s in the past and thought most were a bit ‘meh’ but this baby’s a real goodie. If you’re as broke as I am right now (God bless you evil January) and looking for cheap and cheerful mascara this is a very good bet, not to mention cheaper than a freakin’ MacDonald’s meal!

Other new essence eye colours worth a mention include Metal Glam eye shadow (R36,95) and eye sorbet gel/mousse shadow (R39,95).

I’m not really a glitter bug so these won’t make it into my make-up bag. Also, let’s not forget that I’m old and haggard now and have pores that are starting to become more visible so glitter and shimmer which makes them even more obvious ain’t no friend of mine. Still, if you’re young and big into glitz; work at Madame Zingara or simply keen on  making every day a blerrie skouspel you’ll want to check these out. While they’re no Urban Decay glittergasm, they’re cheap as chips and nicely formulated.

Moving on… Essence has a new kabuki brush on the shelves. Being a brush snob, I wrote it off the moment I saw it but it’s actually surprisingly good quality. Think soft, soft, soft with bristles densely packed enough to evenly distribute powder foundation as opposed to creating a nasty-looking cake fest.

There were other goodies included in my press drop that weren’t mentioned in the press release but have NEW stickers on them so I’m assuming they’re also new to the shelves or, at the very least new shade options. Of that lot I was most impressed with essence’s I Heart Smokey jumbo eye pencil.

It goes on smoothly, blends well, stays put once set and, despite being called Deep Black, is actually a very nice ‘soft’ black. This way, if you’re fair like me, you can ramp up on le sexy sexy without making a pit stop in Sletsville. (You’ll know you’re in Sletsville when all your friends are rocking a dark lip liner and pale lippie combo and say things like ‘But it was a classy crop top! That HR chica is suuuuch a bitch…’)

Other essence goodies that I’m convinced aren’t new at all but I’m sooo glad I have them? Their mini lipgloss set and studio nails pocket file set.

I have no clue as to how much these babies cost but I’ve actually bought the lipgloss set before and marveled at how inexpensive it was. Both the gloss and files are the ultimate gift topper-upper for any girlie girl in your life. She can toss the glosses into each of her teensy weensy clutches and who in their right mind doesn’t love a sweet li’l nail file with winged hearts on it? A cold-hearted heart-covered nail file hater, that’s who. And I don’t know anyone like that. Do you? (God, that actually rhymes.)

Anyway, here’s hoping I’ve highlighted something that’s caught your attention. There were quite a few nail goodies in my sakkie too, but I’ll be covering that in a separate post so keep an eye out.

Love, love

Leigh