I was sent a variety of new Essence goodies the other day, many of them from their limited edition ‘autumn collection’. Some items were better than others but I thought I’d tell you about a few of my favourites, the first being this boy.

Initially, I totally thought this was an instant nail polish remover twisty thing and only realised it wasn’t after plunging my polished finger into it and watching it come out unperturbed. This was upsetting. How dare this evil thing trick me? I mean, it’s not like it glaringly says ‘nail caring oil’ bright fuchsia lettering on it or anything. I took an immediate dislike to it and left it to roll away under my couch in shame. It was only later that we kissed and made up. I actually do like the ease of applying a sweet-smelling nail oil with a simple twist. It’s the ultimate in beauty tools for either lazy or busy people or girls who already have everything else and makes taking care of my cuticles a bit more fun.

More nail niceness? I quite like this base coat:

Ignore the rubbish they say about it being ‘gel that doesn’t need a lamp’. A product isn’t a ‘gel’ if it’s not cured by lamp. But as far as base coats go, I like that this has a slight ‘whitening’ effect once it’s on your nail. If you look at it on the brush and tilt it around in the light, you’ll see it’s almost got a slightly opalescent nature. I tried to photograph it but it’s too subtle for the camera to pick, but most definitely visible to the eye if you look carefully.

Next up, how adorbsville is Essence’s Benefit-esque How to Make Brows Wow brow kit (R115,50)?

Cuteness aside, I am a critical bitch so let’s get a few gripes out the way – I will only ever use the ‘love ’em all’ shade so the paler ‘love blondes’ and ‘love brunettes’ colours are lost on me. It would’ve been nicer if Essence created three separate kits and used the freed up blocks for a setting wax or something. The tweezers isn’t a-mah-zing but does the job and the applicator isn’t ideal in that its super ‘scratchy’ and kicks up a lot of brow powder. Also, a brow comb is severely lacking and having to have this kit and still guy another brow tool to lug around is annoying. But all that aside, the brow powder I tried did a good job and the inclusion of a ‘lift me up’ highlighter (to place just under your arch to create the illusion of a more lifted brow) is a lovely touch.

One last thing about brows – Essence also now make a very nice brow tamer called Make Me Brow eyebrow gel mascara (R47,95). I can’t find the pic I took of it on my camera but will reshoot and include it soon. It says it contains tiny fibres to help fill in gaps but I can’t see any. To me, it just looks like a slightly tinted gel and that’s fine with me as it does a good job of fixing my brows in place after they’re done and that’s all I care about. When I want to fill, I reach for powder or pencil, not fibres.

Moving on, let’s talk about Essence Silky Touch blush in Summer Dreaming, (R47,95).

Summer Dreaming is a new shade to Essence’s blush line up and, if you’re a cool-toned pale peep looking for a very light peach, every so slightly shimmery-looking flush, this is pretty flattering. On days when I want to create a very fresh, natural look, this is a goodie. It doesn’t have great staying powder though, so I only ever wear it on days when I’m wearing foundation as this acts like a primer, giving it something to ‘grip’ so it lasts longer.

Apologies for the lack of ‘on face’ pic but I’m currently dying in bed with flu. Once I can remain vertical for longer than five minutes I’ll be sure to snap one and update.

See anything you like? You’ll find Essence cosmetics in both Clicks and Dis-Chem stores.

Love, love

Leigh