Thursday, January 24, 2013

Essence Quattro Eyeshadow - To Die For

 First of all, I took photos of this prior to actually using it but they were all deleted off my camera, so my apologies!

The Essence Quattro in 'To Die For' is a collection of four neutral eyeshadows for the measly price of about $5. I had seen a couple of reviews on this particular shade and it caught my interest, though it was certainly never an 'I must have' type product.

Let's start with the packaging. Simple, though slighly bulky, the clear plastic with the black print allows you to see the shadows (a big plus for me) without having to actually open the quad. The arrangement of the shadows themselves is okay - I prefer them all to be the same size but I never actually run out of eyeshadow anyway so it doesn't really matter.

I love the shades in this quad, although the two brown shades on the bottom are remarkably similar. Perhaps at more golden type colour or mid toned brown would have been better. All the shades are shimmery, the fourth shade not as much as the others though, and have a medium level pigmentation (except for the third shade which is highly pigmented).  My favourite is the second shade, which appears to be quite pink toned but is in fact a gorgeous peachy champagne type colour I use all over the lid.

I like that the shades have no noticeable 'chunks' of glitter (like some of the cheaper eyeshadows you can pick up have) and that they have a pearly/shimmery type finish instead of glittery. I can't stand it when an eyeshadow has more glitter than colour, and this is certainly not the case.

I've been wearing these shades almost every day in various combinations, and I am fairly pleased with them. The lightest shade is a little chalky. I don't use it as an inner corner highlight as I had hoped to do, because it gets into my eyes and irritates them. On the lid it is fine, but just not in the corner of my eye. The second and third shades have a lovely silky finish and blend well. The fourth shade has the poorest colour payoff and needs to be built up for adequate colour.

The lasting power of this is nothing remarkable but it's certainly not awful either. It last the duration of a normal length day, though it has faded by the end. This is without using a primer though so I expect the lasting power could easily be extended with one. In terms of creasing, it does crease, though not to a terribly concerning extent. Once again I rarely bother with primer when it's just an average day and the mild creasing at the end of the day doesn't bother me too much.

I think considering the price especially, Essence has made some really great eyeshadows though they aren't something I would rave about or go to great lengths to pick up. I like the wearable nature of these shades and that I can use them with ease as they blend well, have good colour payoff and last the duration of the day. When you think about it, for five dollars (just over a dollar per shade) it's amazing value and nothing to turn your nose down at.

Like the other Essence eyeshadow I own in 'Cappuccino please,' it is a nice shadow that is worth picking up, but certainly not a holy grail kind of product.

I give this 7/10.

Not sure why my hand looks green in the bottom picture!



14 comments:

  1. I think it's a nice quad, but I haven't picked it up because I have so many neutral shades already :) I do like their single eyeshadows too!

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    Replies
    1. Oh gosh I also have enough neutral shades to literally last me a lifetime!
      xx

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  2. I have this in Over the Taupe. I passed on this one because I feel like I already have plenty of brown shadows!

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    1. I don't think I am familiar with the shade Over the Taupe, but I don't imagine I would need it either because I also have enough brown eyeshadows for a lifetime!
      xx

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  3. I like the look of this, although I have way too many neutral shades as well (hehe like Sheri said!)
    I do love their other eyeshadows too so I'm sure I'd love this one :D
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do all seem to have an abundant collection of neutral shadows. Still, you can never go wrong with them.
      xx

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  4. Looks like a very wearable, everyday quad! I agree that Essence eyeshadows are nothing amazing but they work just fine considering how affordable they are.

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    1. It is very wearable, and a good buy for everyday use.
      xx

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  5. I really like this quad! Especially for the price, it's good if you don't have many shadows. I use it more than my Revlon and Australis neutral quads.

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    1. It is good if you don't have a whole heap of shadows. I think it would be perfect for those just beginning with makeup too. I wouldn't say this is my most used quad, but it certainly isn't my least used one either.
      xx

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  6. Is it just me or are Essence eye shadows really hit or meh? Either way, the composition of this palette is nice :)
    x

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    1. They seem to be! I've only tried this quad and the mono shadow in Cappuccino Please so I've not got a terribly great amount of shadows to make comparisons.
      xx

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  7. I actually still haven't experimented with Essence eyeshadows yet, but I think I may pick this up soon even though I have too many neutral shades! x

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    Replies
    1. One can never have enough neutral shades! :)
      xx

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Questions? Opinions? Feel free to comment as I love to hear what you have to say!

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