These days, you may notice that I'm reviewing a lot fewer eyeshadow palettes than I once did. For the most part this is because they don't excite me like they used to and my collection is complete enough that I'm not often all that moved to pick up the new new. That being said, when I saw the new essence From Santa With Love Eyeshadow Palette at my local Shoppers Drug Mart, something about it grabbed me and I knew that I had to try it out. Even though essence has had some really interesting releases recently, it's been well over a year since I tried out their eyeshadows, so I really wasn't sure what to expect but I was pretty eager to try.

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Santa's made a list, and checked it twice. Check off your Christmas list with the From Santa With Love Eyeshadow Palette by Essence, your holiday party go-to is here! 12 berry shades inspired by the most wonderful time of the year can be combined in any way for a festive, sparkly looks.




Since I'm a big fan of berry shades - I have fair skin and greenish blue eyes so those types of shades always tend to pop on me - this shade selection is really what grabbed me after the packaging got my attention. However, what ultimately cemented me picking it up, since it's pretty easy for me to talk myself out of adding more berry shades to my collection, was the variety of different finishes. This 12 pan palette contains 6 matte shades in a pretty solidly wide spectrum from light to deep, 2 glitter shades, 2 satiny metallic shades, and 2 shimmers. The addition of the glitter shades reminded me of higher end palettes and they felt really appropriate for a holiday release, since that's the only time I'm ever personally going to reach for glitter. 




Mattes: Shades 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, & 12
The formula of the mattes is really, really lovely. They're creamy and smooth and blend really, really seamlessly with one another and wear really well. Honestly, the mattes are what I was most worried about in this palette and they really, really delivered.

Satin Metallics: Shades 9 & 12
These are BEAUTIFUL shadows and really stand out for me in this palette. They have a really rich, almost creamy texture but they aren't thick and heavy and I don't find that they get clumpy on the eyes if I apply them wet to get more intensity. They just maintain that really beautiful smoothness.


Shimmers: Shades 6 & 8
Initially, I thought that these shades were the same formula as the satin metallics, but they really aren't. While still a really smooth texture, these two shades are much thinner in consistency and contain some really pretty microglitters. I feel like you have to apply these wet to really get the best performance out of them, but when you do you get a more subtle glitter look that I think a lot of people would prefer to the straight up glitters.

Glitters: Shades 3 & 10
Admittedly, I'm probably not the best person to review pressed glitters because they don't tend to be my thing, but I think the formula of these seems pretty great. They're quite densely packed and the base has a little bit of creaminess to hold them together but doesn't have too much slip. They pick up really easily with a finger or a sponge applicator (my preferred way of applying glitter) and transfer well. They do fall down though, so I would recommend using a glitter glue of some sort so that you don't end up with glitter freckles by the end of the night.


More of a daytime berry look, I concentrated on blending the midtone mattes into my crease, adding a little bit of the richer purple matte to the outer corner, and then applied the gold shimmer shade to the inner half of the lid.


I really wanted to see how much depth I could build with this palette and this is as deep as it gets. Again, I started with the more midtoned mattes through the crease and then really went to work building up the deepest berry shade through the crease and my outer corner. I finished with the berry metallic on the inner part of the lid.