REVIEW: essence From Santa With Love Eyeshadow Palette
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.
Initally what got my attention was the packaging for this palette, which really drove home that feeling of it being a holiday release. I really like the pairing of white and gold for holiday, it gives it a little bit of a special feel, and the envelope theme is really well executed with this palette - it even has a little postmark on the top right corner! I do find that it can be a little bit annoying to actually use the palette, since it has the two flaps that need to be opened to get to the shadows, but that really is a fairly minor annoyance and one I can deal with easily.
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.
Because it had been a while since I'd used essence eyeshadows and because they've been a little bit hit and miss for me in the past, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the formulas - but I have to say I'm really, really impressed and I think this palette really delivers formulawise. As soon as I started swatching this palette, I was immediately impressed by the texture and pigmentation of the shades.
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.
I feel like I've mostly been really positive throughout this review - and I do generally feel really positive about this palette - but I do have a few not-entirely-positive things to say about this palette. First of all, I really, really wish that the two glitter shades weren't so similar. Swatched, I think you can see that they're very different, but they behave and show so similarly on the eyes that I feel like they're a little bit redundant. Personally, I would have loved to see a rose gold glitter included in this palette, because it would have really opened up more versatility. Second, I do wish that they had included a deeper grounding shade - a rich brown or even a black - because, again, it would have added some more versatility to the palette.
Overall, as someone who really does love berry shades, I think this is a really solid drugstore release. The quality of the shadows is really, really good and I've really enjoyed working with it. I think that one thing you do have to recognize when you pick up this palette is that it is what it is - a berry palette, and you're going to get a lot of very similar looks. It actually reminded me a lot of the HUDA Beauty Mauve Obsessions Palette in that way, to the point that I pulled it out to compare them. Can confirm, not a dupe even a little bit, but I do have very similar experiences with the two and actually think they would probably both benefit from being used together.
Basically, if this colour story and curation appeals to you, I definitely think that this is a palette worth picking up because it really is solid quality. I also think this is a great stocking stuffer or small gift option, especially for teens.
The essence From Santa With Love Eyeshadow Palette is available at Shoppers Drug Mart & Ulta and retails for $14.99CAD ($12.99US).
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