Essence Mono Eyeshadows are a small collection of single eyeshadows that come in matte, shimmer and glitter finishes. Each of the 6 available shades are $4.99, contain 2g / 0.07 oz of product and can be purchased from Essence or Ulta.

These come in clear acrylic compacts. The pans are larger in diameter than a standard single that you might buy alone from an indie brand and they are glued into the compact. They aren’t hard to open or close. Brand new, the glitter shade came with a protective insert over top the shadow, the other two didn’t have this. They don’t smell like anything to me and I don’t see fragrance in the ingredients list. 

Swatches

02 Neutral Brown – Mostly neutral medium brown with a matte finish. It leans ever so slightly golden but not enough to register as obviously warm against my skintone.

02 Silky Taupe – On my arm, this looks like a light bronze with neutral undertones but on my eye this looks more like a light nude shimmer. It isn’t super “taupe” colored once I have it applied. All fine shimmer, no larger sparkle. This is quite a creamy powder. I wouldn’t say it’s truly a cream but it feels like a very emollient powder shimmer.

03 Blushed Stardust – Large silvery glitter with a very sheer nude base color. The base color in this is only noticeable in the swatch and not when I use it on the eye. This reflect on this is brighter and more silvery than I expected. The sparkles are fairly large but they aren’t flakey and they don’t break apart into smaller shimmer if you keep blending them out. This wasn’t too dry and felt like it also had some emollience to help hold it together.

Performance

The shade selection is super limited. For the matte finish, there is only this one shade available. There are 3 pearly shades (taupe, gold, and a deeper brown) and the glitters come in 2 shades (champagne and silver). I hope they come out with more shades because I think these are really nice. 

I felt all three finishes were generally easy to use. The matte has a slightly thinner feel with buildable color payoff. It didn’t feel like a dry or dusty powder but wasn’t super buttery either. I felt it was quick and easy to apply, showing up well on my skintone without too much effort. It is very easy to blend but didn’t “blend away to nothing” too easily. 

The pearl had more color payoff than I was expecting, a creamy texture, very little fallout and gave off lots of shine with not much effort. This one swatches and applies like more expensive shadows I have. 

The glitter was also very reflective, had enough binder in it to not feel dry or have excessive fallout, and had a distinctly different (sparkly) finish than the pearl. Fallout from the glitter was moderate and slightly annoying but I’ve seen worse. 

I’ve tried these a couple of times, mainly using the matte shadow over most of the lid and topping it with either the pearl or the glitter. Without primer, I got 5-6 hours before they creased on me, and with primer I was able to wear them for 9 hours with no creasing. 

Looks

Look 1:

• Neutral Brown – Applied broadly throughout the crease
• Blushed Stardust – Center of lid
• Silky Taupe – Lower lashline

Look 2:

• Neutral Brown – All over lid, blended into crease area, lower lashline
• Silky Taupe – Layered over Neutral Brown on the center  of the lid, and center of the lower lashline

Essence The Nude Edition Mini Eyeshadow Palette is one of 6 new quads recently released by Essence. There are also Brown, Peach, Rose, Mauve, and Grey edition palettes. Each are $4.99, contain 3.6 g / 0.12 oz of product and can be purchased from Essence or Ulta.

The compact is a lightweight plastic with a snap closure and it feels on par with other products I’ve purchased from the brand lately. I don’t have any difficulty opening the lid and when I close it, it feels like it will stay shut securely. The eyeshadows look like they are in “wells” in the plastic rather than in metal pans and the powders sit flush with the edges of the plastic. They do not smell like anything to me and the product page on Ulta says these are formulated without perfume. 

Swatches

From left to right:

1 – Pale nude with subtle pink tones and a matte finish.

2 – Frosty pale champagne with more of a pinky undertone. All fine shimmer, no larger sparkle. On my arm, this swatches out with more depth than I see on my eye. When I actually wear this it looks more like an almost-white nude shimmer. 

3 – Matte, light taupe with subtle purple tones. When this is swatched or applied heavily, the purple shows up more but as I sheer it out, it almost warms up a bit and just looks like a nondescript neutral taupe.

4 – Deep purplish grey with a matte finish. 

Performance

I chose this palette over the others because it looked like a combo of shades I’d actually use regularly. I like the balance of depths and that it mostly contains mattes. When I wear this, the overall color on my eyes, I’d say, isn’t really neutral but more of a greyish taupe with a hint of purple. It’s definitely very cool toned. 

The formula feels lightweight and silky, like “it blends itself”. I am able to pick up color haphazardly on a brush, take it directly to the eye, and have no difficulty blending it out. This can be a benefit if you like easy, fast, simple, barely-there eye makeup. I don’t like this quality as much for deeper shades though because I often find the color looks uneven as I blend it out and I end up needing to build it up. The deepest shade in this palette holds itself together enough that I can use it easily as liner so I think they did a good job finding a balance.

They apply a bit differently depending on what primer I use or if I use none at all. Over bare lids, these can feel a bit dry for me on days when my skin is more dry or dehydrated. When my skin is in good condition, they adhere well and show up just fine. Applied over Elf Lock It Down Primer, they adhere much more strongly and with more intense color payoff. They also stay where I put them more so I can be less careful about blending and need less rebuilding of the color throughout the application process. NYX Lid Lingerie Cream Eye Pigment gave me the best application experience where the color adhered well but not too much and didn’t affect the resulting color intensity/payoff as much (the shadows stayed more true to color over this product).

Fallout was minimal and I only noticed a bit from the shimmer and the deepest matte. The shimmer is made of only fine particles so fallout is hardly noticeable if it happens but also easy to brush away. Small bits of the deepest matte fell but were also hardly noticeable. If there was any fallout from the other two shades I just didn’t notice likely because the color was lighter and closer to my skintone.

Without primer, these started creasing slightly on me around 4 hours in but didn’t get much worse for quite a long time. It was only after 7-8 hours that the creasing started to become obvious. They lasted really well over primer and I started seeing slight creasing after 10 hours. 

Looks

Look 1:

• NYX Lid Lingerie Cream Eye Pigment in In-Nude-Endo – Used to even out lid
• Lightest matte – Inner corner, brow bone
• Deepest matte – Outer lid, lower lashline, liner along upper lashline
• Midtone matte – Used lightly to blend above edges of deeper matte in the inner and outer crease area
• Shimmer – Center of lid, center of lower lashline (dry brush)

Look 2:

• NYX Lid Lingerie Cream Eye Pigment in In-Nude-Endo – Used to even out lid
• Lightest matte: Light dusting all over lid and brow brone
• Midtone matte – Crease, lower lashline
• Deepest matte – Liner, smudged into upper lashline
• Shimmer – Center of lid, inner corner, brow bone (damp brush)

Here are swatches of all of the Essence Pure Nude Baked Blushes. I noticed these come out near the beginning of 2022 and collected them slowly over the past few months as they were never fully stocked at any of my local Ulta stores. These have the same name as the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter that became well known and loved several years ago. Like that highlighter, many of these give the skin a glow, though some are more matte. None of them are so shimmery that they look too shiny or metallic.

They generally have buildable color payoff that is very easy to work with. I don’t have to work that hard for them to show up but at the same time I can be heavy handed without worrying about going overboard too quickly. If I do end up applying more than I want, it’s not difficult to buff them out to tone down the color. The deeper and more matte shades are less easy to blend than the shimmers but none of them are difficult to use. Color goes on evenly and blends easily without sticking to the skin in a patchy way.

My favorites are the more shimmer-heavy ones, like Shimmery Rose, Pretty Peach, and Cool Coral. I could be just making things up in my mind but the shimmer does seem somewhat different in those shades than other shimmery blushes I have. It is very fine and not too reflective, so I can build up the color to be more intense without also building up too much shine. They do kind of feel like a “highlighting blush”, without needing a highlighter for the effect.

Swatching or sweeping a brush over the pan, I can easily pick up plenty of color without making much of a powdery mess. After several uses now, there is some buildup of powder on the outer plastic ring but I feel that it’s a reasonable amount for how many times I’ve gone into them.

The blushes come in domed plastic compacts and the product itself is also domed/rounded. I think the shape of the packaging looks and feels nice but storing several of them together is tricky because they roll off of each other. It’s not a huge deal as long as I use an organizing container they fit snugly in. I have one from Ikea that actually stores all 8 of them perfectly.

Where to buy: Ulta, Amazon, Essence

Shimmery Rose

Shimmery Rose is a pale warm pink with a soft shimmery sheen. This one shows up decently well on me even though is it very light because the sheen is quite visible. I don’t find it too shiny/frosty looking though and enjoy the glow it adds to my cheeks. This is one of the more reflective/glowy shades of the bunch and almost looks like a highlighter.

Pink Flush

Pink Flush is a slightly cooler toned pale pink shimmer and is the only shade that contains large sparkles/glitter.

Goldy Cassis

Goldy Cassis is a purple-y mauve shimmer. It looks similar in the pan to Berry Cheeks (all the way at the bottom of the post) but that one is noticeably more red toned. This one is more neutral, lighter, and more subtle.

Bold Heart

Bold Heart is a mostly matte reddish coral. If you really scrutinize the swatch, you’ll see this shade has the tiniest bit of fine shimmer in it but compared to all the others, this one doesn’t give the cheeks a visible glow.

Pretty Peach

Pretty Peach has a light peachy base color with a soft gold sheen that shows up much better in real life than it does here in the photos.

Rosy Rosewood

Rosy Rosewood is a mostly matte pinky mauve. The finish of this is just like Bold Heart, with just of hint of fine shimmer.

Cool Coral

Cool Coral is a light neutral pink with a soft sheen. The shimmer in this matches the base color. It doesn’t appear to lean blue or gold so it looks about the same from all angles.

Berry Cheeks

Berry Cheeks is a reddish plum with a very subtle sheen. It almost looks matte on the face despite how it looks in the pan and in the heavier swatch. I applied it a little more heavily than I would normally wear this to help it show up. It can easily be sheered out to a lighter but still purple-y toned shade.

The Essence Contouring Duo is one of a few new things I picked up in December. I’m always on the lookout for new contouring products because I feel like there aren’t that many out there that fit what I’m looking for. So many of them are yellow or orange toned against my complexion and end up being bronzers on me. Unfortunately, that is the case with this one as well.

As for the performance, the product works well on me. The powders are soft and smooth and have just the right amount of color payoff while being easy to blend. The deeper shade has a subtle warmth to it that is just barely in bronzer territory. If you have a very warm skin tone, then it might work for you as a contour. It goes on the skin evenly and quickly without any patchiness. The lighter shade in the duo is too dark on me to be used as a matte highlight (and I really don’t like matte highlights anyway). It happens to be a good tone to use as a corrector for the green veins on the inner corners of my eyes so that is what I’ve been using it for. It could also be used to help blend out the deeper shade if you get too heavy handed with it but that shade blends easily enough on its own that it doesn’t need the help of the lighter powder.

These are available 2 variations – one for lighter skin and one for deeper skin and retail for $5.99. Not a bad budget option if you think the shades will be a good fit for you.

Swatches

Before & After

For the after, this is applied a little bit heavier than I would normally wear it. It can be applied more lightly if you prefer a more natural look.

Dupes and Comparisons

These are some of the other contouring products I have in my collection along with comparison swatches. For the swatches, I only included the deeper shade from the Essence Contouring Duo and the cooler toned shades in any palettes you see in the photo.

Swatches from left to right are:

• Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Powder in Light – Similar level of warmth as the Essence powder.
• Physicians Formula Matte Sculpting Palette – The middle shade is a little bit more red than Essence. Quite an old product, not easy to find anymore.
• Fiona Stiles Sheer Sculpting Palette in Light/Medium – I swatched the lightest of the three shades. This is one of my all time favorites but is REALLY hard to find. Much lighter/sheerer and more neutral against my skin tone.
• Essence Contouring Duo in 10 Lighter Skin – The deeper shade has an orange undertone. It doesn’t look “orange” on me though, just a little warm.
• LA Girl Just Blushing Blush in Just Because – Another favorite that is actually a contour on me.
• NYX Blush in Taupe – More red toned than Essence.
• Loreal Infallible Pro Contour Palette in Light – Discontinued but you possibly may still be able to find it. The tone of this is also red but it is sheer enough to look very natural. Not a fan of the split pan though.
• Fenty Freestyle Cream Bronzer in Amber – I really like this product as well but it walks the line between contour and bronzer on me. In the pan, it looks very grey but the more I blend and sheer it out, the more yellowy/olive toned it looks.

Essence recently came out with these little monochromatic six pan palettes. It looks like there are currently 8 of them, all of them with 3 mattes and 3 shimmers. The plastic snap-shut compact is small enough to fit in the palm of my hand and has a nice sized mirror inside the lid. The pans are small but I can still comfortably fit my brushes into them. On the back of the palette, there is a small picture with an overlay of the shade names.

When I first became aware of them I was intrigued. The marketing images were pretty appealing so I went to see them in person at a local Ulta. I was a little bit disappointed once I saw them in real life. The textures and contrast between shades seemed more dull than what it looked like online but I decided to pick up one to try out. The Taupe It Up one having lots of grey in it seemed most interesting. Initially it looked like it had a pretty good selection of shades but after using it, I’m not as thrilled with the options in here. The mid-tone matte is much lighter than I expected and I wish there was a bit more of an obvious difference between the two shimmery greys.

Quality-wise, I would say this is one of those things where you get what you pay for. This was not terrible by any means but I have much nicer quality shadows. Some shades are sheerer than others but color payoff in general is lackluster, especially the lighter ones. The only shade I need to have some patience blending is the matte grey and fallout is very minor from the shimmers.

The mattes have a smooth, fine, even texture. They are not grainy and they do not feel dry or drag on the skin but the two lighter ones are kind of dusty. They adhere okay on their own but it does help to use a primer. The shimmers have a softer, smoother, shimmer finish and small, uniformly sized particles. They are not sparkly or metallic but not subtle enough that I’d call them satin. I have to spend some time building them up to get a satisfying level of shine/opacity or use a tacky base underneath.

Wear time was between 5 and 9.5 hours, depending on if I used a primer or not. Using the mattes underneath the shimmers and/or just packing a lot of color onto the lid seemed to help extend wear time a bit.

Other monochromatic palettes I have are ones from ColourPop and Elf. I like the ones from those other brands better but I’m not mad to have this grey one since I didn’t already have one like that elsewhere in my collection.

Where to buy: Essence, Ulta, Target

Swatches

Sing Along is a pale off white matte. I have used this so far on my inner corner and brow bone. It is very sheer. If you have veins, redness, or discoloration on your lids, this does not have enough color payoff to really do much to even that out. It does work okay to create a bit of brightness on the brow bone and serves as a texture contrast for the shimmers. If you focus more on the bottom half of the swatches, you might see that the shadow kind of “balls up”. It does this on the eye as well and easily flies off the brush into the air during application.

Saturday Night is the most taupe shade in the palette. It is a semi sheer warm grey with a soft shimmer finish – not quite satin but not very reflective or sparkly either. In the look I did, it comes across silvery but in a swatch it looks more taupey. This is more of a pretty, gentle shade, good for easy quick makeup. It’s not one I would go to for something ultra glam.

Feel So Good is a pinkish greyish light nude. I guess it was supposed to be a transition shade? It sort of works on me but it’s too close to my skintone to really show up much. I have used this on my inner corner and the shade works pretty well to cancel out the green veins there. Used as an all-over-the-lid shade, it gives my lids kind of a dead look lol. Just an odd color. It has a tiny bit more color payoff than the lightest matte shade.

Hands Up High is like Saturday Night in texture and finish but it’s lighter and slightly warmer. It is the sheerest of the 3 shimmers. I have used it on the lid to add brightness and on the inner corner. It really helps to use some sort of tacky base underneath to help it adhere and give it some more shine.

I have used Groove On most out of all the shades. If I was the kind of person that used the same eyeshadow everyday, this would probably be the one I’d hit pan on first. I have mainly used this in the crease and all over the lid as a base for the shimmers. When packed/pressed on with a shader it goes on evenly with good color payoff but I have issues with patchiness when I try to use a fluffier brush or blend the edges. The patchiness seems to be mostly because it easily moves if I touch it (doesn’t adhere super well). Will have to try again, but if I remember correctly using a primer makes this look less evenly applied but did help to make the color a bit more intense and made the areas where I blend less prone to patchiness. It is a very neutral grey, not really leaning blue but also has no warmth to it.

Party’s Jumping is deeper than Groove On and I’ve ended up taking this up into the crease to add more depth. Like the other two shimmers, it isn’t all that shiny so it works just fine that way. Of all the shades in the palette I like this one best and have used it almost as much as Groove On. It is the only one I get noticeable (but still very minor) fallout from.

Looks

This is how I have used this palette nearly every time I have worn it so far. I used all the shades except for the “transition” shade. I have the matte grey in the crease, the deepest shimmer on the outer lid, the lightest shimmer on the inner lid, the medium shimmer along the lower lashline, and the matte highlight on the inner corner and brow bone. Both shimmers are applied using a combo of brushes and my fingers. The fallout you see is mainly from deepest shimmer. I started to see fading in the crease without primer at 6.5 hours and with primer at 9.5 hours.

This is a simple (almost) single shadow look. It’s actually two but only one is really noticeable. In this one I pressed the middle shade from the top row all over the lid with my finger and blended out the edges with a brush. What you see is how it looks built up as much as I can. On the brow bone and inner corner I used the matte highlight. It does brighten a little but it does not have much color payoff. What it is more useful for is creating a contrast in texture against the shimmer. Shimmer fallout was super minor and happened mostly when blending with a brush. I noticed slight creasing at 5 hours without primer and 8 hours with primer.

This look is to demonstrate how the “transition” shade looks used in the crease. I added the matte highlight to the brow bone and inner corner and pressed the lightest shimmer onto the center of the lid with my finger. In the first three photos, I used a dab of a creamy white base on the very center of the lid underneath the shimmer to help it to adhere and pop a bit more. If you scroll all the way to the end, the last photo is of the other eye where I just applied it straight over the matte shadow. I got the tiniest bit of fallout from the shimmer. This look wore a bit better than the previous one. After 7 hours the unprimed eye was barely showing creasing, partly because the colors are very light on me so creasing was just less obvious in general. The primed eye was not creased at all.

I picked up a few things from Ulta recently and the Essence Pretty Natural Foundation caught my eye mainly because it has a surprisingly large shade range for the price.

Product Description

What it is: A lightweight light-to-medium coverage foundation with a matte finish. It claims to be hydrating but I don’t agree. It looks and feels more like a matte foundation.

Price/Quantity: $6.99 for 30mL / 1 fl. oz.

Shade Range: 36 shades on Essence’s website. Ulta carries 29. The shades go from quite pale to pretty deep.

Packaging: Squeeze tube with twist off cap. The cap is flat so I can stand the product upright. The bottom portion of the packaging looks like it is clear so you can see the color of the product inside, but it’s actually not. At least for the shade I chose, the color on on the outside of the packaging is a bit darker than what is inside. 

Smell/Fragrance: Barely noticeable floral fragrance. I struggle to smell it even when I try.

Expires After: 12 months

Ingredients (from Essence’s website): AQUA (WATER), CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, TALC, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, PEG-10 DIMETHICONE, GLYCERIN, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF JUICE, TROPOLONE, SODIUM HYALURONATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, HYDROGEN DIMETHICONE, SODIUM PHYTATE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE, PHENOXYETHANOL, SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES), CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE).

Availability: So far I have only been able to find this on Essence’s website and Ulta. CVS, Walmart, and Target carry Essence but I don’t see this product on their websites and I’m not sure if they carry it in store.

Performance

Shade: In the store I hemmed and hawed over which shade I thought would work best. The lightest one seemed obviously way too light for me, the second lightest seemed like it might work, and I thought this one might be a tad dark but actually also ended up being a little light for me. I could see the next one up probably being a decent match for me. 

Application: I have tried applying this with a damp sponge and with a brush. To use a sponge, I first apply and spread it out generally in the area I want to cover and then blend it out with the sponge. This gives me the most natural looking finish. When using a brush, I will squeeze a bit of product onto the brush or the back of my hand and work the product into the bristles before sweeping/stippling/buffing it into the skin. Either way works well. Using a brush gives me slightly more coverage and helps to get the product into the pores more. So far it works well with NYX Angel Veil Primer (better for oil control) and Tatcha The Silk Canvas (better for filling in pores).

One major thing to note is the way this applies to areas with large pores. It sometimes will emphasize them because it doesn’t easily go into them during application, instead sticking more to the outside edges. And because it dries quickly, once it is dry, it is difficult to blend the foundation into the pores. I either need to get the application right the first time or go in with a second thin layer. Using a brush seems to help this issue.

I’ve tried using this on days when I have exfoliated and after a couple of days of not doing so. It sits well on my skin either way and doesn’t cling to areas of dryness.

Texture and Finish: It has a very average consistency to it – not very runny and not very thick either. I can lay the tube on it’s side with the cap off and it will not spill out. It dries somewhat quickly to a matte finish during application. It doesn’t have a tacky feel so don’t think applying powder blush/bronzer/contour over top would be a problem. It’s very lightweight and I don’t feel it on my skin once it is applied. 

Coverage: Coverage is somewhere between light and medium depending on how much of it I apply. If I build it up I can get more medium coverage out of it. 

Longevity: I tried wearing this by itself and over two different primers. Every time I wore it, it held up well till the end of the day. I have somewhat of an oilier/combination type of skin and at the moment it’s less oily as we are heading into the winter months where I am. I can get away without touching up or powdering the entire day. Some shine will start to develop midday and of course get worse the longer I wear it but I don’t think it looks terrible. It stayed put throughout the day, not gathering/settling in areas with lines and not rubbing off too much when wearing a mask. I think being semi sheer helps with this.

Final Thoughts

Besides the pore issue, I’m surprised how well it works. I think it’s a nice product and it is hard to go wrong at this price. I have some much more expensive foundations I like less than this one. It’s not holy grail status but I’m pretty satisfied with it.

Base Makeup

• Too Faced Born This Way Concealer in Almond – I used this in place of foundation.
• Pixi Brightening Peach Concentrate – I applied this to the very darkest parts of my under eye circles to help cancel them out.
• It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer in 13.0 – I applied this over the peach corrector and to the rest of my under eye area.
• Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder – I set everything including my eye primer with this.

Brows

• Mac Shape + Shade Brow Tint in Taupe – I used just the liquid side to fill in gaps and to extend the tail of my brows a bit.
• Viseart The Essential Brow Palette – I used the second shade in from the left on the bottom row to fill in my brows.

Eyes

• Anastasia Beverly Hills Eye Primer
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Single Eyeshadow in Blanc – I used this on my brow bone and inner corner.
• ColourPop Pressed Pigment in Centerfold – I used this as my transition shade and applied it with a Luxie 231 Small Tapered Blending Brush. I also applied it in a diffused way on my lower lash line using a slightly fluffy brush.
• Maybelline The City Mini Diamond District Eyeshadow Palette – I used just the burgundy shade from this palette for my inner and outer lids. I blended the color up into my crease area. I also used an angled liner to apply this close to my lashes on my lower lash line and blended it into Centerfold.
• Essence Melted Chrome Eyeshadow in 01 Zinc About You – I applied this to the center of my lid with a Real Techniques Instapop Crease Brush.
• Mac Blacktrack Pro Longwear Fluidline – I tightlined with this using a Mac 231 brush.
• Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Liner
• Benefit Roller Lash Mascara
• Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in 502 Infinite Sand – I used this to neutralize the natural pink tones on my lower waterline.