Review: Essence Gel Eyeliner in Midnight in Paris (My Current Favorite!)

 

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of hype about the brand Essence. One of the first things I noticed about the company was the inexpensive price range, and to be quite honest, that made me a little hesitant when considering how great the quality would be. We all know that cheap pricing, doesn't mean cheap quality products (e.g. E.L.F, Wet N' Wild, Milani, etc.) so I decided to give this brand a shot. I only picked up a couple things, one of them being their Gel Eyeliner in 01 Midnight in Paris. It was love at first swipe and it's been a staple in my everyday routine ever since. 

• Ultra-smooth gel formula allows for precise application.
• Quick-drying, long-lasting, smudge and waterproof. 
• Available in three colors: 
• Midnight in Paris (black)
• London Baby (brown)
• Miami's Ink (gray/silver)

 
Essence Gel Eyeliner is an extremely pigmented product. It's gel consistency makes it smooth, creamy, and easy to apply. It lives up to its "waterproof" claims and looks exactly the same when I take it off as it does when I apply it (doesn't fade or smudge). The only problem I have with this, is that it transfers onto my lid, barely, yet still noticeable. However, that may be attributed to my hooded eye shape and may not happen to you if you have a different eye shape.

The packaging is very simple, yet sleek. The container is glass, while the screw-on lid is plastic. Very sturdy and small enough to travel with. Despite the low price, the packaging does not feel cheap.




The best part, are you ready for it? You can purchase Essence Gel Eyeliner for a whopping 4 dollars! I purchased mine at Ulta, which I believe is the only place you can purchase Essence products in the United States. Canada ladies can find this at Shoppers Drug Mart. Not sure about other areas.

Left: Swatch / Right: Swatch after washing with hot water & soap

As I stated earlier, I'm absolutely in love with the Essence Gel Eyeliner. In the future, I might try out more gel/cream liners, but if nothing else were to capture my eyeliner lovin' heart the way this one did, I'd happily come right back to this one. It's extremely pigmented, long-lasting, waterproof, and inexpensive.  The only cons I have for this product is that it transfers onto the lid, but like I said, my eye shape may have contributed. If you upper lashline doesn't touch your eyelid when looking upwards, this will not happen. This product retails for $4, so if you're in the market for a great quality gel eyeliner without making a dent in your wallet, definitely give this one a shot.

Have you tried this product? What's your favorite gel eyeliner?

Let me know!

Tutorial: Easy Bronze Eyes ft. Naked 2 Palette

Hey everyone! Long time, no see! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted (almost a month!). If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that my precious little chihuahua, Gizmo has gotten really sick over the past couple weeks. So I've devoted all my time to making sure she's eating, taking her medicine, is comfortable, and is comforted when she's in pain, because I'm afraid she'll pass away. Along with that, has come a great amount of stress which has caused me to break out like I'm a freshman in high school again, so I haven't wanted to show my face, especially since I've also barely been wearing any makeup.

So I'm finally back! I'm gonna really try and get more posts out for you guys. So to make up for my absence, I did an eye tutorial! It's a more simple, bronze-y eye that's perfect for summer! I did this with my Naked 2 palette, since I know a lot of you probably own that or have similar colors.

Products Used (in order of use):
-Painterly Paint Pot
-Suspect e/s
-YDK e/s
-Tease e/s
-Snakebite e/s
-Busted e/s
-Foxy e/s
-Bootycall e/s
-Essence Gel Eyeliner in Midnight Black
-NYC Eyelash Curler
-Revlon PhotoReady 3D Volume Mascara
-Loreal Telescopic Mascara

Brushes Used (in order of use):
-Sigma F70 Concealer Brush (used in Step 1)
-Sigma E25 Travel Blending Brush (used in Steps 4 and 8)
-Sephora Shader Brush (used in Steps 5 and 8)
-Sigma E30 Pencil Brush (used in Steps 6 and 11)
-Sephora All Over Shadow Brush (used in Step 9)
-Urban Decay Dual Ended Naked 2 Palette Brush, shader side (used in Steps 10 and 12)
-NYX Eyeliner Brush (used in Step 13)


*Excuse the lighting, I'm experimenting to see where I get the best lighting still, so bare with me! If you have any tips, please let me know. Also, excuse my bare nails, haven't made time to paint them.

 

Hope you guys enjoyed the tutorial and I hope it was helpful. If you try it out, definitely send me pictures! 

I had so much fun putting this together, so definitely let me know if you want me to do more.

 Next time I'll include face photos as well.

WANTED: Feedback, plus a little story.

It's getting to the point where I've almost been blogging for an entire year! It feels like just yesterday, my boyfriend, Rob was at the blunt end of all my makeup blabber, poor guy. I always wanted to blog, maybe even video blog one day as well, but was always hesitant. I thought, "What if people I know find out and think it's silly?" or "What if no one likes my blog?" After awhile, Rob told me to "just do it" and I'm so happy that I did. I never thought I'd get the feedback and support that I have gained. I appreciate every single reader and I am so grateful a millions times over that you have taken the time to stop by. I do admit though, I'm not the loyal blogger I wanted to be, but my first year of college wore me out and left blogging to be a chore at times.

Now it's summertime and I really want to make some changes. For starters, I want to blog more. I'm going to set a goal to get at least two posts out a week, if not more. Also, I want to branch out with my posts, talk about what YOU want to hear! I'd also love this blog to be a bit more personal, not so strictly makeup and nothing else- ya' know what I mean?     

So that's why I'm coming to you guys. Let me know what you all would like to see happen with this blog.
It can be anything: OOTD's, more FOTD's, Tutorials, More Reviews, Random Thoughts and Pictures, Crafts/DIY, Hauls, heck I'd even do Recipes (I love to bake). Your wish is my command, I guess you could say.

So go ahead and leave a comment, don't be shy! Also, if there's any advice you want to give, feedback, constructional criticism, something you think I should do, etc. Let me know! I really just want to give you guys, as the readers, a great experience. Give you something to enjoy and to learn from.

Thanks for reading, hope to hear from you all soon! Have a great day!

April Favorites!

Can you BELIEVE that it is MAY already? I know I can't! This month especially seemed to fly by. But I'm sure glad I did because now it's May, which means getting out of school for the summer and my Birthday! May will definitely be a great month.

New month means new favorites, so here's what I've been loving for the month of April!

Suave 24 Hour Protection Deodorant in Tropical Paradise: I'm not really picky when it comes to deodorant, I just like it to smell good. I remember a long time ago my mom had this scent and I loved the way it smelled so much! I always tried looking for it at the drugstore whenever I needed a new tube and could never find it. But this month, I found it at Family Dollar, so I was super excited. It's name pretty much describes the scent, just very tropical, almost fruity.





Wet N' Wild Color Icon Blush in Heather Silk: I've been a WNW fan since I was a kid and I always remember their blushes (old packaging) to be very soft and super pigmented. This blush in particular has a lot of hype, and for good reasons, because it's amazing. I'd describe it as a soft, raspberry pink. It's SO pigmented and you definitely have to use a light hand. Gives an amazing pink flush to the skin. I also love that it's matte- favorite finish of blushes!


Milani The Multitasking Face Powder in Light Tan: I was an avid MAC face powder user for years and had fallen in love with their CareBlend powder right before I realized that I just go through face powders entirely too fast to be spending almost $30 every month. So I've been on the hunt for a drugstore powder that will satisfy my needs ever since. I used Rimmel Stay Matte Powder for awhile, but it didn't last and didn't control my oil. So I tried this one. It has a better coverage and oil control than Stay Matte, so I like it in those aspects. I also like it because it seems to be lasting an a really long time. Been using this for two months and haven't hit pan, whereas other powders I would have hit pan and probably needed to repurchase by now. It's not HG status, because I still get oily super fast, but it's a decent face powder and is something I've been using everyday this month.
*If any of you know of a long-wearing drugstore face powder that has good coverage and oil-control, let me know!




MAC Eyeshadow in Quarry: I've been obsessed with this shade as a transition crease shade ever since I got it. It's hard to describe the shade- it's like a dusty purple-ish grey-ish brown.. I used to be obsessed with Wedge by MAC, which I still do love, but this gives a neutral look a rose-y tint to it that I've been loving. I've been super tired this month and have been wearing minimal eyeshadow (white e/s on lid, this through the crease, and an off-white highlight shade on the browbone). If any of you love Tease from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, you will LOVE this shadow. Quarry is a more pigmented version of it.

MAC Eyeshadow in Dazzlelight: I used to be obsessed with this shadow (hence the lack of shadow in the pan) and using it as a lid color. It's a shimmery champagne that gives such an amazing sheen to the eyes. Lately, I've been loving using it as a browbone highlight, but only when I use matte shades for the rest of my eyes, otherwise I feel like shimmery highlights are too much. I've also loved using this on my cheekbones as a cheek highlight and it looks amazing that way as well.

Wet N' Wild Mega Last Lipstick in Mauve Outta Here: I've been obsessed with this lipstick when I've wanted to go for a bold lip and since I've been going very neutral with the eyes all month, I've been a bit risky with my lip colors. It's a bright magenta that leans more on the purple side, rather than pink. Super pigmented and long-wearing, but a tad bit drying. Click here to see my review on this lipstick!

Loreal Color Juice Lip Gloss in Grape Soda: The first time I wore WNW Mauve Outta Here, after awhile it got very drying so I looked in my lip collection for a gloss to pair with it and immediately picked this one. I'm pretty sure this and that lipstick were meant to be lip lovers because they go absolutely PERFECT together. It's a magenta with a purple tone to it and even though it claims to be sheer, I find it actually has great color pay off. It's not sticky, very creamy, and smells yummy too.

L to R: WNW Mauve Outta Here l/s, Loreal Grape Soda l/g

Here's what it looks like when I pair the two together.

I also wanted to mention a music favorite I've had this month, because I've literally been OBSESSED with Ed Sheeran He's from UK and his voice is so stinkin' beautiful (especially with his accent)! My favorite songs by him are Lego House, The A Team, and Give Me Love. You all have probably heard his song Give Me Love in the new Victora's Secret commercial that is always playing on TV at the moment.

I wanted to post the music video for his song 'Lego House' because I've been obsessed with that as well. Rupert Grint, who plays Ron from Harry Potter is in it, which might be why I love it so much...

I'm usually not one to like music videos, but this one is great and I can honestly say I watched it hundreds of times.. no shame!

With that being said, videos really need repeat buttons...

What were your favorite products of the month? I'd love to hear! Let me know in the comments below :)

How To: Winged Liner Tutorial

Besides contouring, winged eyeliner is my favorite makeup technique. My boyfriend refers to them as my "angel wings", which I think is so cute! Haha! I rock it almost everyday and when I don't, I actually feel naked! I love the way it elongates my eyes and makes them look bigger than they actually are! I've struggled over the years to find the right products for me and a technique that works every time, because believe it or not- there's tons of different ways you can do winged liner. It really depends on your eye shape, how dramatic you want it to be, and what type of product you like to use (liquid, pencil, cake liner, or gel).

I decided to show you all how I do mine since after years of practice, I've finally got it down the way I like it! I have small, hooded eyes, so I like using a very thin, precise eyeliner brush like the NYX Eyeliner brush with my favorite gel liner which is Essence Gel Eyeliner in Midnight in Paris. I love it because it's super black, long-lasting, and water resistant! (Review coming soon)


(These steps are not photographed)
First, I started out by priming my eyes with an eyeshadow base. I used a MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, as always. I applied a matte white eyeshadow on the lid (Inglot Matte 318), then I applied a muted purple-ish brown through the crease (MAC Quarry or Urban Decay Tease), then I applied a brow highlight (Urban Decay Foxy) and then applied a shimmy pinky-nude shade over top of the lid color (Urban Decay Bootycall). Now you're ready for liner!

 

Step 1: I start in the middle of my eyelid and use small backwards trokes along my lashline until I get to the outer corner. Then I go to the inner corner of my eye and connect the line to the middle. This lines my upper lashline. I make sure to start off as thin as I can, so my lid space is still visible.

Step 2: I close my eye halfway, touch the brush to the outer corner of my eyelid, and draw a thin straight line. To determine the angle to draw the line, either pretend your extending the line from your lower lashline OR draw the line as if you were going to connect it to the end of your eyebrow. Where you end your line depends on your personal preference. The longer the wing, the more dramatic and vise versa. I like mine to go about halfway up to the end of my brow. Make sure the tip is nice and sharp. If you made it too thick, use a Q-tip soaked in makeup remover or baby oil as an eraser.

Step 3: Now that you have the line extended from your outer corner, put the tip of the brush in the middle of that line. That's going to be your starting point. Tilt your brush so that the tip is facing the wing, and draw on an angle down to the line across your upper lashline. Like this: (follow the dotted lines)

Step 4: Go back over your lashline to smooth out any bumps you may have to that everything is one seamless smooth line.

Step 5: If you'd like, line your waterline or lower lashline with your favorite eyeliner pencil (I'll either use white or black). You can also tight line as well, if you like.

Step 6: Add mascara and voila! You're done :) If you'd like to see my current favorite mascara routine, click here.

I hope that helped all of you who struggle with doing winged liner. It definitely takes practice, in fact, it took years for me to get it to turn out this way. Winged liner is something that requires patience as well as practice. I know for me, if I'm in a rush, this is a no-go. 

Also, let me know if you all would like me to do more picture tutorials like this. I definitely want to do an eyebrow tutorial next, but if you have any requests, please let me know in the comments below!