I've had the great opportunity to test some of the new "Wave Goddess" limited edition from essence - even before it will be in stores from July til August. So I've had a good play around with the provided products and want to share my opinion on them with you.
I've been sent a variety of products of the range and some of them get a really big thumbs up from me and some of them just aren't my cup of tea.
The Keepers
2in1 eyeliner in '01 have a break' and '02 crush on blue'-2,99€
This probably is the best product out of the range. At first I was a bit scepticle about trying blue eyeliners. But by just swatching the liners on my hand I really fell in love. The liners come with a thin pointy end and a thicker angular end and help you draw the perfect line just as you want it. This glides on with no effort. I've NEVER (!) achieved such a beautiful cat eye with just one stroke from my inner corner out and then a second line to thicken the cat wing. This is amazing when you're rubish at applying liner, the formula is opaque and really smooth and makes it as simple as possible. The colours also really surprised me. I never thought I would be rocking a blue (say light blue..) liner, but I definitely will. The colours just look beautiful on their own with mascara or just a light wash of nude colour all over the lid. And even my boyfriend - who normally likes me best with no makeup at all or just really natural makeup - was getting a bit enthusiastic about the great look. Maybe make them waterproof next time, then they would be 100% perfect!
Tinted lipbalm in '02 life is better when you surf'-2,29€
Another great product is the tinted lipbalm. I normally have really dry lips and get irritated skin around my lips by a lot of lipstick, but this one really makes my lips feel smooths and doesn't do anything strange to my skin. My balm has a peachypink colour to it and a slightly glossy texture which doesn't stick at all. The balm wears off very even and leaves your lips with a beautiful neon pink stain.
Nail Polish in '02 wave down the lime' and '04 crush on blue'-1,79€
The two nailpolishes that I got both come in beautiful colours. A bold blue and a lime yellow colour which I both absolutely adore. As you may have read in my post about bright polishes last week (over here) I love bright nailpolishes in summer as I think they really enhance my tan. The polishes just need to coats for an opaque colour and they dry fast as well. So big thumbs up for these two!
Soft touch eyeshadow in '04 life is better when you surf' - 2,29€
The soft touch eyeshadows are kind of cream shadows that apply easily with your fingers or a fluffy blush. My shadow is a peachy pink colour (matches the tinted lipbalm!) with bits of glitter in it. I'm not a big fan of really glittery products, I really prefer a slight shimmer, but overall this is a really great cream eyeshadow on a budget!
A really cute additional product is this neon orange silicon glasses case. This will be really great to store my glasses in when I'm at the beach and afterwards to carry them in my bag beside wet towels and bikinis. The only downside is that the case doesn't close properly all along the edges and sand will be able to come in, but I'll just try to bend the metal frames a bit and hope that it's going to work out then.
The Ain't My Style's
Highlighter in '01 sparkling goddess'-2,99€
I've been really curious to test this highlighter as it's so hard to find a drugstore highlighter that really does the thing. This sadly isn't one for me. I love a warm nude shimmering highlighter for my more yellow coloured skin. The highlighter is white coloured and contains bigger coral chunks of glitter. If you're a fand of glitter this will be perfect for you, it glides on smoothly and really glitters on your skin. I would like to try this as a highlight for my browbone, but the packaging explicitely tells you not to use this product around your eye area which bothers me a bit.
Body Tattoos in '01 the early bird catches the wave'-1,99€
I haven't tried these yet and probably I won't. Body Tattoos are a really cute thing, I just think I'm a bit too old for this.
Beach Hair Waves Spray-3,49€
This has probably been my biggest hope out of all the products. As with the highlighter it's quite hard to find an affordable drugsture sea salt spray that leaves your hair with texture. This spray definitely gives my hair texture and the spray nozzle is the best one I've ever used! Out comes a perfect mist that sprays evenly onto your damp or dry hair. I almost was in love with this product. But sadly there is a 'but'. The spray leaves my roots looking really greasy just two minutes after application. I've tried it a couple of times now, with less product or not applying it near my roots, but it always makes my hair looking greasy, almost wet. I don't really know why this is and it really makes me feel quite sad I have to admit. My beloved Toni&Guy Sea Salt spray is about three times as expensive I think..
All in all this is a very cute limited edition and I've already put the tinted lip balm into my daily routine. And maybe there will be a face of the day including the wonderful blue liners soon! Definitely check the products out when you're near a essence counter.
Lots of Love
Julie