ULTA Haul: Essence & Essie!

Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish - #57 Can't Cheat on Me

Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish - #50 Irreplaceable

Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish - #42 Dress for a Moment

Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish - #51 Mellow Yellow

Essie Nail Polish - #710 Van D'Go

Essence XXXL Nudes Lipgloss - #01 Pure Beauty

Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss - #01 Me & My Ice Cream

READ MORE TO VIEW ADDITIONAL PHOTOS & SWATCHES!

From Left to right: Can't Cheat on Me, Irreplaceable, Dress for a Moment, Mellow Yellow

Ever since I first spotted Essence Cosmetics at ULTA, I became hooked on these little Colour & Go Nail Polishes. They are around 1/3 the average size of a standard nail polish (5 ml in comparison to 15 ml in a bottle of Essie) and they are sold for 99 cents each. Let's be totally honest - I will never finish a bottle of nail polish, no matter how much I like it. I get bored easily with shades, and I like to try new ones often. Essence launches new shades often, and they're always really trendy.

The small bottles are great because they aren't SO small (like Walmart's Bon Bon's), so you can actually use them a decent number of times before tossing. It has a good brush applicator and the colors are usually pretty opaque. The lasting power is average. As with any "lower end" nail polish, I recommend using a good top coat, such as Seche Vite to get the longest wear out of it.

Swatches from Left to right: Can't Cheat on Me, Irreplaceable, Dress for a Moment, Mellow Yellow

Can't Cheat on Me is a silver, fine shimmery holographic shade. It's a bit similar to Milani HD, but the glitter in Milani is larger. It doesn't scream holo, but it shines nicely in the sun.

Irreplaceable is a milky taupe with golden/green glitter particles. I'm not sure how flattering it will look on my nails, but I thought it was very pretty in the bottle.

Dress for a Moment is a pale, dirty lilac. It's a bit different than the other lilac nail polishes I have, as it has a slightly gray tint.

Mellow Yellow is a creamy, banana yellow. I was really hoping this color was going to be more of a white, pastel yellow - but it's still a nice to have for the summer. (Any recommendations on white-yellows?)

I apologize I wasn't able to swatch the colors on my actual nails, I've got a fairly fresh manicure with no chips yet and didn't want to ruin it. I'll have NOTD's with these shades soon!

Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss - #01 Me & My Ice Cream

I'm not sure how new these glosses are to the Essence line, but when I saw Karen from Makeupandbeautyblog rant about them (I often refer to Karen - love that girl!) I figured one would be worth trying. All of the (6) shades in the range are very wearable, but my favorite was Me & My Ice Cream. I can't put my finger on it whether it's a warm or cool pink, but I think it leans more toward warm. It's not very strong in either category, so I think it's a pink that either undertone can wear. The color is sheer with one swipe, but is buildable. I'm not really sure how I like the applicator, it's a little odd in shape, but when applied, it does sort of "hug" the lips - kind of nice. The formula is really great, and I'd compare it to the MAC Cremesheen Glass formulas. It's not at all sticky or too watery. It's really creamy and moisturizing. After wearing it for about a half hour, my lips felt incredibly soft. (So soft though, they started peeling. For the future, I'll probably have to wear a lip balm under it to prevent my lips from constantly peeling.

Essence XXXL Nudes Lipgloss - #01 Pure Beauty

I love the formula of the XXXL Nude Lipglosses. I already own Nude Kiss and it's one of my favorites. I decided to try out another shade, so I picked Pure Beauty, a light peachy beige. The color reminds me a bit of NYX Whipped Round Lipgloss or MAC Boy Bait Cremesheen Glass (although I don't own it to compare side by side). The formula is fantastic - really moisturizing and pigmented. What I love the most is the sponge applicator. It's very long and flat, so it glides across the lips better than the standard sponge applicator and it picks up much more product. It's a great gloss to pair with any nude lipstick.

Left: Me & My Ice Cream, Right: Pure Beauty.

Essence is sold at ULTA stores & Online at Ulta.com.

That's about it for my ULTA Haul! I'm really happy with everything I purchased, and it was all so inexpensive. I know I didn't mention the Essie Nail Polish I purchased, but I'll post a NOTD with it this week. 

Have you tried any of these products? What are your favorite Essence products?