Tribal Summer with essence

Summer it is most certainly not, but I can still feel the tribal heat in my veins as I snuggle under my throw rug using Charlie as a foot warmer! essence have stayed strongly thematic with one of their recent collections, and I think I was suckered into the aesthetic of the Tribal Summer collection more than the actual products...

The major winners from this collection have to be the pigmented and bright lipsticks in Na-Rock* and Waka Waka - yes, even the shade names have gone wild! I adore the sleek black tubes and appreciate the strip of colour around the middle of the tube which tells you which shade you are grabbing at a glance. If you have to grab one thing from this lot, I would push for pink because a pop of fuschia on the lip is perfect for cold Melbourne days (and summer days alike!)

I really wanted to love the Inti Inca pigment, but it isn't as pigmented as I'd hoped it would be and blends out a little too easy for my liking. I still think it is worth picking up and trying out, as it is so much more affordable than other pigments on the market.

Stunning in the pan, but too much shimmer and orange tones for my fair cheeks. Sorry Inti Inca bronzer, it's not me, it's you (but I am going to try you on my lids next to see how you fare)

The Waka Waka liquid blush is a pretty cool release from essence, though I tend to dislike liquid cheek products (Inglot liquid blushes, Benefit tints, they all drive me batty!) Those who love some sheer hot pink cheeks may go mad for this, but I'd recommend the new liquid blush in Glam Me from the essence Metal Glam collection over this one.

Overall it wasn't my favourite essence collection, but my heart is not broken by my haul because everything was so cheap anyway. Hurrah for affordable cosmetics to appease the shopping-obsessed girl in me!

Do you agree that bright lips in winter are awesome? I can see the bright pink Waka Waka lipstick sitting pretty next to my favourite grey scarf!

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty


*Na-Rock lipstick was provided for consideration, I bought the rest of this stash myself. Honesty, always.

Weekend Makeup Bag

Over the weekend we took Charlie away for a little holiday at the beach house, after his photoshoot which we won from Max and Molly (pet division of StudioMax) Here's a peek at the products that I packed for the 4 days.

Forget low key makeup for a relaxing weekend - I prefer to use time away from home to play around with different looks and I tend to bring along products that are exciting to me. My base was the usual Covergirl Outlast Foundation and MAC MSFN (still not 100% in love, but happy to use it up) I brought my essence Metal Glam highlighter in Gold Digger because it's actually really impressing me right now and I quite like a strong highlight when we go out for dinner. As an aside, I can vouch for Paul Loueys Chinese restaurant for some yummy food (probably quite Western but so am I!)

Lip options were all glossy with my new essence goodies being quite prominent, as was Dior naturally. Only two blushes made the cut (that was me showing control, you see?) with Hourglass Ambient Blush in Radiant Magenta and Tarte Exposed being tossed into my makeup bag.

I stuck with two eyeshadow palettes with my Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette and the new arrival, Wet & Wild's Comfort Zone palette which I just nabbed off eBay. Only one mascara came with me, the Revlon Lash Potion which I am still really enjoying.

I actually ended up using pretty much everything that I brought along with me, which for me is the sign of successful packing!

Are you a chronic over-packer, or are you talented at narrowing your needs down?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty