essence + Justin Bieber = ?

I'm not a Belieber, but I give the kid kudos for what he's done. So why is a beauty junky who isn't a fan mentioning his name in a post? Well,  essence cosmetics is an official sponsor of his most recent tour and has created a limited edition Trend Edition called Beauty Beats - Girls on Tour With Justin Bieber.

If you're not familiar with essence cosmetics, click here to learn more about the brand.

While I normally just walk passed anything with the Biebs, the beautiful colours have caught my eyes. While there are some definite hits, there's are a few flops. Here are my first impressions on a few of the items.

This collection offers 3 eye shadows, 1 blush, 1 shimmer powder, 4 nail polishes, 1 transfer solution, paperprint for nails, 3 lipglosses, hair ties and a double ended eye liner. The colour palette focuses on purple, mint green, grey and a nice berry red. What is it with Bieber and purple?

I have two of the four eyeshadows, Baby, Baby, Oh!  and  I'm Backstage . All of the eyeshadows are embossed with Beauty Beats (which makes me happy that it doesn’t say anything about the pop star). Looking at these colours, they are gorgeous.

Unfortunately, the pigmentation was a bit lacking. I used a primer on the left side of the swatches and you easily see a difference on the left and right side of the swatches. Both colours were disappointing -  had to swipe several times to get this pigmentation. I was really hoping for more out of them.

I only grabbed one of the lipglosses. After all, one was a green colour, not for me! Eenie Meenie is a very light pink with a little shimmer to it.

I've never tried any of the glosses by essence, but was delighted with the formula and the smell. The gloss itself was not too thick or sticky and had a great pigmentation that leaves your lips with a nice colour. The smell is a little sweet, a cross between vanilla and some sort of candy. (have I ever mentioned that I am horrible with smells? )

The one thing about the gloss is the strange applicator. It's not a paddle brush or a doe foot brush. Instead, it's almost as if they continued the wand with a sponge brush (or whatever you'd like to call that material), rounded the bottom, and carved out a piece in the middle (all around) for it to possibly fit your lip better. It's a little strange. I'm really not sure how I feel about the curved part.  However, it gets the job done, even if you have to get used to it a bit.

The shimmer powder is one of my favorite items in this collection. While it does have Swag beveled and embossed in the powder, I'm happy that it doesn't say Justin or Bieber.

 

I know it's a little hard to tell in the swatches above, but the left side is heavily swatched while the right side is blended out. You can easily layer this product to get the intensity that you'd like.  It's perfect for adding a bit of shimmer/highlight to your cheeks, especially during the holidays or when going out.

The nail polishes do not disappoint! While I did not get the grey (bf once told me that it looked like I had car primer on my nails…), each of the colours are gorgeous and only require two coats to be nicely opaque. The only minor downfall to these polishes is that they do not offer the same great brush as the rest of the essence line. These brushes are more like the brushes that you'd find from Essie or Revlon.

Baby, Baby, Oh! (purple) is a very lovely dark purple with a very subtle shimmer to it. I've been on the hunt for my "perfect" purple, and this might be it. It's not too dark where it looks black and it doesn't pull red or blue.

 The stunning mint blue/green, I'm Backstage, is my new favorite. Never thought I'd be so in love with a pastel color. This beauty has a very subtle shimmer and is perfect for this winter where "winter pastels" are in.

 

Groupie at Heart is best described as a berry pink with, you guessed it, more subtle shimmer. I love that it's not a full on bright pink, but instead a slightly coral, slightly red, slightly pink color. It's still a little too much for my fingers, but perfect for my toes!

 Beauty Beats - Girls on Tour with Justin Bieber is now available at Shoppers Drugmart and Pharmaprix.

Do you have your eye on any of the items?
 

*hugz*

-Sam

Items were provided for consideration. All opinions are my own.