Essence Contour Powder and Highlight Duo

Hello!

Today's review is a long over due one. I've had the Essence Contour and Highlight Duo since June and am just now reviewing it. Honestly, this isn't a product I reach for a lot (spoiler) so I've just been putting this review off for too long. 

This is $3.99 at Ulta, and comes in two shades. I have the shade light which is a warmer toned bronzer with a champagne highlight. The shade dark looked more cool toned with a pinkish highlight. 

Here photos with the flash and no flash, and then some swatches. 

The contour shade is a nice and neutral color, but the pigmentation isn't the best. I did swatches of one swipe, and you could barely see them, so I also did a swatch with two swipes to build up the pigmentation. 

The highlight is a super pretty shade. It's not super in your face or crazy shimmery. It gives a nice subtle glow. I really like this one for days that I don't want a super intense highlight. 

Overall, this was just an okay product for me. I prefer more pigmentation to my contour shades, and I'm a little too impatient to build up the color. But if you like a very, very subtle and natural contour, then you might like this. Same for the highlight. 

This is worth a try if you think it's something you'd like, but I recommend the Wet n Wild Contour Duo over this Essencd one instead. It's only $1 more, you get a lot my product, and the pigmentation and formula are better. 

Have you tried the Essence Contour Duos before? What are your thoughts? 

5 Under $5

I haven't done a 5 under 5 post in forever, since I first started blogging! I've been using some super affordable goodies lately, so I thought I'd start this week off my sharing them!

All these are under $5, and can be found at drugstores and Ulta, with the exception of a colourpop product. 

•Wet n Wild Color Icon Blush in Rosé Champagne ($2.99) has been a favorite blush of mine for quite a while now and I've definitely raved about it a ton. I've obviously hit pan on this gem, and that's not something that happens too often with me and blushes!

•Colourpop Super Shock Shadows are right at the $5 mark, and are such great quality shadows. The shade I'm sharing here is La La and it's a rose gold shade with a metallic finish. I love all my colorpop shadows, this is just one I pulled out for the post. 

•Elf HD Concealer ($3)- this is a good concealer for how cheap it is. It is a bit tiny but it works well under my eyes. I prefer my Mac and Mabelline concealer to this, but if your on a budget the Elf one is worth a try!

•Essence Nude Longlasting Lipstick in Cool Nude ($2.99$) is a great everyday nude/mauve color. The formula is nice too! 

•Essence Make Me Brow ($2.99) has become my favorite and everyday brow gel. And it's only $2.99!! Definitely way more affordable than Benefit gimme brow. 

What are your favorite affordable makeup products? Does anyone want to see more of these posts? 

Essence Make Me Brow | Review

Have you ever really wanted to splurge on a product that you knew was too expensive for what it was? That's exactly what I did with the benefit gimme brow, and while I really love it, never again did I was to pay $24 for a tiny tube of eyebrow gel. 

When I heard that Essence Make Me Brow was a great dupe for the Benefit one, AND that it was only $2.99, I was dying to get my hands on it. I talked about this product last week in my eye brow routine (click here to see!) and today I'm going to share my review for it. 

This brow product is a tinted gel has tiny fibers in it to help fill in and make your brows look fuller just like Benefit Gimme Brow does. 

The brush is tiny so it's easy to use. Benefit's brush is tiny as well, but since I don't own that product any more I can't show a comparison in size. 

Both Essence and Benefit offer 3 different shades. I have 'browny brows' in the Essence one. I do remember that Benefit only use to offer 2 different shades and I always used the darker of them. I can't say if each of the 3 shades are identical since I haven't tried them all. If you have dark hair like I do, then I suggest getting the darkest shades of both products, as they both looked identical on me.

My Thoughts

-This is an amazing brow gel for only $2.99. Never again will I pay $24 for the Gimme Brow. If you love the Benefit version, this Essence one is just as great and a much cheaper alternative. 

-Make me brow last all day on my brows and doesn't fade. It gives them a nice color and helps to fill in any uneven areas. It's great for just running through your brows if you are in a hurry too or don't want to fill them in fully. 

-The formula is nice and creamy and blends well. It hasn't been clumpy, nor is too watery and thin like a Nyx brow gel I tried once!

Bottom line- this stuff is amazing and I definitely recommend giving it a try!

What are your favorite Essence products? Let me know in the comments! This brow gel is one of the first products that I've tried from Essence so I'd love to know which others are worth trying!