Essence Witch Side Eyeshadow Palette

Essence was never my favourite brand of eyeshadows, but I have to say lately they've been killing it. Their latest nude palette impressed me first, but I missed this one, I don't know why because it has "my colours", I just assumed it's not particularly good. Then I was sent this one and I was blown away at how good it is. I got a Catrice palette in the same parcel and this one beats it by a thousand miles. 

Texture: There are three finishes in this palette. The satin shimmers are best performing, they are creamy soft, opaque with one swipe of a brush and that included the dark blue one, which I've been looking for many years for such a high quality shade that wouldn't just blend out into smoky grey. Second best are mattes, which are again very smooth, though not as much as in the Nude palette, but still creamy for such a texture. All of these blend with ease. The last ones are the duo-chrome glitters. They are too densely packed almost creamy eyeshadows are there's no way you can pick them up with a brush. They also don't blend out as smoothly, so they are best as toppers because they are also not as intensely pigmented as the rest, at least the base colour isn't, but the white spots that contain duo-chrome shimmer have a strong impact. 

Shades :This palette contains 15 eyeshadows, 7 matte and the rest are shimmery. It's divided into a dark and light side. 

Mattes: 

Ritual - an off-white.

Potion - a burgundy brown.

Spell - a deep brown with some purple tones.

Supernatural - a medium neutral/warm brown.

Wish - a peach.

Charm - medium powdery pink.

Magic - a medium neutral/cool brown.

Shimmers: 

Gloomy - a midnight blue.

Haunted - antiqued gold, my absolute favourite.

Talisman -  a lighter version of antiqued gold, more on the champagne side. Another favourite.

Enchanted - another peach.

Duochrome shimmers:

Wicked - it looks dark brown in the pan, but the base is sheer and the centre of attention is the duochrome green-gold shimmer.

Shadowy - a bronze shimmer.

Amulet - this is a weak one overall. A champagne shimmer.

Power - pink with white shimmer.

1. Haunted, Supernatural, Spell // 2. Gloomy // 3. Wicked, Supernatural, Spell // 4. Charm.

Staying power: My eyelids aren't oily, so most stuff lasts well without a base, these included. They don't crease and last pretty well in a slightly faded version to the end of the day. Catrice are a bit more long -lasting.   

Packaging: It comes in a cardboard packaging with a mirror and a magnetic closing system. On the front is a changing picture with eyes opened and closed. It bothers me a bit that these is so much empty space between the shades, as this palette could be more compact. 

Price and availability: It's sold in drugstore for 10.69 €. I don't know if this is only available on large stands. 

For the last months this has been my most used and favourite palette. I just adore shades Haunted and Talisman, so I wear them very often, but I also love the pinky Charm. Eyeshadows are of great quality, well except the glitters, but the rest are just a pleasure to use. Well done, Essence!

Have a great day!

*PR product.