I can't say I was excited because of Essence Hidden Stories collection when I saw promo photos, but as a huge fan of shimmery products I have to admit the shimmer in a nail polish Mauve-llous Fairy and highlighter Enter Wonderland convinced me that I bought them.
Let’s talk about the nail polish first. Mauve-llous Fairy is a lila shade with pink, blue and lila shimmer. It’s really a gorgeous shade, but not very pigmented. It can be opaque after two coats if I apply thicker ones, but otherwise it requires three coats for full opacity. Otherwise the polish applies nicely, it doesn’t have too runny formula and the drying time is average. I like the brush of this polish; it’s flat, although not big, and easy to work with. The polish contains 8 ml and it costs 1,49 € (Műller).
Enter Wonderland is a product I have love-hate relationship with. If this wouldn’t be a part of limited edition collection I’d probably wait with a review for some time yet, but since it won’t be available for a very long time I’ll share with you the impression it made on me. On other blogs I mostly read positive things about highlighters from this collection, but I personally can’t say I adore this one.
Enter Wonderland is a purple cream highlighter with tiny shimmer in it. The packaging is nothing special, a transparent round plastic container that doesn’t seem very sturdy. I have to admit I expected it’ll have the same formula as highlighters from regular assortment, but it’s not exactly the same, I find it a bit less creamy. This highlighter is very sheer. It blends very nicely, but after it blends it’s almost invisible on my skin if I use one coat, so I have to apply few layers before it gives me the effect I want. I really wish it would be more pigmented. Essence recommends applying it with fingers and I do that, because I find it’s easier to apply with fingers than with brush. I also noticed that it doesn’t last long on my skin. If I apply few layers of it, then it will last a whole working day, otherwise it’ll fade away sooner. Also, when I apply few layers I love how it looks on me; it’s definitely a very special shade. For the swatches on my hand and cheeks I used three layers of product.
I have to admit I expected much more from highlighter. Usually Essence does such a great job with them that I can’t understand what went wrong here. The shade itself is gorgeous, it’s also very unique because I don’t own anything similar, but formula is just not what I’d expect it to be. I wish that this product would be more pigmented. Highlighter contains 10,7 g and it costs 3,29 €.
I’m going to say that even if I’d skip this collection I wouldn’t regret it. The polish is gorgeous, but sheer, so people, who like opaque polishes won’t be fans, and the same goes for highlighter. A beautiful shade, but very sheer, so it requires some work for a nice effect.
Did you get anything from Essence Hidden Stories TE? How do you like those products? Thank you for reading!