Essence Restores My Faith in Baked Shadows: Marble Mania

OK, I am going to lay a beauty truth on you.  I..hate...baked...shadows.  Always have. I find them hard, chalky, sheer, just awful in almost every regard.  Enter Essence Marble Mania shadows.  If Essence did not have great tester displays, I'd have walked past these with nary a second glance.  However once I stuffed my fingers into the sample pots...dear lord I was converted.  What struck me first was the velvety soft feel of the shadows.  They weren't hard or rough like I expected, so that was enough for me to snap them all up.  Oh and a little "thanks for kicking me in the balls" side note.  Why was I not informed of the .49 cent Essence nailpolish sale at Fred Meyers??  WTF, there were four polishes left...of course I bought them, but that is besides the point.   Lame!

 *Click images to enlarge.

Essence Marble Mania is a Spring 2012 Trend Edition.  The eye shadows are your typical melange style colors.  In the pan they are: more silver (Let's Get Twisted) more peach (Seriously Mixed Up) more pink (Swirl It Baby)  Once swirled and applied they create three stunning shades of taupe.

Let's Get Twisted

 

Let's Get Twisted is a shimmery sandy taupe that leans slightly grey.

Seriously Mixed Up

Seriously Mixed Up is a satiny red undertoned taupe.  It has an ever so slight pink sheen.

Swirl It Baby

Swirl It Baby is a satiny pink/purple taupe with a slight pink sheen.


The product indicates it can be used either wet or dry.  I did not include wet swatches only because I found these shadows applied identically wet and dry.  I was very happy about this because I personally am not a fan of wet application.  Another reason I usually dislike baked shadows.  I've found in the past that baked shadows pretty much require wet application for any decent payoff.

All three colors were wonderfully opaque with one pass.  There was minimal powdery fallout, very nice considering the soft feel of the product.  It's great Essence offers testers of so many products because if you bought this hoping for the dominate color in the pan, you would be disappointed.  However fans of melange style shadows know a "muddy" neutral is usually what you get from these.  Essence Marble Shadows are actually a lot nicer then most.  The taupes are nice and bright and clear with distinct unique undertones.

Final Thoughts

It's not often a product can completely reverse a long ingrained belief.  I really adore these shadows.  The colors are universally wearable and flattering.  They are easy to use and affordable.  If you have access to Essence products check these out.

Where to buy: ULTA (not sure they carry Trend Editions) Fred Meyer, H-E-B
Price:  $2.49