Essence All That Greys limited edition eye shadow palette

Why do I love eye shadow so much? No matter what happens, if I see an affordable eye shadow palette that captures my eye, I just have to have it, without fail. So when Essence came out with their latest limited edition collection called All That Greys, and saw they did a palette, I decided to get it without thinking twice. Featuring 3 pink and 4 grey shades the Essence All That Greys limited edition eye shadow palette seems to hold the perfect balance between a neutral day look and an intense smokey eye.

Essence All That Greys limited edition eye shadow palette
7 Shades of Rose and Grey

I bought the palette a few weeks ago, so I’m sure it is still out. In any case, you may have already seen this palette, as I showed it in my overview of the new Catrice and Essence products for spring/ summer 2015. I tried different Essence palettes in the past and where they have good pigmentation, I find them to blend away quite easily. However, at a price point of less than €5, they make for some affordable eye shadow palettes that are great especially when you first start using make up.

The Essence All That Greys palette starts off promising enough. Packaging wise this palette certainly looks a lot better than any of their other palettes which come in a clear plastic case. The packaging is sleek and black. It is comparable in size to the European L’Oreal The Nudes palettes. The font used for the letters reminds me of 1920s vaudeville  and isn’t too young looking.

Inside there is a full length mirror, a simple brush which I don’t care much for and 7 different eye shadow shades. I was intrigued by the color selection. It is very cool toned: a different thing to find in the drugstore. Most affordable eye shadow palettes will stick to warm tones as that appeals to a larger audience. However, I loved this precisely because it is a mix of pinks and greys which look like a good selection of colors.

The three pink shades include 2 shimmers and one satin finish shadow. The pink shades are a clever choice. The two lightest shades can easily be used as highlights, either under the brow bone or in the inner corner. They have some shimmer, but aren’t too much of a glitter bomb effect on the lid. The satin finish is the darkest shade of pink and makes for a great transition shade for blending out the crease or for a more natural effect on the eye lid.

On to the stars of the show: the 4 gorgeous grey shimmers. In the pan the first two look nearly identical, but in the swatch and on the eye they are different enough to look distinct. I like using these all over the lid, with the lightest grey shade as a pop of shine on the center of the lid. The two darkest shades are great in the Outer V and crease, and even as a liner this works fairly well. The darkest shade is pigmented enough to create depth and contrast.

The satin finish shadow is the only nearly matte shadow in the entire palette. So you will only like this palette if you like your shimmers. You may want to bring in some more matte shades to make this palette more versatile and play around with a bit more. Overall, I like the shade selection though. This seems like a very workable palette.

When swatching these shadows, I found them to be a tad powdery and chalky, but not overly so. They can create quite a bit of fall out, but if you’re careful and tap off your brush, you should be fine. The texture is soft and easy to blend and like with most Essence and Catrice shadows I find that these blend away quickly if you’re not careful. It is easy to create a look that is simply a blob of color on the lid. Just be careful and build up the look as you go along.

Pigmentation is really not too shabby and as you can see: for once Essence has put out a palette with 7 clearly distinct shades. I have fair skin which means the lighter pink shades are nearly my skin tone, which is why they look so sheer, but they do pack a good punch. Besides I like my highlights to be not too intense, so this is perfect for me. The dark grey is a nice charcoal shade that doesn’t look too shimmery once swatched. Right, on to the eye look!

To create this look, I used all 7 eye shadows. I used the second pink shade on my brow bone. The satin and darkest pink shade is the blend shade to create a transition from my crease to my brow. The lightest pink shade is in the inner corner. I love how it totally brightens up the look: a great addition to prevent the look from becoming too dark and dreary overall.

I applied the second grey shade all over the lid. Grey shade number three is in the crease and Outer V. I also applied some of that third shade on the outer third of my lower lash line. With my finger I gently tapped some of the lightest grey shade in the middle of my lid and used a precise brush to apply some on the rest of my lower lash line.  Finally, I used the darkest grey shade as liner and applied a nude eye pencil on the water line for added brightness.

I had a hard time to not let this get too muddy. It is why I added the bright pop of grey shimmer to my center lid. Without it, the look was much darker and didn’t do much for my face. Like I said, the blendability of these shadows isn’t the best, but you can still make it work if you reapply some, blend, apply some more and just keep going until you create the desired effect.

If you are looking for a palette that doesn’t break the bank and that has a cool toned color selection, I think the Essence All That Greys limited edition eye shadow palette is a safe bet. This palette is simple and straight forward and gives you bang for your buck. It pales compared to some of my high end palettes, but if you can’t or won’t shell out €50 plus for a palette, then Essence is definitely a brand to keep your eye on.

What is your favorite budget eye shadow palette?