Flicking through the September issue of Cosmopolitan I find myself engrossed in an article from beauty journalist Lucy Partington. 

In it she explains that before she became a beauty journalist, she lived with the assumption that when it comes to beauty, you get what you pay for. She isn’t the only one and I’m sure a lot of us are guilty of thinking “the higher the price tag, the more the product must be desirable, more efficient or superior” #MakeUpSnob. 

One particular product that caught my eye in disbelief was the mention of an eye shadow palette from a brand of makeup I had never heard of before called Essence. Stocked and sold at Wilko stores. 

Yes, Wilko. No glamorous makeup counter in a fancy department store. You don’t get much more basic than the high street bargain store that is Wilko. Was I reading this right?

The specific product mentioned is the Essence All About Nudes Eye Shadow Palette with the words (and I quote Lucy with saying) “One of the best eyeshadow palettes I’ve ever used”. Pretty impressive quote huh? How could I not check this out?

Did you notice it costs all of £4? 

How could I not stomp my disbelieving shoes down to Wilko to pick one up for myself to put a stop to these crazy thoughts I was having? Could I really find the best eye shadow palette from Wilko?

On first glances the palette has very basic clear plastic packaging and there is no applicators included with the palette. 

This isn’t a massive deal. As long as the packaging keeps the eye shadows covered, I’m not bothered and I never use the cheap flimsy applicators that tend to appear in these sort of products. I, like most girls have a collection of trusty makeup brushes and they do the job quite nicely!

8 different shades are included. Some with a hint of sheen and some matt.

The lightest shades are so light that I am confident that this palette is suitable for even the palest of skin tones and can be used for highlighting. 

And then down at the other end of the palette is a good selection of tans and darker browns and a glimmering gold colour. 

I did some swatches on my forearm and I found the eye shadows to be soft, easy to blend and offer a very subtle finish on my tan skin that can be built up if needed.

Some of the mid tones really did struggle to show up on my skin just because they are so similar in colour but I take this as both a compliment received and given. Proof that these can be blended seamlessly to create the perfect natural yet flawless look. 

Overall I think the palette is very versatile and although offer a good choice of colours and finishes. 

If I had one criticism of the palette then it’s that the powders crumble very, very easily, especially when compared to some of my other eye shadows, so do watch out for fallout! 

But the criticism aside, this palette costs the grand sum of £4. In a world where the average best-selling eye shadow palette costs around £40 that makes the Essence All About Nudes 90% cheaper, now that’s something worth shouting about. 

For nude looks then this palette is all you need. There is also an All About Bronze Eye Shadow Palette that I really want to add to my makeup bag. It has a collection of stronger bronze tones that I feel will suit my olive complexion really well. 

Do you have any beauty product secrets or favourite products that cost pennies but do their job amazingly well? Let me know. You can email me anytime at loubou@gmail.com

GIVEAWAY TIME

For the first time on Milton Keynes Girl I am giving readers the chance to win the very product I’ve been talking about AND a few bonus ones. 

 

 

 

 

 

 To 

To enter you do need to do it via TWITTER. You can find my Twitter page HERE. You just need to FOLLOW MY ACCOUNT and then RETWEET the competition post that is pinned to the top of my profile! (No quote retweets allowed, competition open to all and internationally, any questions you can email me loubou@gmail.com) Competition Ends 01.11.2016