I’m so excited for Christmas guys, you don’t even know! I already set up my tree about two weeks ago and I’ve been listening to Christmas music non-stop. Another great thing about Christmas coming up is that the holiday collections are slowly hitting the stores. Essence launched an entire line of Christmas themed makeup goodies, called The Little X-Mas Factory. The products in this collection look absolutely stunning and super festive, I really had to stop myself from buying the entire collection. I decided to grab one item, the contouring palette which I’m going to review for you guys today.
The contouring palette comes in a square transparent case with the name of the collection in a special festive font on the front. On the back, there’s a sticker with some additional information. But, what really attracted me to this palette wasn’t the packaging, but the beautiful gift-bow pattern that’s engraved into the powder. This pattern adds such a festive touch to this powder, I love it!
The contouring palette in this collection is only available in one shade, ‘Elf Yourself!’, which is very light and wouldn’t work for people with medium to dark skin-tones. That’s something I really wish they would’ve thought off when creating this collection.
Elf Yourself! comes with a light neutral toned matte bronzer and a shimmery highlight. Although the bronzer looks matte in the pan, it has a dewy finish on the skin. The highlight is matte but has chunks of glitter in it.
I really enjoyed the contour shade, although it’s very light and I definitely had to build it up for it to actually show up on my skin. However, I didn’t like the highlighting shade. It’s too chunky for me to use as a highlight or to set my under-eyes with, so I have no idea what to actually use this powder for.
The formula is a little bit dry and powdery, but it does blend nicely onto the skin. The pigmentation was average. Depending on your skin-tone, you definitely have to build it up.
The contour shade lasted pretty well on my skin, I would say it started to fade after about 6 hours of wear.
I’ve used this palette a couple of times now, and the pattern still hasn’t rubbed off, which is amazing since the pattern is so pretty!
I wish the entire pan only consisted of the bronzing shade, that would’ve been amazing! Unfortunately, the highlighter is taking up space and I don’t like it whatsoever. It’s too chunky and glittery for me to apply this anywhere on my face. However, I do really enjoy the contour shade in this palette. It has a nice neutral undertone, so you can use it both for bronzing up the skin or to contour with.
The Little X-Mas Factory collection by Essence is now available at your local Essence retailer until the end of the month. The Contouring Palette retails for €3,39 (9 g), which is super affordable.
