Best Things in Beauty : even more Essence: eyeshadows as blushes and a NARS Albatross dupe!

the last time i swatched through the Essence display i made some nice finds. most eyeshadows weren't appealing to me but these 3 caught an idea in me. they looked perfect to be used as blushes!
Essence eyeshadows contain 2.5g each and come in a nice wide pan that a blush brush would fit in. they cost about 1.55€ each.

#44 It's Up To You

is a "Shimmer Effect" eyeshadow. i think this is a new shade to their range. it's quite firmly pressed and has a low pigmentation, but so it's not prone to create clown-faces when used as blusher ;)
it's a shimmery bright coral with a slight pink sheen. with a soft fluffy brush, it's nicely blendable and creates a reddish flush on me.

Essence It's Up To You in natural light: swatched heavily + blended out

this is how it looks applied, no eye make up here. please overlook my dumb expression ;)

comparison pics:

MAC Marine Life (coral part) - Essence It's Up To You - Rouge Bunny Rouge Orpheline

#25 Go All Girlie

this is a "Shimmer Effect" eyeshadow, too. it's from the old and permanent range. the texture of this is quite dry and powdery, but applied with a soft blush brush, i don't notice it. it has a medium pigmentation. Go All Girlie is a light peachy pink with multicolour glimmer. it creates a fresh complexion and would look great on pale to light skin tones. on deeper skins it could work as a highlight, but can cause a white cast.

Essence Go All Girlie in natural light: swatched heavily & blended out

this is how it looks applied. i combined it with the NARS Albatross-dupe from below.

compared to other light pinks.

MAC Marine Life (light side) - MAC Well Dressed - Chanel Espiègle

#43 Mystic Lemon - dupe to NARS Albatross?

this is a new shade, a Holographic Effect eyeshadow. it's a pale cream with a yellowish gold iridescence. the texture is silky but the pigmentation is rather sheer. it really reminds me of NARS Albatross highlighting powder. applies and blends out easily, but it doesn't blend out as even as the NARS powder and also has bigger shimmer particles, the glow from Albatross is still finer.
as i really can't understand that hype about Albatross and don't find the very yellowish gold shimmer that flattering, i would recommend you to try this first if you are thinking about getting NARS Albatross to see if it could suit your skin tone. i find this would be a nice substitute for Albatross for it's price.