Essence Breaking Dawn pt2

This post almost didn't happen.

I don't like Twilight.  I'll leave that statement there, take it how you will.  I *do* like Essence polishes, though I haven't tried most of the ones I have.  I got these because they're dark and full of fleck shimmer and I happened upon them without any searching.  These aren't polishes you're likely to be able to get easily anymore, which added to my hesitation.  If you're in the US, either your Ulta had them a few weeks ago or it didn't.  If you're elsewhere, your chances may have been better...but they're probably sold out by now too.  If you want them now, you'll get into a bidding war on ebay and you'll get hosed.  They're going for a staggering price now, considering they were $2 each.  The major reason I hesitated to post this was I don't like writing negative reviews.  I'm not compensated by the brands in any way, I just don't like putting products or companies down unless I'm really angry.  The three I bought from this collection (I skipped A Piece of Forever) ranged from bad to horrible to work with.  I've read a lot of mixed reviews while trying to decide if I'd post mine.  It's lead me to wonder if there was a bad batch.  Some people raved about the formula.  Others admitted dragging issues.  A few, like me, had a beastly time with them.  I really debated thinning them, but I wanted to review them as I bought them, without any 'fixing'.  Here we go...


Alice Had A Vision - Again is a deep purple or navy base with a ton of purple and blue fleck shimmer.

Alice Had A Vision - Again reminds me a bit of the e.l.f. Python polish I called "George," but with an opaque base and more shimmer.  A strike against these polishes, for me anyway, is that the base is opaque.  The flecks are *very* dense for maximum impact, but it feels like they overdid it and the particles affect the application.  Alice didn't give me as many problems as Jacob and Edward, but the formula wasn't great.  Mine was very thick and dragged the first coat a bit when I applied the second.

At extreme angles there's a little shift to gold in some of the particles.  Not a drastic effect, but pretty.

Jacob's Protection has a blackened navy base crammed with blue and green flecks and tiny fuchsia shimmer.

Not a great photo, I know...but this was my second application and I was not in a good mood.  I fought with this polish.  The first try bubbled and wouldn't go on smooth.  It dragged no matter what I did.  The second time I just put it on in one thick, awkward coat.  It worked well enough, but was still difficult.  Once it was dry it needed multiple coats of top coat to smooth out.


Edward's Love has a black base full of flecks in a color I can't quite describe.  Metallic taupe or white gold might be about right.  It also has hints of green, blue, and purple shimmer.

The formula was draggy and thick like Alice, but not as bad as Jacob.  Of the three, I liked this the most.  It stands out in my collection.  The only thing I can begin to compare it to is OPI DS Mystery, but the flecks in that are not as dense and brassier.  These flecks are so unusual!  In sunlight they dull down, but they're still very eye-catching.

If you do happen upon these for a low price and you're a Twilight fan or just like the look of them, go for it.  Unless you're a complete frenzied collector, I wouldn't recommend shelling out the ebay price.  Most people didn't have experiences as bad as mine and mine would probably be fine with some thinning.  I don't hate them, they were just very unpleasant to work with.  Beyond the thickness, the caps are BIG.  That makes the brush awkward to maneuver and uncomfortable to hold.  I feel like every other very dense fleck shimmer I have is in a jelly base.  These have an opaque base and I think something is lost because of that.


I'm still not done!!  This holiday has produced a bumper crop of gorgeous polishes and I still have even more to show you!