Essence's eyeshadows can be a hit or miss, but mostly a miss for me, even their popular Chrome eyeshadows, but when I swatched this palette in the shop I was immediately impressed. Their latest two palettes The Nude Edition and Witch Side are really good quality and way better than the slightly more expensive sister brand Catrice.

Texture: The eyeshadows are a lot smoother than Essence's usually quality and they are all nicely pigmented when swatched with a finger. I find it takes a bit more layering when using a fluffy brush, but I tend to apply most eyeshadows with a finger (except in a crease) and just blend out the edges with a brush. Their matte eyeshadows are surprisingly buttery feeling and smooth, but overall every single eyeshadow in this is good, the least good ones are the copper which is not as pigmented as the rest and the first taupe is very pale for such a shade. 

Shades:

5 shades are matte: 1st - the classic vanilla, 4th - a light taupe that might not show on deeper skin tones than mine, 5th - a medium taupe with a super smooth texture and great pigmentation, 8th - another super smooth formula in a peachy shade and 9th - a deep warm brown than can be applied much more sheer/light and it will still look opaque.

The other four are shimmers: a lovely light champagne, a pale bronze or a deeper champagne, a reddish copper (this one need a bit more building up) and a gold that leans to copper.

Staying power:  My eyelids aren't oily, so most stuff lasts well without a base, these included. They don't crease and last pretty well in a slightly faded version to the end of the day. 

Packaging: The closing system works fine and I like the general design. However, when I first opened it, one of the eyeshadows just fell out in one piece. Luckily it didn't shatter and just placed it back. I've actually seen several palettes is the shops with eyeshadow falling out in the same way, so Essence needs to get on that pronto. 

Price and availability: I bought mine in Müller for 4.39 €.

Have a great day!