Been a while since I did one of these, huh?
But here we are again, with a new Essence limited edition, this time, focused on... Polly Pocket?
I must be completely honest: I have no idea what Polly Pocket is. Researching into it, it seems to be a toy from Mattel that was launched all the way back in 1989. Call me a "boomer" but these were never available here in Croatia, I don't think so.
If you know what Polly Pocket is, feel free to skip this paragraph. These were inch-tall dolls packaged with whole "scenes", like a house or what-have-you, that you opened up and then could play with the set. Like the set on the left; see how there's a doll on a scooter and one in her beach cabana. Quite a fun concept, and I can see how this would make people want to collect all the various sets. I remember seeing similar toys in adverts when I was a child, but that was Littlest Pet Shop, I think.
So, that said, this collection does not interest me one bit. But just because my wallet is marked 'safe' from this LE doesn't mean I won't give you guys an overview! So let's go!
This is a medium-largeish limited edition, containing 9 items. More than the previous limited edition (Yee Haw!), which had 7 items. Looking at the items, there's representation for the eyes, the face, the lips (as is traditional for Essence) and, of course, filler. For the face, there's a Colour-Changing Blush Stick, a Highlighter, and a Setting Spray; ughh not pH-reacting stuff again... The eyes only have one Eyeshadow Palette and that's it. For the lips, there's more variety: a Peptide Lip Mask, and 3 variants of Keychain Lip Gloss. And then, there's the obvious filler: Make-up Bag (useful!), Scented Nail Stickers (eh), and... a Hair Comb??? Ummm... okay I guess??? All the colours are very Y2K, very pastel and shimmery and just not me, but that's okay, I am more than satisfied with the Yee Haw! LE.
Base is first, aka, the face. Here, we have a Colour-Changing Blush Stick, a Highlighter, and a Setting Spray. Not a lot tbh. But at least it's something to add some colour to the face.
The Highlighter... ah, that component looks familiar to me! This is the exact same little cubical case that the So Bowtiful LE had, though there isn't a mirror inside this one. I always thought this was an adorable way to package a highlighter! But it can be surprisingly easy to damage the highlighter accidentally - be careful!! This colour is too dark for me, I can already tell. It looks like a darker rose gold, so it will be good for light and medium skintones. Cute.
And finally, for the face, there's a Setting Spray. Enriched with coconut water, this should be hydrating. Essence claim that it gives you a "fresh and radiant complexion" and that it has a luminous finish. Yeah... nope, not for me. My skin is already way too oily and "luminous" naturally. But I can see how this would be nice for drier skin types! As for how much it actually sets makeup? Ehhh...
Let's go to the eyes, which only get an Eyeshadow Palette. But what a cute design! Apparently, when you open the palette, there is a pop-up element with the dolls that pops up and then you pull out a drawer which is where the eyeshadows actually are. How clever! And it fits the theme of Polly Pocket so well! But, the most interesting part is definitely the case itself.
I'm sure there was a more creative colour story they could have used that still went with the whole Polly Pocket theme. This is just boring. And the icy blue scares me.
Now, the lips! There's something for a bit of gloss (Keychain Lip Gloss), and something for a bit of care (Peptide Lip Mask). Nice idea: first care for the lips and then apply a lipgloss on top.
So, the Peptide Lip Mask... wow, what a bright green colour! It sure grabs your attention! There's a handy mirror inside, with a Polly Pocket doll in front of it... hope this can be removed because it's really in the way. There's a little applicator that will make it that much more hygienic to apply; the applicator looks almost the same as the one in Catrice's Midnight Sun LE... I suppose it, too, has a tiny compartment somewhere to store it like the Catrice lip mask.
It may be called 'Peptide Lip Mask' but does it actually have peptides? Yes. One. That still counts I guess. It's got a mix of occlusives in it (shea butter, almond oil, meadowfoam oil), as well as hyaluronic acid, so it could be a decent lip mask. It certainly sounds like it could repair lips and keep them from drying out. I would try it out if Polly Pocket interested me. I'm quite intrigued. Also - apple scent and flavour, YUM! Ooh, I love apple scented gummy candy!
And now, the item that will probably be sold out faster than you can say 'glossy', the Keychain Lipglosses, in 3 variants. Same scent (strawberry - could be nauseatingly sweet), but different colours. Available in a bright pink, peach, and... lavender? Now, that's different! I would go straight for that one if I was getting these. Essence lipglosses are probably their hero product, so it's no surprise that damn near every LE comes with their own variant of the Juicy Bomb lipgloss. However, good luck trying to buy these! I can already see little girls swarming shops just to grab these... The lipglosses have argan oil and vitamin E, but who are we kidding? Most kids will buy these for the keychain, not because they want something hydrating or nourishing for their lips... sigh.
The first variant is bright fuchsia. I don't think it would be quite that intense on the lips, though, but it should add some healthy flush to the lips. Very girly, classic colour; it seems to have lighter pink shimmer in it as well. This could look very nice on the lips! Also, love the purple heart accessory! So cute!
Second variant is a bright peach. Better suited to darker skintones than pale, as these kinds of colours often look kinda jaundiced on my kind of skintone. But it should be awesome on darker skin! I'm sure it will look dazzling! It's got almost golden shimmer? Nice! Lil bow as the accessory, how quaint!
That was all the actually useful stuff. Now it's time for everybody's favourite category - say it with me: FILLER! Wooo.... look, I know that there needs to be some filler to round out collections but here, it is pretty evident they were reaching, trying to figure what stuff they could throw at the wall and have it hopefully stick. I can get behind a makeup bag, and nail stickers is something Essence has been adding to LEs for ages now (also, it's so cute to stick lil stickers on your nails ngl), but I mean... a hair comb??? What?? This is the same energy as Catrice adding that flimsy hair clip to the Desert Dune LE...
Secondly, the Scented Nail Stickers. Scented like what? Ah... like candy. I would prefer that apple scent tbh. Candy scents can easily become sickeningly sweet (like Klavocin/Augmentin, as I like to say). The designs of the stickers are soooo adorable! I love the little stars and bows! And there's something so adorable about having 'HAPPY' or 'CUTE' spelled out with that chunky font. I love them! I miiiight add these to my growing collection of bow-themed nail stickers, hmm... maybe!
"With wide, smooth teeth, it detangles effortlessly, without pulling, without breaking hair, even on wavy, curly, or thick hair."
Umm... where is thin hair in that statement??? So yeah, I call BS on it "effortlessly detangling" hair. I've tried these kinds of combs before and all they did was create a bird's nest on my head from how tangled up the hairs were. Look, no comb is appropriate for every single type and texture of hair, that's a fact.
I've learned a long time ago that pretty much the only kind of hair comb/brush that works for my thin but very dense hair is a Tangle Teezer; it doesn't cause unnecessary stress to my hair even when it is detangling a knot so I see no reason why I should try this comb. Although, it must be said that its marbled appearance and heart shape are cute. But I somehow doubt that it's a good quality comb, just saying... especially after seeing how flimsy and easy-to-break the Catrice Desert Dune hair clip was... Also, no way that is ergonomic and/or comfortable to hold, it looks like carpal tunnel syndrome or, at the very least, a cramp, just waiting to happen... because you have to hold it with a tight grip or a claw grip and neither is good for the wrist joint. Smh.
Woo - at the end at last! Well, this was certainly an interesting LE, catered to a certain audience that doesn't include me this time. This is good, means that I can focus on the new A/W arrivals from Catrice instead. I don't really have many things to say here because I just flat-out don't care about Polly Pocket., sorry I'm sure, to those of you who grew up with this toy line, this LE will awaken a special kind of nostalgia but to me, nostalgia is flat-lining with this. Like, it's cute, for sure, but it might just be too cute, even. Like, it's too... idk, childish? to me. This looks like it's catered to like 8-10 year olds. I'm all about having fun no matter your age but this just screams "kid's makeup" to me with its design. Perhaps the products are actually incredibly good - maybe - but they don't serve the same kind of not-childish cute/adorable or even expensive as some other LEs have. So I'll pass, thank you very much.
So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this look into the newest Essence LE that I am sure will fly off the shelves as soon as it hits stores. But instead of eagerly awaiting this LE, I shall focus on writing my thoughts about the autumn/winter new arrivals from Catrice - yup, it's that time of the year already! Time truly does fly! I really need to lock the F in with that! So, farewell!
See you soon!
Maja
Maja
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