The Essentials Eye Palette comes in a sturdy cardboard case. The front flap has beautiful illustrations of NYC buildings with pretty shiny silver embossings. The inside has a large mirror and slots for the brush and pencil. The palette has a magnet closure.
The duo-ended brush is nicely made; one side has a fluffy shader brush and the other a smaller shader brush.
 |
| The Essentials Eye Palette |
 |
| The Essentials Eye Palette |
The Essentials Eye Palette includes a total of twelve shade. There is a nice variation of finishes but the overall color scheme is very neutral and easy-to-wear.
Uptown: Satin-y ivory with subtle shimmers; this shade works great as a inner and brow highlight.
District: Subtle mauve-y rose shimmer. The formulation is very creamy and smooth.
City Hall: Pale nude beige matte, this shade barely shows up on my skin, partly due to the sheer pigmentation and partly due to the fact its very close to my skin tone. However, this makes a great blending color.
Urban: Pale greige matte, nice and smooth pigmentation.
Rush Hour: Soft brown nude, this shade has amazing formulation and the color looks really good on its own swiped all across the lid.
Plaza: A slightly more khaki version of Urban, Plaza is a nice and soft matte. The formulation feels a bit powdery but I have no issues with too much fallouts.
 |
| The Essentials Eye Palette |
Industry: This is a grey shimmer that for some reason photographed really blue. This shade is quite sheer and is really mostly just sparkles.
Metro: This is a pretty light copper brown metallic. The color isn't as intense as I would like but it's very flattering.
Brownstone: A gorgeous dark chocolate brown satin, the formulation of this shade is a dream, so buttery and blendable.
Hub: Super pretty taupe-y brown shimmer, this one is very pigmented and buttery.
Facade: This is a dark bluish black matte. The formulation of this one isn't great, I find the color to be patchy and sheer.
 |
| The Essentials Eye Palette |
Here is my favorite look I've tried using the palette. I used Rush Hour all over the lid, Metro in the middle of the lid, Brownstone on the crease and outer corner and Uptown as the highlight.
 |
| A simple day look using The Essential Eye Palette |
This is a very wearable neutral palette with some nice variation in shades and finishes. The Cargo formulation is soft and creamy but it's thin and not as buttery as some other brands well known for their shadows (ie. Urban Decay). Hence the shadows may come off a bit more powdery (best applied with your fingertips, in my opinion) but with that said most of the shades have great color payoff and high blendability. Overall I really like this palette, the good ratio of shimmers to mattes make me very happy as well!
Availability:
Cargo is available at London Drugs, Murale, Lawton Drugs and Rexall.
