From May 12th until July 15th 2017, the Essence Maker Shop is happening in Berlin. It’s a wonderful lipgloss / nailpolish maker shop close to the very busy touristy spot of Hackeschermarkt. Last Friday, I went there with my friend Maggie (who is a makeup artist at Cappeletti Studio whom we interviewed and did fun things with before) and Jobina from Unleashing Miracles.
I actually went there twice, the first time in May by chance as my curiousity got a hold on me and I was passing by the area. There was nobody in the line and I just walked in the shop and checked it out. I soon realized it’s one that’s more fun when you go with your beauty enthusiast twinds!
The Essence Maker Shop in Berlin review
As Maggie is a makeup artist, I asked her before we started what kind of color should we do in a maker shop like this? We decided I would go with creating a perfect nude color, which is either a shade lighter or darker than your lips, with a hint of pink. The second color would be the crazy color that you rarely could find in a store. Like a blue or green!
With that in mind, we ventured into the shop. It costs 3 euros to create a lipgloss or a nailpolish, you have to pay first at the cashier, and they will give you a coin to redeem the products.
You’ve to put your belongings in a locker (which make sense when you think everything is full of pigments and paints, you don’t want your stuff to get dirty). The essence team will lend you a lab coat, glasses, and gloves. We totally rocked this look!
Creating a Glossy Lipgloss
In the lipgloss maker shop, you can create two kinds of lipglosses, a glossy or a matte one. We started with the glossy one first!
There is a color chart in the room on the basics of creation of colors. The first time I had it pointed out to me, the second time I realized Maggie is a painter who knows how to mix colors, so we relied on her expertise instead!
We got a tiny mixing pot to create the colors we wanted, and we could also try it on to see if it’s the perfect color we want! This is a serious business!
After you’re satisfied with the color, you can of course add the glitter! I’m linking the instagram post here for the video 😉
Creating a Matte Lipgloss
The matte lipgloss is trickier to create, as the colors are more like pastes that you need to get from a jar and mix them. It is, however, more satisfying to mix and stir!
Jobina was aiming for a shade better than MAC Ruby Woo, so that’s what we created with a lot of tests in between!
Before we put the lipstick in the tube, we also get to add a scent. We get to choose from coconut, caramel, pineapple, but basically either sweet or fruity.
The final step of this is putting it into a tube!
Creating a Nailpolish
You also can create your own shade of nail polish (which was not functioning when we are there on Friday 30.06.). Actually they haven’t managed to send me my nail polish that I created in May. Hmm… anyhow the nail polish station was supposed to work like this: you scan the color you’d like as the shade of nail polish, and then the machine will mix it for you.
The Result
Here are the two lipglosses I created that day, one is a nude tone, and one actually a coral pink, which I never could find a good shade for myself before.
And here are a pic of me, Maggie and Jobina wearing our glosses (I wear the nude brown, Jobina wears the purple gloss). I know, in the end I didn’t create that crazy color. Next time!
Afterthoughts
TL;DR: It’s such a fun experience to have. I’d totally recommend it to anyone who is into colors and makeup!
From the price point is really cheap and affordable, most likely because the target group are young teenagers (aka people half my age, lol). The downside is that the maker-shop gets really crowded (they do limit the number of people who can be in there, but that means usually a long line waiting to get in).
Now texture-wise, I find the glosses are the wet kinds. It’s not sticky, and it stays on quite a while on your lips. So, not the best, but not the worst either. Plus if you actually mix it with the scent you like, it’s then the perfect tasting lip gloss!
For the mattes, it a comfortable matte, more creamy and not drying, but I’d imagine it would slip easily on your lips. Which would result in a joker face when eating a burger or chicken wings. Again, not a huge fault (for some), and totally manageable for parties where you just drink bubbles like we did!
That’s so much fun Astrid! Shame about the nail varnishes but the glosses look nice. In any case, I think the experience matters more here than the actual product, although it’s always good when you like what you create too. x