FAQ

essence cosmetics can be purchased online here at essencemakeup.com, the official online source for essence in the US! Additionaly, essence cosmetics is available on Ulta, Target, CVS, Shoppers Drug Mart, Meijer and Amazon. Check out our Store Finder to find your nearest retail location!

We value quality instead of expensive advertising. We do not create expensive print or tv advertising with models or celebrities, instead we invest in the development of high-quality, innovative products at a constant level. We prove every day that trend awareness and excellent quality is not a question of price

We are so sorry for the disappointment. One of the great things about essence cosmetics is that we are constantly updating our beauty trends so you can too! Unfortunately, due to the vast array we are unable to keep all products in our line up. But we’d love to hear from you about your favorite item. Please send email to hello@essencemakeup.com and let us know what product you are looking for. You never know what you may see in the future.

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When permission is granted, essencemakeup.com saves account information when the user elects to create an account. Without this granted permission, information is not stored or saved except to process a submitted order with the pertinent information, i.e. billing and shipping delivery information and the ordered product(s). essencemakeup.com does not keep credit card information.

We want you to be satisfied with your essencemakeup.com purchase. You may return or exchange essencemakeup.com merchandise for a 100% money-back guarantee, within 60 days of your order. Online purchase returns will receive a refund of the price of the product and any applicable taxes issued in the original form of payment used to purchase the item. To start your return/exchange, please send your items back to 55 5th Ave New York NY 10003 Suite 1601. Please include your order number in the returned package. Shipping costs will not be refunded. Return labels are at the expense of the customer. Please note that returns and exchanges will be processed within one week from the time the tiesm are received at our warehouse.

Our website is strictly for direct to consumer purchases and we are not currently accepting any new wholesale partners.

Sales tax is applied to orders shipping to New York or New Jersey

Please allow 72 business hours for processing of standard/ground delivery hours. If standard shipping is selected, please expect your order to arrive in 3 – 10 business days once processed. Expedited shipping is available for an additional cost. These orders will ship next day if placed by 2pm ET Monday - Friday. Orders placed on holidays or weekends will ship the next shipping period. *ATTENTION: PLEASE NOTE THAT ORDERS PLACED DURING A SALE OR OTHER PEAK PERIODS MAY RESULT IN SLIGHT DELAYS TO PROCESSING DUE TO HIGH VOLUME. BUT DON’T FRET. WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO GET YOUR GOODIES OUT TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Once your order is carefully packed and shipped, you will be emailed the tracking information for your order. Please allow up to 24 hours from the arrival of your email for shipping details to be updated on the shipping website.

You can contact us by sending email to hello@essencemakeup.com. Please know that our hours are Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm ET. We are closed weekends and holidays.

essencemakeup.com accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB and Diner’s Club.

If you wish to cancel or edit your order, please contact customer service as soon as possible by sending email to hello@essencemakeup.com. We will do all we can to make the changes requested to your order however please know that once an order has begun processing, it is unable to changed or canceled.

essence cosmetics is owned by Cosnova Beauty from Germany where animal testing for cosmetic products has not been permitted since 1998. All of essence products comply with the European and American ingredient, manufacturing, and testing standards. Our suppliers are also held to these same standards and we only partner with the ones that do not test on animals.

In the European Union, the sale of cosmetics products that have been tested on animals has been prohibited since 2004. The cosmetic industries of various countries of the European union have voluntarily refrained from doing so since1989. And since 2009, products with ingredients that have been tested on animals, especially for cosmetic purposes, are also forbidden. The transitional period ended in 2013. This means that by law, any cosmetics product marketed in the European union is free of animal testing. this applies also to all products marketed by essence globally. But there’s another important fact you need to know: the so-called REACH regulation (registration, evaluation & authorization of chemicals) came into force in 2009. This regulation covers chemical policy requirements, which say that all ingredients must be proven to be safe – no matter whether they are well-known or brand new, synthetic or natural. in this case, “safe” means that the ingredients in the finished product will not lead to any negative health effects upon application. Nowadays, the cosmetics industry implements alternative testing methods instead of testing on animals. Alternative tests are in-vitro-tests – i.e. tests without live organisms! By the way, “in vitro” is latin and means “in a glass”. But – and this is a big “but”: many cosmetic ingredients are also used for other purposes. Almond oil, for example, is often used in cosmetics but it is also used for manufacturing other products such as pharmaceuticals. By law, medical ingredients can and must still be tested on animals to prove that they are safe for use. At least if no authorized alternative test is available. Such ingredients may later also be used in cosmetics. The important thing is: ingredients are not allowed to be tested on animals especially for cosmetics purposes. If your head isn’t spinning yet, you can read more about it here: In English: https://www.cosmeticseurope.eu/

testing on animals is a no-go for essence. We do not conduct animal testing and do not commission anyone else to do so either. Not in the European union or anywhere else in the world. We never have and we never will. the contracts with our clients state that they must manufacture products in compliance with European union law, which strictly prohibits testing on animals. To us, this is a matter of course – and always has been on a voluntary basis – because we know that we can manufacture good and safe products without torturing animals. In the cosmetics industry, alternative tests have been used for many years instead of testing on animals. However, it is practically impossible to prove that a cosmetics product is totally free of animal testing. This applies without exception. This is because the ingredients may, for example (as already mentioned in question 1), have already been tested on animals for medical purposes. If there is no alternative method available, the pharmaceuticals industry still has to test on animals by law. Also, other laws apply for suppliers in countries outside of the European union. So it could happen that an ingredient has been tested on animals somewhere in the world – but since 2013, not for a cosmetics company that markets its products in Europe. Then there are the raw materials that have been tested on animals in the past. Some even decades ago when animal testing was still legal. Although we are in no way responsible for these tests, they cannot be undone. Many of these raw materials are still used in cosmetics – including for brands that have never conducted or commissioned testing on animals themselves. Because we are strictly against testing on animals, it is extremely important to us to explain these details! Luckily, work is underway to stop animal testing in all industries and countries as soon as possible and replace it with alternative testing methods. However, these methods have to be legally approved before they can replace animal testing. this is a real scientific challenge, which many companies are already facing with great commitment.

There’s nothing to worry about! To begin, there are the chemical policy requirements, which require proof of safety for all ingredients. For every product marketed in the European Union, the safety of each product is confirmed by trained specialists. Furthermore, we make use of alternative testing methods and commission laboratories to carry out in-vitro tests – this kind of testing is conducted in test tubes without live organisms. So you can enjoy your essence products without worrying about your safety!

No, we do not conduct testing on animals for these products either! Firstly, because we don’t want to, and secondly, because we would not be allowed to sell these products in Europe for legal reasons!