Literal Meaning:
* The essence of vanilla bean is what gives the cake its delicious flavor.
* The chemist extracted the essence of the flower to create a perfume.
* The artist captured the essence of the model's beauty in her painting.
Figurative Meaning:
* The essence of happiness is found in simple pleasures.
* The poem explores the essence of human existence.
* The teacher's words revealed the essence of the lesson.
Other Examples:
* The essence of the argument was that the government should invest more in public education.
* She was the essence of grace and elegance.
* He missed the essence of what I was trying to say.
The use of "essence" depends on the context of your sentence and the meaning you want to convey.