Review - Essence gel tint in Deep red

Hi Beauts.

A few weeks ago I noticed a few beauty bloggers writing posts about the brand Essence hitting some Wilkinsons stores in the UK. If I'm honest, I hadn't really heard much about the brand, but after trawling the Internet for a wee while I spotted a few things that looked good. 

The nearest Wilkinsons to me that stocks Essence is Sunderland, so I headed over there to check out their selection. 

Along with eyeliners, lipsticks, blushes, mascara's etc, I spotted the gel tint which looked pretty unusual. I've tried lip tints before some I've like and some not so much, but never a gel formula.

I picked up the shade Deep red as I thought it'd be perfect for the Christmas season. In the actual tube it looks to be just that, a deep red. However when swatched it's more of a pink toned red and when applied to the lips it's even lighter.

(12:00pm when I applied)

The formula is very much like a gel (true to its name) and I found the application smooth, but a little messy. It had quite a thin sheer consistency and I needed to apply three coats to get the above colour.  It remained a little tacky on the lips for a good half hour then once dry it barely felt like there was anything on the lips.

After around an hour I noticed the colour started to fade, and left a lighter pinky red behind - still pretty but not as vibrant. This didn't feel at all drying on my lips, and didn't seem to stick to any dry spots/fine lines which other lip tints have.

The colour completely wore off after 4 hours, still pretty good going for the price if you ask me.

Quick run down:

Light pinky red lip stain with a gel like formula. Leaves the lips feeling slightly tacky then dries after around 30 minutes. Not very long lasting - fades slightly within an hour put still a pretty shade. Also smells strangely of strawberry jam.....I'll leave that thought with y'all ;P

* Price - £1.99

* Product - 5ml

* Shades - 4

Have you tried anything from Essence? What products would you recommend? 

Stacey x

e.l.f jumbo lip gloss stick in Movie Star

Hi Beauts.

Hands up, who else is a big fan of elf? I've bought quite a few products from them and I don't think I've been disappointed yet.

A new product to me is their Jumbo lipgloss stick and I bought mine in the shade 'Movie star' which is a gorgeous red.

This is pretty much the same as any other jumbo pencil lip product in that you twist the bottom of the pencil to get more product out of the top. The packaging is simple - usual white elf packaging, with a clear lid - but I really like it. I think it's simple and sleek, and the colour on the bottom of the pencil is pretty much what you get.

On applying this i noticed it had a medicinal scent, which to be honest I'm not 100% keen on. It smells similar to the Revlon just bitten kissable balm stains. The application itself was smooth to apply, and pretty opaque. I did apply 2 coats of this so it's definitely buildable if you want a more intense colour.

Lets talk lasting power:

(Please excuse the last picture, it was getting dark outside so I had to use a lamp, and my make up had eventually worn off)

As you can see from the above photos I got a pretty good run with this. From 3pm to 5pm the colour only faded slightly and the reason for it fading completely at 6:25pm is due to the fact I'd just eaten. 

This doesn't claim to be a stain, so I'm not going to complain about it wearing off. I'm pretty impressed with how long it lasted. I'd say the finish was a little glossy but not over the top and it reminded me more of a lipstick than a lipgloss. This didn't dry out my lips in the slightest bit, even when it had completely worn off my lips still felt moisturised.

Other than the smell, I really enjoyed this and shall be looking to add more shades to my collection. One can never have too many lip products right?

Have you tried these yet? What did you think? 

More elf reviews:

My top elf products - here

Waterproof eyliner review - here

All over color stick in Pink lemonade - here

Where to buy elf:

elf website - here

Stacey x