Essence Soft Contouring Lipliner

Essence's previous version of classic lipliners were some of the most liked lip pencils in the drugstore and praised for their softness, so it came as quite a surprise that they discontinued them. Some shades were probably part of the line for probably the longest out of all their products (impressive considering they usually last no more than a year) and they switched the entire line with these called Soft Contouring. I haven't seen many reviews about these, so I'm not sure how fans of these reacted, but I disliked the previous version and find these a big improvement.

Texture: The first version of their lipliners was very creamy and smudgy, so getting a crisp line was impossible, however, they were a nice substitute for a lipstick because you could fill in the entire lips without that drying, chalky feeling. The new soft contouring ones are still creamy and easy to apply, but now they are a lot more waxy, so they don't move or smudge and you don't need to constantly sharpen them either. You can still colour the entire lips and it feels fine, so I'm pretty happy with the change because now they remember my favourite Bourjois formula, except these are much cheaper.

06 under my skin

06 under my skin is a mid toned peachy-pink shade. Like always imagine this shade lighter on yourself if you're darker than NC/W10, but it's a deeper version of Catrice's I got You Babel. I really like this shade for my colouring on its own and it combines well with the shades I wear.

 05 melt your heart

05 melt your heart is a red that's got some rusty vibe and it's not a vibrant version of the shade. 

Staying power: Just like the previous versions, these don't have a great staying power. I don't want to do an estimate in hours, but I can say that they don't last thought eating, survive drinking relatively ok and it's very easy to wipe off. But that's their only minus and if you didn't mind that at the old version, you won't mind it at this either.

Price and availability: These cost 1.19 € in drugstores, I bought mine in Müller.

Overall I'm happy with the new version of Essence lipliner and will probably get a shade or two, though most of the colour aren't that pretty. 

Posted in: Skincare