essence is one of those brands that I used to love a couple of years back because their products are so affordable, but as I’m getting older, I just don’t find myself in the extra colorful and often mediocre quality products. Not to bash the brand, because I think they’re great for teens who don’t have much money to spend on makeup and who don’t need extra coverage products or very pigmented eyeshadows that can be more difficult to work with. Plus, they have very cute packaging.

That being said, I decided to share with you my opinion on essence lipglosses. The problem with essence it that they have very few permanent makeup products in their line and they release all kind of collections. Therefore, I think that all the lipglosses I have were limited editions and are already discontinued. However, I do think that, given the similarities in their formula, I can only assume that most if not all of their lipglosses have the same quality and characteristics.

essence XXL Shine Lipgloss

The oldest gloss I have, that I also try to finish up, has no longer writing on the tube because it wore off, so I don’t know exactly what it’s called, but after a quick search on Google I think it’s safe to assume it’s a lipgloss from their XXL Shine line. I have the shade 34 Poppy Red, which is exactly how it sounds, a red gloss with some orange undertones.

It has a nice smell and a long wand, with a thin wand. The color is the one I prefer the most out of all my essence glosses, because it’s sheer, so it gives you a hint of red for a natural look, especially during summer. I mostly used it applied over a pink lipstick because I find that pink shades just don’t look good on me, but in combination with this lipgloss, the mix somehow works.

What I don’t like about this lipgloss is that it seems to separate on the lips, it always seems to gather around the contour of my lips and the center looks almost bare. Plus, it’s sticky and I don’t like sticky lipglosses. I can get over colors that look sheerer on the lips than in the tube or over lasting time, but I need something that’s comfortable on the lips and that is not sticky.

essence Shine Shine Shine Wet Look lipgloss

This lipgloss was a complete miss for me, partially because it was my fault. The shade that I picked, 06 bright on! is one that has a prism-glow finish, which I think is similar to a metallic lipgloss. As much as I like the metallic look on others, I can’t pool it off. So I thought this was going to be a nude shade, but it’s a light brown, almost bronze. I wore it a little this summer when I was also a little tanned, but I still don’t like how it looks. The formula is also thicker than the one of the XXL Shine lipglosses and stickier.

The packaging is similar, just the tube has a rounder shape and the doe foot wand is a little wider.

essence Holo Wow! Dewy Lip Shine

Now that I think about it, this is my favorite color of all the three lipglosses. This is definitely a limited edition product, which is supposed to have a holo effect to it. I have mine in shade 02 butterfly flap,  which may seem to be clear at first sight, but it does have a little color to it. It’s a coraly lipgloss with fine glitter particles that change their color in light, from different shades of pink to pale blue. It looks gorgeous on bare lips and even applied over a lipstick.

However, my complaint is that it’s the stickiest of all so I have a hard time applying it. The tube is also very much smaller. It says on the packaging it contains only 2,3 ml, while the Shine Shine Shine one has 12 ml, and I think the XXL Shine is the same, given its size.

The first two lipglosses were made it Italy and this one in Taiwan, so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

All three lipglosses are priced around 2,5-4 euros, depending on where you buy it. While I do like the colors, I’m not crazy about the formula, so even if they’re very affordable, I think I won’t buy any more of them.

I tried to make some lip swatches, but I can’t take good pictures with my phone for the life of me. Instead, I think that the hand swatches can give you a pretty good idea about how they look like.

essence Wanted Sunset Dreamers lip peeling

Since I talked about the essence lipglosses I thought I should throw in the other lip product I have from this brand. It’s a lip peeling that was also part of a limited collection, I think. It’s in the shade 01 desert crush and it comes in a jar containing 4 grams. It has a raspberry scent and it costs around 2,5 euros.

I can’t find the ingredients anywhere, but to me, it seems like a mixture of something similar to vaseline and a sugar scrub. It works like a gentler lip scrub, meaning you apply it on the lips, leave it on for a few minutes and then you rub it off and remove dead skin flakes. I find it interesting that they made it so that it colors the lips like a tinted lip balm, but it’s not a product that you should suppose to keep on. It’s ok, it performs like any other lip peeling and it doesn’t have something special to it that I would go out of my way to repurchase it.