Today I come to you with a beauty review that is so overdue it's best if we pretend I meant to delay it this long. I'm a long time fan of essence products, even though with Essence it's honestly a case of hit and miss, so when essence released lipsticks I was a sceptic, to say the least. I can't seem to resist a red lipstick though so I grabbed not one, but two shades of red lipstick and a matte lipgloss to complete the threesome! It may seem excessive but anyone who's seen me out and about knows that I'm all about red. I love how white and bright the colour makes your teeth look and the instant pop of colour it brings to your features, livening them up and making you look like you've put in tons more of an effort than you actually have in some cases. I tried the colours out on myself throughout my six week vac and I have to say I loved the results. 

#03 Dare to Wear: 

This is the first lipstick I tried on and I have to say I'm obsessed. The product gives a good shine and is smooth and covers the lips in a deep red within a few swipes. I like to think of this red as being more of an everyday shade of red because it's not so bright and jarring but is a nice way to brighten the face (at least that's what I have to be thinking so intently in the picture below). I definitely will be reaching for this shade of red more often.

#02 All You Need is Red:

I agree with the name of this lipstick but I don't agree with its coverage. It was a lot more difficult to get this lipstick to cover my lips and in fact I have to mix it with a bit of the darker red shade when I wore it out. I was disappointed with the inconsistent results and all I can hazard a guess and say is that with the lighter colours it wasn't possible for them to make a formula thick enough to cover the lip adequately. 

#07 Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss with Matte Effect:

I have to give credit where credit is due. I usually hate lipgloss because most tend to be sticky and gross but when I saw the words 'Matte Effect' I was drawn to the product. I've been wanting to get my hands on Mac's Ruby Woo for ages and thought this could be a nice precursor to that to see how I would like it. For Matte Effect I give this product a 7 and for colour a 6. It did the same thing as the #02 because it didn't cover my lips entirely so I will have to mixing this with a matte lipstick in future to get the proper effect.

While I wasn't 100% impressed with the results the products give as good as they've got for their affordable price. It's an inexpensive way to try out a lip colour before committing to a shade from Mac or Chanel and for that I applaud Essence for bringing us another affordable way to access makeup.

Have you tried the essence lipsticks? If so, what did you think?

I have been away a while but I hope to be back soon!

Yours In Style

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