The Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot are questionable, but the monster who steals socks from the dryer? — totally real. And he has a side job stealing lipsticks from legal assistants who ride the bus to work. For serious!
Back when I worked in one of San Francisco’s cubicle jungles, I used to ride the 38AX Geary Express to work, and on more than one occasion, somewhere between the time I’d step out of my apartment and sit down at my desk at work, I’d lose at least one tube of lipstick.
It was the weirdest thing! — like I was being targeted by a makeup pickpocket.
But now I know the truth: monster. 🙂
The silver lining to being the frequent victim of a makeup monster was that it gave me an excuse to go to one of the four Walgreens stores near work to get a tube of “emergency lipstick.”
I wish these Essence Lipsticks had been around back then because, GURL, they’re kind of amazing (and only $2.49 each)!
These cuties come in 10 colors, some with matte and some with shimmer finishes. Each one comes in a tube the same color as the lipstick inside, which actually really helps locate a particular color. The packaging feels pretty sturdy, too, which is a nice change of pace from the flimsy lipstick packaging that many budget lines use.
Right now I’m stuck on Kiss You, a shimmery cool pink with silver glitter. The consistency’s thin, and wear time is only about three hours, but that’s fairly typical of a lipstick that isn’t billed as long wearing.
Kiss You has a lightweight, smooth, slick texture that feels wonderful on my lips, and based on the reviews on ulta.com, the other colors should, too. I don’t mind the faint vanilla flavor and scent, but for the record, both of them fade fast.
Kiss You also layers well, so it’s easy to take from sheer up to opaque coverage, but no matter how many layers I wear, it doesn’t dry out my lips.
Oh, and have I mentioned that these are just $2.49 each?
$2.49!
I think it feels and looks more expensive than it actually is, and it even kinda reminds me of a pinky/silver version of Urban Decay’s Midnight Cowboy Lipstick.
TOTALLY. CAN’T. WAIT to try more shades.
Yet another home run for Essence. 🙂
PRICE: $2.49 each
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Fred Meyer stores, HED and Ulta stores, and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
The only thing I can say is that my fit-to-bursting lipstick drawer needs to make some room for these pretties!
I’m in love with these, too! I only have Creamy Nude, but it’s so nice. Peachy-apricot-brown. It’s a really good nude shade for me. For $2.49, I can’t beat it!
I have Creamy Nude and although I don’t wear lipstick too often, I reach for this one a lot. And I claim to not like nudes either! I really need to pick up more of these!
Kiss Me is such a sweet shade! For $2.49, it’s just amazing. And Essence always has some great products for their low pric tag.
Not even 3 bucks? IM SOLD Lol. Thanks Karen!!
This looks perfect for someone like me, who likes stickgloss more than a real, opaque lipstick.
I picked up one of Essence’s eyeshadow brushes the last time I was at Ulta, too–I figured I needed a small crease brush, and for $2.50, I couldn’t go wrong. And you know what? I didn’t. Size is perfect, bristles are nice synthetic quality, and the ferrule is of good quality. All in all…rock on, Essence. I’ll compare it against a high-end brush when I can lay out the money for one–my only other good crease brush is a bigger one. Karen, if you’d stick Essence brushes up against MAC, I’d be interested to hear what you think!
That lipstick is lovely!!! I’m not even a lipstick gal and I might give it a whirl the next time I’m at Ulta. I can’t really be upset even if I don’t like it if it was under 3 bucks! I love this minimal-summery makeup look on you by the way, so pretty!
Essence sure got the ball rolling! I’m happy to hear they have another good product. Doesn’t hurt that they’re pretty cheap! I gotta get my paws on some of these babies 🙂
It’s refreshing how you give such unbiased reviews, and even more so how you appreciate a good deal. Some other bloggers will try as hard as they can to find things that are wrong with products just because the product isn’t higher end. You’re fantastic!
I have Coralize Me and it’s almost a dupe for my $28 Dior Diorissime. Such a good deal!
Ulta’s having a sale now. Will grab!
You look amazing as always, Karen! I wish we had an Ulta here in Canada. Bummer:(
Anyways, can you kindly share what you used for your FOTD? Thank you in advance!
I like summery and light makeup looks, especially in this heat where I can’t really be bothered to slather on a ton of stuff on my face:)
yayyy! thanks for the review!
i got the gel liners and was looking at these lippies (the price, helloooo!!!), and wasnt sure if they were any good!
Oh these are so pretty, and $2.49 – wow! Thank you for the info, I’ve added several to my virtual basket 🙂
So pretty! I hope you swatch more shades!
Thank you for turning me on to this brand! The Ulta I usually go to has a tiny Essence section waaay in the back, which I rarely passed and when I did it was was an easy display to overlook. Turns out that many of their products work really well for me. (And of course, the price is a huge selling point :D)
These are AWESOME, and Essence makes some fiiiine lip liner as well for only $.99! I have 2 backups of Soft Rose, as it’s the nude lip liner I’ve been waiting for my whole life. Red Blush is my other favorite.
I have this in N53 All About Cupcake, annd I really love it! Unfortunately I couldn’t find another shade that I like from the range…
You should try XXXL nudes lip gloss in toffee forever. It’s perfect nude. And the best part is… It smells like real toffee. Yummy 🙂
Aren’t these great! I’d bought the Creamy Nude shade a while ago and didn’t really think much about buying more. A darker-skinned girlfriend of mine uses Fairy Tale as a go-to natural color and it looks fantastic! I feel a trip to Ulta coming on… 😉
-Laura
newshine.onsugar.com
Love the shade! Thanks for sharing!
I am now a follower of your wonderful blog and would love to see you on Glamarama too! 🙂
What good value! And looks like there are some really wearable shades there.
Wow! These sound great! And the price is unbeatable! Too bad we don’t have an Ulta here in Hawaii. Gotta check their website. Hopefully shipping is reasonable! I would love to try these lippies out!
I have most of these lipsticks and they are just rock solid awesome! Creamy Nude is a wonderful nude color for myself without it looking like concealer lips. I love these finishes too. 🙂
Such a great deal, I’ve actually never heard of this brand but will definitely be trying it!
I bought Fairytale, wanted to buy Femme Fatale but they were out. Also bought XXL Gloss in True love. Not a lot of staying power, but really pretty, alone and together. Thanks for the recommendation!
I love these! I have three of them and I keep going back to the drugstore to buy one every once in a while… it’my obsession. I have Look at me! (which is my all-time favourite lippie, a gorgeous plummy-brownish rosewood… it’s not your average nude lipstick, but I wear this one the most, because this is the shade which looks best with my skintone), All about Cupcake (which is a perfect light warmer creamy pink) and Glamour Queen (a berry-toned brown… which is said to be glittery, but thank God the glitter is almost non-observable, finely “milled”)… <3.
You have to try red carpet. It’s the most gorgeous color!
I Totally agree! I love these lipsticks! <3 I am fair skinned, so I can get nervous with lipsticks (Who isn't) I decided that I wanted to try a plum and picked up the fairytale! I love the color and application! It is such a beautiful purple with a bit of silver shimmer! Wonderful. I love the essence line because it is so cheep, but so well done! I wish their products were more readily available!