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NYX Slide On Lip Pencil [SLLP01 - Dark Soul] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - January 29, 2023

Alright, let’s start!

The first item from the NYX gift bag is the Slide On Lip Pencil, in the shade SLLP01/Dark Soul.
 
I already have one Slide On Lip Pencil, though in a much brighter shade! That one disappointed me, but that’s not going to affect my opinion of this liner, I promise! I was a bit miffed to see this liner in the bag, but the colour looked amazingly vampy and dark, so I thought I would like it. Let’s see how it compares to the other Slide On Pencil, and whether the advertising is true: “Slide on, glide on & definitely a turn on waterproof, extreme color lip liner (this lip liner is so good, the name had to be this long!)™”!
 

Packaging: this is a gel lip liner that looks like a normal pencil. The colour of the packaging matches the colour of the pencil itself. I like how the wood isn’t natural coloured but black, that’s so cool! And it goes so well with this shade, it looks goth! 
 
 
The text is white so that it stands out against the dark background. Good choice! The cap is black and closes so extremely tightly that I often struggle to open it, like, sometimes I can barely open it how tightly it is closed!

Source: nyxcosmetics.com

Ingredients: jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) seed oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. It’s also got rosin, which is relatively bad as it's not really used anymore (asthma & allergy risk). You’d think those oils would help make this lip pencil hydrating, or at least prevent it from drying out lips, but, as you will see, that’s not the case. The scent is relatively subtle, but it is kinda unpleasant. It smells waxy and plasticy, almost like it has gone bad; it’s definitely not the typical wooden smell that pencils usually have, even gel pencils. Indeed, it most likely has gone bad a long time ago; checking its batch code I found out it was manufactured roughly 6 and a half years ago! I mean, I know that these mystery bags are usually filled with old products with an ancient manufacture date, but this is just taking the piss! 6 and a half years! The expiration date is 24 months after opening, which is moot when you get a product that is more than 6 years old; it’s not like it’s gonna last 24 months when it is already that old.
 

 
The colour of this pencil is as beautiful as I was expecting it to be! It’s such a dramatic, vampy, intense dark wine red that looks especially great on pale skin! It’s such a broody, goth colour perfect for winter! It’s way more dark red than dark berry, so I’d say it’s most similar to wine. The name is quite fitting, is it not? Dark, vampy colour for dark souls!
 
 

The pigmentation is extremely intense and it is so dark and vampy! Its formula, however, is not comfortable to use, or wear. While it does glide on effortlessly across lips as promised, without any tugging at all, it ends up looking slightly uneven and patchy in certain areas. The pencil is super soft and deposits pigment evenly but it’s like it becomes kind of uneven as it dries. There are also very slight cracks visible if I smile or open my mouth. And it just looks dry on the centre of my lips. Also, the pigment collects on the inner centre on the lips, forming a clear border that is plainly visible when you talk and isn’t appealing at all. No matter how much I fill in that part it always ends up disappearing up to that border. Though there is one positive: despite being so soft, the pencil rarely breaks, even if you press harder with it. The texture is extremely matte. So much that it actually ends up looking more dry than velvety. It seems the advertising is true in this regard: it both glides and slides on, and is most definitely an extremely colour lip pencil.
 

This pencil isn’t the most comfortable to wear. It feels super, super dry on lips and there is some tackiness which just adds to how uncomfortable it feels. And because it tends to collect on the centre of the lips there’s a noticeably thicker layer of pigment there that just ends up feeling heavy and dry, so much that it starts to crack. I really don’t like this extremely dry formula, it’s just far too uncomfortable and it, as expected, dries out my lips significantly, and they feel slightly chapped after removing the pencil.
 

I will admit that it has excellent durability! It stays pretty much unchanged even hours after applying it; there isn’t any fading or smudging. The cracks don’t look worse, though they shouldn’t be present in the first place! What this pencil doesn’t like is food; it becomes smudged and it mostly disappears on the centre of lips. It’s not as bad as it gets with some other lip products, but it is bad enough to require fixing it post-eating. It really does not look good, so be sure to fill your lips in with the pencil after eating. Even if the food you were eating wasn’t greasy it still ends up damaging the pencil. Which kind of goes against the whole “stay on” thing they are advertising. Water doesn’t seem to bother it. Good, because it should be waterproof! 
 

 
I am so glad that this lip pencil is extremely easy to remove. Even if it’s only using micellar water, it comes off super easily, with no rubbing required to completely remove it. Despite being such a vibrant, dark wine colour it doesn’t leave any stains on lips, which was a real surprise! I was totally expecting it to leave stains; it’s great that it doesn’t! 
 
 
 

Sharpening: folks, this pencil CAN be sharpened! I have to emphasise it because I have seen far too many reviews complaining that they outlined their lips once, the pencil became dull and then they threw it away, questioning what’s the point if you can’t retract it. This isn’t a retractable pencil, it’s a normal gel lip pencil! Though the outer layer feels like plastic it does not damage sharpeners! However, gel pencils can be tricky to sharpen due to their usually super soft lead. It’s not uncommon for them to start crumbling if you try to sharpen them while they are room temperature. Yes, you read that right, you should refrigerate them prior to sharpening them! The colder they are the easier they are to sharpen, because the lead becomes harder and less prone to crumbling or breaking. 
 
 
 
All of that is true for this pencil; since filling in your lips uses up so much pencil that it becomes totally blunt, just plop it into a sharpener and sharpen away! This pencil in particular doesn’t require you to refrigerate it; it is pretty easy to sharpen at room temperature and doesn’t crumble. But keeping it cold does help! I would suggest using NYX’s sharpener, in general, as it’s by far the best one.
 
 

All in all, I actually kind of like this lip pencil: the pigmentation is extremely intense, it is extremely long-lasting and super easy to remove! It also glides easily on lips, so it is super simple to perfectly line your lips with it. Bad things: it doesn’t cope with food all that good so you will have to reapply it after eating, it looks dry and cracks slightly soon after applying it and it feels so extremely dry and tacky which makes it uncomfortable to wear, and it dries out my lips. I like how it’s waterproof! And I love that it’s actually easy to sharpen, as gel pencils usually start to crumble if you sharpen them at room temperature, but this one doesn’t! So it is actually better than the previous Slide On Pencil that I have, though both feel bone dry on lips. But, all that I’ve said is moot with this specific pencil that I got. It was manufactured ~6 and a half years ago! And given the waxy, soapy smell, it has most likely gone bad at some point during those 6.5 years. Shame, because I actually kinda like it! But I don’t want to risk any adverse effects with my lips. If it wasn’t spoiled, I would give it a conditional recommendation: only if you don’t suffer from dry lips.
 
 
 

Rating: 6.5/10 (if I am being honest about it and disregard the fact that my specific pencil has probably gone bad)

Would buy again? Maybe YES (it’s uncomfortably dry but the colour is fricking awesome!)








 

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