Essence

Essence Soft & Precise Lip Pencil [201 - My Dream] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - March 20, 2024

Given that the other pencil came broken, this is the first – and only – review for today. This is the Essence Soft & Precise Lip Pencil, in the shade 201/My Dream! 
 
 
You know me, I cannot resist these little, cheap pencils from Essence! I usually buy them either when they are new arrivals or when they are about to be discontinued and are 50% off, but this time I just felt like buying this pencil! I love pink lip products, but one thing has been eluding for a long time before this pencil (and the Clueless X Makeup Revolution Lip Pencil) – very light pink pencils that would be almost nude but still pinky. This looked like it could fit that description. And you know what? Even if it doesn’t,  I’m sure it will still be a lovely colour anyways, plus, it’s cheap enough that it doesn’t matter too much. Is this pencil going to be my dream pencil? Well, let’s see!
 
 
 
Packaging: just a coloured wooden pencil with a cap that matches the colour. The colour of the pencil is not really all that similar to the real colour. It’s much darker. You can see this on the lead, which is much lighter pink compared to the rest. Bugger. Oh well. The text is silver metallic, which is a good choice for this colour. It’s very visible, but legibility? That unfortunately suffers because the metallic finish of the text really makes it hard to read. The cap closes very tightly.
 

Source: essence.eu

Ingredients: vitamin E for nourishment. No parabens. The scent isn’t very intense; it smells a bit waxy and a lot like regular coloured pencils. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.
 

 

Colour: really light, pastel pink. It’s actually a very pretty colour because it’s not too bright. It’s just bright enough to be visible but still muted enough to not look gaudy. It’s a very girly colour, for sure. On my lips this colour becomes almost invisible because it’s relatively close to the colour of my lips. But when I fill them in, then I can see just how pretty pastel pink this actually is! A very subtle colour that is just vibrant enough to add some playfulness to the overall look. It’s pretty flattering, although it might be too light for darker skintones. I really like it! It’s so cute!
 
 
 
The pigmentation is actually very good, even though it might not be very visible on me. Only one or two layers are needed to get to full pigmentation. And you don’t need to press hard with the pencil to get it to be richly pigmented! 

 
 

This formula is definitely drier than the other Soft & Precise pencils. It’s still a very soft formula, but it dries to a very powdery dry one. It’s too dry for me, honestly. But it’s extremely lightweight! At first, it feels soft and creamy, but then it becomes powdery dry... and sometimes time after, it also becomes waxy. Just like shade 302, this one also develops a waxy line on the lower lip after some time. This is because it tends to become the most waxy and tacky there. 
 
It’s neither pretty nor comfortable. Look, it is a light colour, but the demarcation this line creates is very visible. While this pencil does look soft most of time, if your lips are dry or chapped it will exaggerate all those dry areas. It won’t look pretty if your lips are dry. The texture is ultra-matte, with almost no shine at all. While it may look slightly dry if your lips are dry or chapped, it usually looks soft on the lips.
 
 

 
Unfortunately, this lip pencil is not very comfortable to wear. And it’s not even because of the dry, powdery finish! No, it’s because the waxy formula that it turns into after some time starts to feel very tacky, but in a moist wax kind of way. It’s really bad on the centre of the lower lip, where it forms a literal line. It’s here where it feels the most waxy and uncomfortable. The rest feels extremely lightweight and very comfortable, but the problems with the middle of the lips are too severe for the rest to cover this. It also dries out my lips a tiny bit. Not the first time, nor the last, that this range of pencils had this problem with waxiness near the centre.
 

 
This is so easy to apply! It feels so soft! It literally glides across lips... if they are smooth, that is. If you have dry or chapped parts it may skip across them. It’s also prone to skipping if you sharpen it a lot. But in general it’s wonderful to use. Even more so because it applies pigment evenly and richly.
 
 
 

Now, as for the precision, it varies. Depending on how much you sharpen it, it will be either super precise or very precise. Even when it’s blunt, it is still very precise. But when it’s sharpened properly, it is so precise that properly lining the lips becomes child’s play!
 

 
The longevity is excellent! It lasts for hours without any changes! I wore it for at least 6 hours during testing and it truly stayed the same throughout the day. It doesn’t fade or feather or smudge at all. It’s also pretty food-resistant as well! Of course, very oily/greasy food will lead to some fading, but it looks fantastic after eating most food, and after drinking. There isn’t a lot of transfer, too, so there’s really no need to fix it after meals. Of course, since it’s so close to the colour of my lips I wouldn’t need to fix it even if it did fade, since any fading wouldn’t really be visible anyways. Fantastic longevity!
 
 
 
As has become tradition for the Soft & Precise Lip Pencils, this one, too, is extremely easy to remove. You only need one swipe with micellar water and it’s completely gone. 
 
 
This is a wooden pencil, so the expectation is that it would be easy to sharpen. Indeed, it is! It’s extremely easy to sharpen and rarely breaks.
 
 
All in all, I like this pencil... it’s hard not to, honestly! Sure, it’s got some problems, but it’s pretty good overall. Especially for the price it goes for! The pigmentation is very intense, even if it may not be immediately apparent due to the light colour; on me it is close to the natural colour of my lips so it doesn’t really show as much as it should. But when I fill in my lips with this pencils, that’s when it starts to show more. And that’s when it becomes this very pretty pastel pink that’s not too light and gaudy. It’s a really girly, really beautiful colour! Perfect for spring! Although it might be too light for darker skintones. The formula is also so easy to apply! Like, it usually glides across lips, and deposits pigment evenly and richly. Well, unless your lips are chapped and/or dry. Then it is likely to skip across lips. Let’s stay on the good things for a while longer, shall we? The longevity is stupidly good for something that costs only 1.10€; it lasts for hours upon hours with no changes and is able to survive food and drinks easily. But I did mention it had some issues. Well, it’s the formula. It dries to a powdery dry finish that exaggerates the fine lines of the lips and, worse still, becomes very waxy and tacky on the centre of the lower lip. This feels very uncomfortable and it leads to the lower lip being slightly dried out. But this powdery dry finish has one positive: it looks ultra-matte but still soft. That is gorgeous, even if it isn’t too pleasant to wear throughout the day. But, since this is pretty much the only significant annoyance, it shouldn’t detract from how great this pencil is otherwise. Because it’s fantastic! And for this price, this level of quality is unbeatable! I will recommend it, but do be aware that this is a very light colour!
 
 
 
Rating: 7/10
 
 
Would buy again? YES



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