Essence Stay With Me Longlasting Lipgloss - Review

One day, I went a little crazy at my local Fred Meyer and bought a bunch of Essence stuff, because it's cheap. Being able to pick up 4 things for less than $20 feels pretty good when you're pining away for one things that's over $40, you know? I fell in love with the color of this gloss, and for $2.29, I figured "Why not?" (I should know by now there's plenty of reasons why not to buy yet another gloss, but that's between me, myself, and I). I selected Candy Bar, a bright coral with a pink bent. This is a non-shimmery, non-glittery gloss.

According to Essence:

the name of this lipgloss could not be more appropriate: if you try it once, you'll never want to give it up again! the color-intensive texture is so wonderfully creamy and durable – without leaving a sticky feeling behind, that it's simply irresistible. the special shape of the precision applicator allows an effortless application.

These glosses come in a somewhat short, fat tube. The doe-foot/sponge applicator is interesting, because it's curvy. Really. It has an hourglass shape to it, and I'm not sure if that's a purely style-driven choice, or if there's a benefit to this style of applicator. It applies nicely, perhaps a little too thick in some areas, due to the pigmentation. In some ways, the packaging is sort of childlike, but with a price point of less than $5 for almost anything in the line, I'm probably not their target demographic. Which leads me to my next point - these don't come sealed. Very little, actually, is sold sealed. So, I had to check each tube to find one that I was positive hadn't been tested. It took 3 tubes before I found one. That's a big problem to me.

Honestly, I just liked the color of this gloss. I wasn't expecting much for my money, so I was pleasantly surprised. It does last longer than I thought it would, and it's not really sticky. For example, I applied this gloss this morning at about 4:00 (yes, 4:00 AM... ugh). I almost immediately ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, and went to work.. I could still "feel" the gloss at 10:00 AM. It felt thin, but I could tell I had applied it, and that it was still on my lips, after all of the other things I had done. It leaves a slight stain on the lips, as well - on me it's a gorgeous pink-peach. The stain lasts all day, too. It was still on my lips at 4:30 PM.... 12 and half hours after a single application!

The texture, as mentioned previously, is pretty nice - it's not very sticky. It's also not gritty (which makes sense, of course, since it's not shimmery in any way). I really like thick, cushy feeling glosses, and this is not one of those - it's sort of thin, but thick enough to feel rather nice, if that makes sense.

The range of colors this gloss is available in is rather small. A total of seven shades are available, ranging from a berry to a nude, however, if I recall correctly, the nude looked sort of dark in the tube. The only color that really appealed to me was Candy Bar. I wonder if Essence plans to release more shades? Then again, I'd rather they invest the money in sealing their products. Both of those gripes in mind, I don't know if I'll repurchase. It's hard to want to buy something that could easily be tampered with.