Review: Elf Essential lip stain
Hey y'all! I'm back with yet another lippie review! If you haven't noticed already, I absolutely love lip products. I just can't live without them. There always is some type of product on my lips at all times whether that's a lip balm, gloss, lipstick, etc. Recently I went to Target and was drawn to the E.L.F display. Right before I got there I saw a girl pick up a marker like shape from the bottom row of the display. In my mind I was thinking," When did E.L.F start selling school supplies?!!?" I squatted down and finally realized that they were lip stains and not markers. The lip stains were only 2 dollars a piece so I had to pick one up. I picked up one in the color Crimson Crush, a beautiful red shade.
Upon opening up the product, there is absolutely no scent and the product looks exactly like a marker. The tip to apply the product is very pointy and hard.
Based off of the pictures down below you can see that this product is completely transfer and kiss proof, but is NOT water proof.
Before applying this product you must exfoliate your lips, I repeat, you MUST exfoliate. This type of product will cling to any rough patches. I started from the middle of my lip and swiped outwards. The stain is surprising very pigmented. I was expecting a light wash of color but that is not what I got. The first layer is sheer and very streaky, I had to go over my lips a few times to get a semi smooth looking application. Even after a few layers, there were still some very noticeable streaks. I also felt a slight burning sensation when I applied the stain.
It wasn't painful and went away after a few seconds, but it was still noticeable. You must be very precise when using this product. If you go outside of your lips it will stain your skin. The stain also dries down a darker color. If you apply this color to your inner lip and inside of your lip it will transfer to your teeth, so be careful! The color is also a bit inconsistent. On the parts of your lips where it's more moist the color appears more vibrant. On the drier parts it appears darker. You can kind of clean up your mistakes with a wet q-tip, but the stain will stain your skin.
The product dries very quickly but looks extremely crunchy, crinkly, and dry on your lips. It will emphasize all of your lip lines. I really disliked the look it gave to my lips and the way if felt so I applied a light weight lip balm on top and it felt and looked so soo sooo much better. The lip balm hydrates your lips and makes them look much more plump and healthy. It also blurs some of the streakiness, but not all of it. From far away and in pictures the stain looks ok, but it definitely doesn't look great. However, the stain feels like nothing on your lips. I almost forgot that I had it on my lips as I went through my day.
After drinking some water and eating some snacks, the inner part of the stain began to fade away. When the stain touches water is sort of melts off and won't be transfer proof anymore. However, once it has dried it will go back to being transfer proof. Throughout the time period that I tested this product, the inner lip faded the quickest. After a few hours it didn't look too bad, compared to when I first applied it, but I would never go out into public with it looking like it did.
Taking off the stain proved to be quite the hassle. I first used a paper towel and some water to wipe away the majority of the stain.
Then I tried using a makeup remover wipe, which didn't do anything, and then finally used an oil based makeup remover to vigorously scrub away the rest of the stain. Some of the stain still clung to the dryer parts of my lips, but basically everything was gone.
In all I don't think that this product is worth your time or your money. Even though it only costs $2, I would say that it's not worth it at all. Even if you have the most supple and soft lips, I don't think that this product would work for you since it's so streaky. You might have better luck with a lighter color, but I would give this product a 1 out of 5. :( It leaves your lips looking cracked and wrinkled, it's very dry, it's hard to put on, it's messy, it's not water proof, and it takes a lot of effort to take it off. So for these reasons I would give this product a thumbs down.
-Kat
