Wanna know what I hate? I hate when there's an amazing product in the drugstore at an incredibly affordable price and the company goes and discontinues it. As you guys probably know, I've had pretty good luck with Essence since they came to Canada. It started with a downright obsession with owning all of their nail polishes, but now it's all about the new makeup releases and Limited Edition collections for me and I still seem to have really good luck. And then I heard somewhere that their lip liners were really, really good... so I bought 3. And then I heard that they're being discontinued... and I'm about to go on a backup lip liner rampage, seriously. 

So keep reading the review, check out the swatches, and then get down to whatever store in your area sells Essence and go mad with lip liner power, okay? Instructions complete. 

I've never actually been much of a lip liner girl and there are a couple of reasons for that. The first is that I'm pretty lazy and most of the time I can't be bothered to add another step to my lip routine. The second is that most lip liners that I had tried were really dry, tugged on my lips, did that weird thing where they break and ball up on the lips, and just generally looked crappy so I just skipped it. Also, I have pretty strongly defined lips with a downright pointy cupid's bow, so having lips that are too defined are just not my thing generally. All of those reasons for not using lip liner do not exist with this product.

This is a very soft, creamy formula that glides on really well on the lips. You don't have to use too much pressure, which makes it less likely that little bits of the liner are going to break up and look gross. Score! They're also really comfortable on the lips. I find that I can apply this over a little swipe of balm and call it a long wearing lip look. Because, really, these do wear really nicely on the lips and are perfect worn on their own to comfortably indulge in the matte lip trend. Formulawise, these are amazing, you guys. They're probably the best lip liners I've ever used. (Though keep in mind that I've literally never owned a high end lip liner because I never wore it!)

Now for the shades!

Soft Berry: A deep, warm toned mauve shade with brownish undertones. I feel like this is very on trend recently for that deep, neutral brownish lip that isn't quite brown. I feel like this isn't particularly flattering on my skintone when worn on its own, but it does work really nicely with lighter nude and neutral shades of lipstick and liner to give some dimension to the lips.

Red Blush: A cherry red shade with more depth and brightness. This is my kind of red shade and I think I'll get a lot of use out of it over the summer. A red lip that's going to last pretty much requires a good lip liner as a base and this one is perfect for that. 

Satin Mauve: A soft, neutral mauve your-lips-but-better shade. This is my favorite of the three and the one I've gotten the most wear out of since I bought it. Lately, this is how I like to do day-to-day lips. It's got enough colour to bring some life to the face, but still looks really soft and natural. 

I also picked up the shade In The Nude last night at Shoppers, which is your standard beige toned nude lip liner, but I haven't had a chance to try it out on the lips yet. Needless to say, I'll be scouring my local Shoppers to pick up about 3 back ups of Satin Mauve before they're gone for good.

If you're an Essence fan, there are a lot of products that are about to be discontinued and are on clear out prices at Shoppers (don't know about the US), so get down there and pick some up before they're gone for good!