REVIEW: Essence Insta-Care Lipsticks

by - July 23, 2019


These days, I don't jump to pick up all of the new drugstore releases the way that I used to - the size of my collection has definitely led me to be a little bit more discerning about what I spend my money on - but as soon as I saw the new Essence Insta-Care Lipsticks on the shelf I knew I was absolutely going to be picking up a couple to try out.  I went with the two more nude shades because I knew that those were the ones I was most likely to reach for as well as being the shades I figured I would like most in a nourishing type of formula like the ones these seemed to be. 

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Containing 20% Shea Butter Oil, these lipsticks promise to be buttery soft, moisturizing, and to glide on your lips and leave them with a soft swipe of colour. They're packaged in slimline tubes and each tube contains 1.8g of product - so more like a mini as far as the amount of product that you get. They have a light, sort of fruit scent to them that I personally find really, really pleasant. 


Though I do really like the package and find the slimline design to make these really user friendly, I would caution (from experience) that the lids aren't super secure so if you're going to carry them with you I would advise to make sure you've securely put on the cap and put them in a pocket rather than just throwing them in the bottom of your purse. So far, after a couple of weeks of them consistently being in my purse, I haven't had any catastrophes, but a couple of the times I've reached for them I've found the lid wasn't secure anymore and if they'd had more room to bounce around I likely would have ended up in a lipstick everywhere kind of situation. 


essence Insta-Care Lipstick in 01 Sandy Sunrise
Sandy Sunrise is a soft, caramel nude with really neutral undertones that I think would suit a really wide range of skin tones. It doesn't pull too orange or too pink, but really sits in the middle. Honestly, I'm kind of in love with this shade for just an easy lip look that goes with a really wide variety of different eye and cheek looks and feels like it will transition really beautifully from summer into fall. 


essence Insta-Care Lipstick in 02 Daily Maybe
Daily Maybe is a sort of taupey nude shade that seems to have ashy undertones but somehow manages to avoid that corpse look that these types of shades tend to give me. Again, I feel like it will be flattering on a lot of different skin tones and flatter a lot of different eye and cheek looks. On my skin tone, this definitely has more depth than Sandy Sunrise, but it's still super wearable for every day. 


I really, really love that the nude shades they chose for this line are quite modern and on trend. They have really beautiful undertones that make them incredibly wearable, neither too pale nor too deep, and distinctive from each other on the lips. This are also available in four more shades, including a red, a couple of berry shades, and a very pale pink. Personally, I don't think I'll be picking up any of the other shades because when it comes to a really creamy but opaque lipstick, I prefer not to mess with bolder shades, but they are available if you're looking for something outside of the nude family. 

(Still working on lighting... these both show up a little bit more punchy in real life.)

The texture of these lipsticks is absolutely incredible. They apply really smoothly on the lips with even pigmentation across the lips with really good coverage - a lot more coverage than I was expecting from this type of formula, actually. They have a glossy finish that really makes the lips look plump and healthy and the formula really is nourishing and incredibly comfortable on the lips. It's also just... super easy to use. I don't even feel like I need a mirror when applying this, regardless of the pigmentation, and I haven't noticed any feathering or smearing. Wear time is about what you would expect from a lipstick in this type of formula, but on the upper end. I wouldn't call it long wearing by any stretch, but it does have a pretty decent cling to the lips.


It is very, very rare that I personally buy back ups anymore since my collection is... pretty vast, but I'm actually planning on picking up back ups of both of these shades because I genuinely really, really love them and they're the perfect shades to just sort of always have on hand. It's actually been a long time since I've been so overwhelmingly impressed with every aspect of a new drugstore release, so I really feel like essence knocked it out of the park with these ones. 

The essence Insta-Care Lipsticks are just starting to pop up in essence displays locally and are also available online from ShoppersDrugMart.ca and retail for $4.49CAD. 

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