Time for another eBay Finds post here on the blog! This one is coming a little earlier than I intended, because the seller that I picked these up from had the fastest free shipping from Asia that I've ever had - which is a massive win for me. I was really anxious to try these out and see how they measure up to some of the other matte chubby pencils that I have in my collection, like the Sonia Kashuk Velvety Matte Lip Crayons that I previously reviewed on the blog. I originally picked up 3 shades, but decided after a few days to grab a couple more. Based on the 5 that I have, I can say that they're definitely not all created equal and some shades perform significantly better than others.

Anyway, without further adieu, keep reading for my thoughts and whether I think these are worth the purchase.

SHADE #'s: 003, 008, 012, 015, 017

First, let's talk about the packaging. I actually quite like it, and find that the shade on the lid and the base of the tube is actually pretty bang on to what happens on your lips for all of these shades. The silver print on the side of the tube is going to be gone sooner than later, because it seems like a little bit flakes off every time I pick them up, which is kind of annoying - but also probably to be expected considering these are under $1.50CAD each. The lids do slide on securely, so there's no worry about throwing these in your purse for on the go. Overall, I think the packaging is very well done aside from the print.

Overall, the formula of these is not my favorite. For the most part, they apply quite creamy with good pigmentation, but they set to a very dry, powdery finish that I find tends to flake within the first hour or two of wear. This dryness is helped if you apply a balm first, but I find that can end up making the final product a little bit weird in a way that I have trouble describing. However, like I said, these don't all perform the same, so I want to talk about the individual shades.

Shade # 012:

I was expecting this to be a sort of mid-toned mauve when I ordered it, but it's actually quite a bit deeper than I thought it was going to be. Still, shade-wise these is probably my favorite. I think it's a really flattering and on-trend fall shade and I think it would look good on a lot of people. This one does apply with really good, even pigmentation and I don't find that it skips or gets patchy.

Shade # 003:

This is one of the prettiest shades in the bunch with the worst formula of all the ones I've tried. This deep wine shade would be perfect for fall if I could get it to apply with smooth, even pigmentation but no matter how hard I try I can't even out the patchiness. Also, the second time I applied this, I pressed my lips together after a few minutes and a significant amount of the product from my lower lip stuck to my upper lip so I had one really dark patch up top and a matching bare spot on the bottom. I would definitely not recommend this shade.

Shade # 015:

This is probably my favorite out of the five that I picked up, because it's the easiest. The pinky nude shade applies quite evenly and, by virtue of the tone and shade, it wears a lot more naturally looking than any of the others. As this starts to fade on the inner rim of my lips, it's the least noticeable. On deeper pigmented lips, that might not be the case though.

Shade # 008: 

For someone who likes a very sort of caramel/brown nude, this would probably be a winning shade. It's quite beige in undertone, so on my skintone it ends up looking more dead than pretty, but I could see this working on other people a lot better. As for the formula, I would definitely compare this to #015 in pigmentation and application. Not for me, but I could see it working for other people.

Shade # 017:

This shade makes me look like a corpse. This shade has a very grey undertone so it really does nothing for my skintone, but I could imagine this shade looking really nice on deeper skin tones. Again, I would say this is similar in formula to #015 and #008, though I would say this probably has the smoothest colour payoff of the whole bunch.

SHADE #'s: 003, 008, 012, 015, 017

Honestly, I don't think I can really recommend these unless you're the type of person who doesn't mind a very matte, very dry formula that tends towards flakiness as it wears. There are some really pretty shades and they're incredibly affordable, but I just find them really dry and uncomfortable on the lips and I feel like a balm helps with the moisture factor, but really makes the finish weird.

All of that said, I think I'm going to keep these in my collection to try and use as lip liners with lipsticks that don't have the kind of staying power that I want, because I feel like these could possibly work better as a  base for more hydrating products. We'll see!

Anyway, thanks for reading and check back soon for my eBay finds!