Bold colored lips may not be everyone’s first choice when it comes to wearing lipsticks but there are times when our outfit calls for a statement lip or you may just want to take a break from the usual nude lips.

Essence has quickly become one of my favorite makeup brands not only because I find their quality to be decent but the prices are really budget friendly.

I fell in love with their Shine Shine Shine Lip Gloss that I constantly use especially since it’s cold and dry outside. Ever since I stumbled upon the brand I’ve been on a quest to trying more and more products from them. My latest purchase is their Vibrant Shock Lip Paint.

The Essence Vibrant Shock Lip Paint is described as a liquid lipstick with a velvet matte finish. The consistency of the formula is not thick at all when applied to the lips.

They come in a variety of bold colors like reds, blues and even greens. Though they are made to be buildable to create your desired vibrancy, all the formulas were not created equal, unfortunately. With that said, let’s get into the swatches:

Voyeur

This shade would be considered the nude color from the bunch. This would be a great color for someone looking for a comfortable velvet finish without the boldness.

I thought this shade was going to be a little too light for my complexion but it actually turned out pretty well.

The formula was consistent throughout and it looked a little bit glossy when first applied but then eventually dried down to smooth matte finish.

Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister was one of the most vibrant colors from the set. It’s a vivid pink that is certainly buildable. You definitely get the shock effect from this color.

I like that it is a hot pink color that I could wear in the summer time. It’s vibrancy is definitely bold and out there but overall it is a fun color to play up any look.

Bloody Mary

This color was another favorite of mine. It complimented my skin tone really well with the velvet matte finish. Like Twisted Sister, the formula on this one was very pigmented with only needing a couple layers.

Red Viper

Red Viper is more of a burgundy/brown red color that was actually of the shades that I struggled with.

The formula was not as pigmented as the previous colors and it applied very streakily. It didn’t matter how many layers I put it still came out looking patchy and unfinished. For that reason this was my least favorite from the set.

Nightstalker

This color looks like a very vivid midnight blue from the tube which actually turned out to be very deceiving.

The color actually made out to be like a mermaid green instead of the vivid blue that it looks like in the tube. That just completely threw me for a loop because I was not expecting that to happen.

So when it comes to Nightstalker, what you see is not what you get! This is also not what I would consider as an everyday shade but it’ll make a great color for special parties or on occasions like Halloween.

It was unfortunate that this shade did not swatch as blue as I would’ve, however, it did swipe on really well and did not leave any streak marks.

Another thing is that this was the only color that really stained my lips and left a gray like color on my lips. It was very hard to actually get the color off. Makeup wipes were not enough. I had to resort to an oil based remover.

Black Widow

When I first saw this color I thought to myself what an odd color for a lipstick. I thought it was something different to see but in a good way.

It’s a grayish blue color that definitely swatched that way, unlike Nightstalker.

I also liked that there was a little bit more blue pigments in there than gray as gray I feel would have completely washed me out. This color was actually gorgeous on my skin tone.

Again, not an everyday lipstick but definitely perfect for a statement lip when you want to switch up your makeup a little bit.

Overall these lipsticks were okay. Definitely not among my favorites from Essence but some of the colors did perform really well while others didn’t. I would say that depending on which color you get it could be a hit or miss. The pigmentation was not consistent across the board and some of the colors were a little off. I would prefer their Tint and Colour Shot over these ones.