essence recently revealed their Spring/Summer 2016 to Canada and I was excited to see that a lot of their regular lineup of products has changed/been added to. At the last few events I’ve been to, I’ve seen a lot of the same similar items being repromoted, so it was really nice to see something totally new.

One of those totally new products are the Sheer & Shine lipsticks. As with many releases, it’s entirely possible that these have been available in Europe long before North America got them, but since they’re new to me, I was pretty excited to try them out!

The essence Sheer & Shine lipsticks have a “super soft formula [that] feels pleasantly light on your lips and provides them with gorgeous, subtle colour with a fantastic shine in the wanna-have shades nude, brown and pink. The translucent cap is the same colour as the lipstick inside so it’s easy to reach for your favorite shade.”

These are definitely a translucent, sheer formula, but some colours will surprise you with just how much colour they deposit.

essence Sheer & Shine Lipstick Swatches

My First Love is a very, very pale pinky-peach.

Cute Nude is a soft pale peach.

BFF is a pinky-red.

Frosted is an incredibly pale pink.

Sparkling Miracle is a magenta pink shot through with glitter.

Be Happy is a candy apple red.

Glamour Queen is a medium pink-brown with glitter.

All About Cupcake is a pale coral. (You can see me wearing it in my St. Patrick’s Day Makeup Tutorial video.)

Candy Love is a pale to medium pink.

Like a Princess is totally unlike the other shades… it’s a freaking stunning hot pink with a hint of magenta and red.

Final Thoughts

When I first looked at these lipsticks, I thought there was no way in hell that they’d be translucent – I mean the bullet is so bright and vibrant! However, true to their name, the essence Sheer & Shine lipsticks impart a translucent veil of colour (for the most part).

I cannot stress enough how incredibly comfortable these are to wear. They’re like a soft balm on the lips – the kind of product you keep re-applying over and over again just because you like the way it feels. Samantha Jane said it best in her recent essence video (and I’m paraphrasing): “These are an excellent purse product where you can grab them on the go to apply”.

For the most part, they have a very sweet, candy-vanilla scent (although it’s not the same as their lipsticks which is a huge blessing for me since I’m not keen on that scent), however, there were a few shades that didn’t have that sweet scent and instead smelled a bit like plastic. It was a bit strange that the scent wasn’t consistent across the range, so if you’re super sensitive to scent, make sure you give the bullet a whiff before you purchase it.

My swatches above are showing fairly true to colour, so you can discern for yourself which shades would most appeal to you, but the shades I’m in love with are Like A Princess (which definitely packs way more colour punch than the rest of the line!), All About Cupcake and Be Happy. (Sidenote: Shades seems to vary by location and country. These are the ones I received so I would assume all of these are available in Canada.)

If you’re looking for an easy-to-wear lip product that’s comfortable, lightweight and feels quite natural – don’t look any further than the Sheer & Shines!

The essence Sheer & Shine lipsticks can be purchased on ulta.com for $2.99 USD each or at Shopper Drug Mart and Superstores in Canada.

The products featured in this review were sent to me for consideration.