With so many beautybulletin babes raving about Essence products, I just couldn’t resist but try out a few that caught my attention. I got 01 black & white and 06 flirty & hip. What I like about these eye pencils is that it comes in many different colours and its super affordable at only R29.95 per pencil where you get two colours! The colour shows up well after applying it, but the formula wasn’t as creamy as I would have liked. It has a slight tug on your skin when you apply it, but when the formula warms up from being in contact with your skin, it applies on much smoother. I don’t know whether it’s not that easy to apply because it was brand new, but I found other eyeliners like Revlon’s Colorstay Eyeliner easier and creamier to apply than the Essence kajal pencils.

These eyeliners are not waterproof, so they do tend to smudge if your eyes water and the pigment diminishes if you rub or smudge it. I would recommend using a primer to help the colour last longer, or to apply a eyeshadow with a similar colour over the liner to prevent it from smudging.

A little trick I like to do with these liners to make it super easy and creamy to apply is to lightly heat the liner with a hairdryer or a lighter. Just hold the eyeliner over the heat for a few seconds for it to warm up (not long enough where it drips) and make sure afterwards that it’s cool enough for your eyes. The liner should turn really soft and easier to apply. The eyeliner without the heat is good, but warming it up just a tad bit makes it so much greater. It won’t damager you liner as long as you’re not frying it :)