Essence gel eyeliner #02 London Baby review

Essence gel eyeliner #02 London Baby

I'd been hunting high and low for decent gel or cream eyeliners, trying different brands, ordering them online, asking friends to buy them for me when they travelled abroad and I didn't realise that the solution was so close. And so cheap.

I'd heard about Essence liners a lot but somehow I never experimented with them. A couple of weeks ago while looking for a hair mask my eyes fell on an Essence display where I located 3 gel eyeliners and decided to give one of them a go. I chose a shade which I didn't seem to have in my stash.  

Essence gel eyeliner #02 London Baby

I have no clue how to describe the shade of #02 London Baby. In the shop I was absolutely certain I was getting a dark brown but it turned out to be something different. It's like blackened brown with pearl or black with very dark taupe sheen, or metallic blackened taupe or brownish anthracite or something like this. It's hard to define and I like it very much for this. It's certainly very unique and may match a plethora of eyeshadows.

Essence gel eyeliner #02 London Baby

I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of the eyeliner itself. It's no worse than my MAC gel liner. It's very soft and creamy, you can easily dip a brush in it, none of my gel/cream liners has ever been so soft and smooth.Therefore it's possible to draw a line which is very similar to the one left by liquid liners. This liner doesn't dry immediately, which makes it possible to blend the line well for a smoky look. The liner also performs brilliantly when applied all over the lid or used as an eyeshadow base. With such soft and creamy texture there's always the risk that it'll turn dry in time and become hard to use. However, the liner is so cheap that I'm sure I'll always be able to afford it and purchase when needed. 


The liner lasted all day on my upper lid, showing no symptoms of wear, didn't smudge even during my siesta nap. I didn't wear it in the rain nor cried so I can't say how water resistant it is.   

Essence gel eyeliner #02 London Baby

The only thing I didn't quite like is the packaging. I'm not questioning the simple and quite cheap design but the dimensions of the little jar. The nozzle is so narrow that the only way to pick the product is by dipping the brush inside. This way it picks too much product, which results in clumpy application. You need to wipe some of it off to get rid of the excess product. I prefer to lay my brush flat on the surface of gel liners and turn it around to pick the product, which in this jar is impossible.


But generally I'm super excited about this product, I wish they had a more extensive colour range, in my local drugstore I saw only three basic shades. But when I need to replace my MAC black liner I'll definitely pick one of those for less than two pounds.


Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.