Product Review:e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock Pencil

Designed to "keep your lipstick, lip gloss and lip liner from feathering, traveling or budging" e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock Pencil is a colorless, crayon like pencil meant to be drawn around the outside of the lips, rather than on them like a traditional pencil.

The idea of reverse lip liners have intrigued me for a while. My dry skin seeks out any moisture it can find, so any slick lippie I put on is generally bound to be soaked up by the surrounding skin, creating lovely rivulets of bleeding color around my lip line (darnnit, lips, can't you tell there's color in that moisture?!) Consequently, I consider lip liner a must with any highly pigmented lipstick, and to my disdain, glosses are virtually impossible for me. Enter e.l.f's Lip Lock pencil.

For testing purposes, I grabbed the bleediest lip color in my collection- Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Dragon. Beautiful shade with a beautiful finish, but for me, impossible to wear without looking like Mommie Dearest after a bender.

This is my lovely Dragon, applied without any liner. Sexy, no? Oh...No? After only 15 minutes of wear, the lip color had begun to pool at the corners of my mouth, giving me a slightly Joker-esque appearance. This photo was taken at the 30 minute mark; the bleeding is quite apparent and is definitely past the point of embarrassment! So, can a $3 pencil really improve a $32 lipstick? You bet:

Muuuuuch better, right? Believe it or not, this pic is not the freshly applied "before" version- this is how the same exact Dragon Lip Lacquer looked on me after over an hour of wear when applied with e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock pencil.

Lip Lock Pencil couldn't be easier to apply; you simply draw the product on around the outside of your lip line, rather than on it like a traditional liner. I appreciated that I didn't have to be ultra-careful about accidentally going up onto my lips- I had no issues with lipstick refusing to "grab" onto areas where I may have strayed a bit. The pencil is clear but not chalky, so it will work on all skin tones. It's waxy texture did leave an ever-so-slightly visible line where it clung to the fine hairs around my lips; all I had to do to remedy this was run a fingertip over it lightly to blend and all was well.

The only issue I had with this product is one with the packaging, rather than the performance. Not exactly a pencil in it's true form, the "lead" of the Lip Lock is actually encased in a crayon-like tube, and twists up rather than sharpening. No problems there, until I uncapped my pencil one day and the entire lead fell out onto my counter. Luckily, the formula is solid enough that the pencil wasn't damaged- I was able to slip it back into the crayon and have continued to use it with no problems. For the price, I don't even consider this an issue, but it's definitely something to mention.

Would I recommend this product? In a hot second! Though it is part of e.l.f.'s pricier Studio line, $3.00 is still a steal for such a great product (similar products by DuWop, Cargo and Urban Decay run more than five times the price!) This is a great option for any look, but especially for those who need the benefits of a liner but don't want the look of one. It's a great option to keep sheer glosses in place without altering the shade like a traditional liner would, and it completely eliminates the horror of "ring around the lips" that colored liners can leave.

Pros:
- keeps lip color from bleeding or feathering outside of the lip line.

- clear pencil can be used on any skin tone.

- can be used with any lip product without altering the shade- especially great for hard to match lipsticks or sheer glosses.

- It's only $3.00 (kicks but in the value department compared to similar products!)

- fragrance free and vegan

Cons:
- e.l.f. can be tough to find in brick-and-mortar retailers (I shop on the e.l.f. website).

- product may not be secure in the tube. My lead fell out and, while it was easily fixed, it's an issue that certainly needs to be addressed.