Considering how often I say that I'm not a fan of Essence's lip liners, I sure have a lot of them. I justify my collection by saying that these are so affordable and therefore a great way to try colours for the first time. However, I got this one for a different reason and that is that I heard this is a good dupe for MAC's Please, which I own only in a sample form. You'll see a comparison of the two at the end of the post, but even though I'm very strict with the word dupe, this definitely meet my high criteria.
Wish me a Rose is a light-medium warm pink with a creamy matte finish. It depends of what your skin tone is, but depending on how tan I am, the shade looks either a bit darker or lighter on me. By the way on the pictures a bit tanned, especially on the last picture.
As usual the pencil is very soft and easy to apply. The formula actually reminds me of Mac's Please Me as that one is a very creamy matte. I actually like that this shade is so creamy because this means that it doesn't emphasize dry patches, since such colours are prone to do so. Due to softness the tip of the pencil becomes blunt very quickly, so frequent sharpening is required. Staying power is average for a lipstick and poor for a lip liner, but I lot of people claim this formula lasts well on them. I find it doesn't survive a meal.
My expanding collection also includes two already discontinued colours. Soft Rose is actually very similar to 150 Vintage Rose in the Longlasting Lip Pencils range by Catrice, while I know of nothing similar to the Nude Coral shade. Wish me a Rose is by far my favourite colour.
ESSENCE Wish me a Rose vs. MAC Please Me
Please Me and Wish me a Rose are indeed very, very similar. I notice only a small difference between the two when swatched on the back of my hand, Please Me is a bit brighter and that's it (my camera sort of amplified the difference). Even the formulas look almost identical, though, of course Mac's lipstick has a better staying power. On the lips I notice no difference at all, I actually had a hard time distinguishing where the line is between them, as it all looked like a uniform lip colour.
This is a great drugstore buy and I would call it a good dupe for the much more expensive Mac's lipstick. In case of this particular shade, I actually like that the formula is so creamy, though the staying power still isn't the best on my lips. I've been really enjoying wearing this liner since I got it and my cousin actually has four or five of these in different places because she loves it so much.
These cost 1.19 € in Slovenia and are available in almost every drugstore as well as some larger supermarkets.
Have a great day!