Essence What a Tint Lip & Cheek Tint Review & Swatches

Essence What a Tint! Lip & Cheek Tint ($4.99) is a new long-wearing lip and cheek stain available in one shade that launched for Spring 2023. Yes, I know it reminds you of Benefit Benetint but ladies and gents this is way more affordable and budget friendly.

It’s back in stock now at ulta.com!

I was pretty excited to try this out because it’s been a while since I gave a cheek tint a try. Well, maybe not as I did fall in love with Benefit’s Flora Tint a few months ago! But I mean, I don’t really use cheek stains as much as I used to. Several hundred years ago cheeks stains were a part of my daily routine. I used to love the Schick Stains (Gods, I hope someone remembers it!). I used to swipe on cheek stains and go. No foundation, no concealer, just a quick swipe of cheek stain and I was happily on my way. I can’t quite get away with that technique anymore but I still love a good cheek stain especially in the warmer weather as they tend to last through humidity, days at the beach, dunks in the pool, and beyond.

Essence What a Tint Lip & Cheek Tint definitely brings us back to what’s old is new again. This quite resembles Benefit Benetint but it’s a bit smaller in size at 0.16 oz (0.2 oz for Benefit) but it’s also, quite a bit cheaper at $4.99. That alone will sweeten the pot if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option. It comes with a sponge applicator for easy dot-and-go application.

This has a watery consistency and a light rosy fragrance. I thought it dried down fairly fast which makes me recommend doing one cheek at a time. I swipe a little on, blend it out with my fingers, and do the other cheek directly after. It blends very easily and I didn’t get a patchy finish to it. It is pretty red in the bottle but looked pink on my cheeks but of course, that will vary from skin tone to skin as I think it’ll appar a bit redder on someone with a deeper skin tone. It’s pigmented but not so much so that it’ll give you clown cheeks. I thought the color looked like a natural flush on me as if I was in the cold too long or I was blushing! You can use it on lips as well which I did in my photo here but I added a bit of gloss as it feels a bit drying on my already dry lips. As to be expected it’s something that will stay on forever! This stuff doesn’t fade and pretty much will leave your cheeks flushed for several hours or more. Cheek stains are awesome for that reason as they stick around until you remove them! On my lips it wore away within three hours but on my cheeks I got 12 straight hours out of it and it still looked as if I just applied it.

I honestly, didn’t notice a difference between it and Benetint. The formula, wear, and color all seemed the same to me! The only difference is the price as Essence is definitely way more affordable. If you’re a minimal makeup user or you just like easy swipe-and-go blush this is a nice one to check out. It’s one of those products that are nice to have around when you’re running errands or going on a trip and not wanting to wear a full face of makeup on a plane! Or even with Spring/Summer coming you might want to wear less makeup especially at the beach or pool and this will give you a nice pop of color on your cheeks!

Essence What a Tint Lip & Cheek Tint is available now.

Where to buy

Essence Ulta