e.l.f. Essentials Lip Stain

Next item in the stocking is e.l.f. Essentials Lip Stain in Nude Nectar.  This product sells for $2 USD.
 Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own funds, I am not being paid or compensated by the company in question. My opinions are entirely my own.

Now according to the packaging, when using this product you "Get beautiful precision color that lasts for hours with this pigment-rich lip marker; The pen like tip lets you draw on color easily for a streak & smudge free professional look; Infused with nourishing Vitamin E to hydrate and moisturize lips." And yeah, you just use the marker to clean, dry lips and build it up to the desired coverage.

It really is packaged just like a marker, all plastic with a felt tip. The tip has a nice strong shape which is awesome because it gives you full control as to where you put color. This is pretty necessary as this really is a stain and it is very unforgiving. Once it's on it is on. I did do a swatch on my arm which I totally forgot to take a photo of, and that line stayed there for hours, no smudging whatsoever. It took like 2 loads of dishes to get that stuff off. But it is very precise and pigment-rich, just like the description said. Yay!
The description also said that it hydrates and moisturizes, and with that I disagree. Almost immediately after applying the lip stain, I felt my lips get a little dry. And they continued to dry up as the product really set in.

See how dry it made my lips look? I don't generally anticipate for a lip stain to be hydrating, the last one I had came with a hydrating gloss to put over it. But to say it's hydrating on it's own is a serious stretch. Bad e.l.f.! This is easily taken care of with a hydrating gloss, but it's the principle.

It really is gorgeous with a gloss over it though! So I do like the stain, it lives up to most of it's claims. And even though it dries my lips out a little, it's easy enough to fix. Overall, I think this is a nice product. I can't say as to whether I will be buying more in the near future, but I really prefer lipsticks to lip stains. I really only wanted this to try out the product. I also have a sneaking suspicion that this stain will dry out rather quickly. I can't be sure as I've never used this before and there's no way of telling how much is in there, but I just have a feeling.
If you've had any past experience with this product and it's life span, I would love to hear it. Maybe you can talk me into buying another, who knows? Til next time!