I'm a huge fan of Max Factor, finding the majority of their products reasonably priced and of sufficient quality to make me feel like I'm getting a bargain when I hit their stand in Boots. One item I really love of theirs is this lipliner; I'm not actually 100% convinced that the product name is Gold as this word isn't printed on my pencil, just Max Factor and the shade name (Rose), although the lip liner is indeed a beautiful gold colour!

The lipliner is one of the best, I didn't actually choose the Rose but I was looking for a shade which was less red than my usual choice and my daughter (who had a small stockpile) gave it to me assuring me it would be the perfect match to my dusky pink lipstick - she was totally right (well done Charlotte!) and this has quickly become my favourite lipliner when I am wearing my non-red lippy.

The pencil is incredibly soft and causes no dragging as I am outlining my lips; the creaminess is wonderfully pampering and allows me to follow my natural lip line perfectly, but also makes it a doddle to alter the shape of my lips and create different looks depending on the occasion. The colour literally glides on and provides me with a strong solid line which is extremely easy to fill in with my lipstick, whether I'm applying it directly from the barrel or using a lip brush. I've found the deep pink lipstick I favour is a good match for the Rose lipliner, but if I decide to use a lighter shade of lipstick I simply blur the inner line of lipliner with a cotton bud to allow the colours to blend better.

While wearing this lipliner I'm always impressed by how well it stops my lipstick bleeding into the skin around my mouth, it feels so incredibly lightweight that even though I know it works well I usually underestimate its abilities! It does a fabulous job though; the lipliner stays put and doesn't slide off my lips plus, as I have already mentioned, it works beautifully as a barrier to prevent my lipstick from going anywhere, ensuring my make-up looks fresh and neat regardless of how long it's been since I applied it. It doesn't have the best longevity and tends to wear off at roughly the same pace as my lipstick; this isn't really an issue for me as I tend to reapply my lipstick and lipliner together anyway, but could be a nuisance for those of you who like their liner to last and leave you with an 'already there' shape to follow for fast lipstick application.

Despite the creamy consistency of the pencil it doesn't wear down particularly quickly and I don't find myself having to sharpen it too regularly. I find it deposits tiny blobs of coloured pencil 'lead' on my lips sometimes, I've tried to suss out a pattern but there isn't one - it's not when the pencil is particularly hot nor cold, it just happens! The blobs are easily dealt with using a sharp pair of tweezers, but it's faffing and sometimes I just haven't got the time - occasionally this has decided me against using this lip pencil if I'm rushing as although these blobs don't always happen, when they do they can easily add five minutes or more to my make-up application.

I really rate this lipliner and will more than likely try out other shades in the range; while I appreciate the lack of longevity will be a bummer for some of you, if you don't really care about that with lipliner (like me) then I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Thumbs up for ease of application, lipliner is a hard art to learn and having the right pencil can mean the difference between a perfectly made up appearance and looking like your ten year old daughter applied your lippy - this fabulous Max Factor pencil ticks all the boxes for me and I'll happily pay my fiver again for a replacement.