I don't know what I expected for the price but these lipsticks won't apply properly and the effect is a thin uneven almost runny looking coat of lipstick. Trying to apply more doesn't seem to solve the problem either. The item was in clearance so it's perhaps possible that it was old and the base oils had perhaps congealed for some reason and made them unusable but I didn't check an expiration date before throwing out the packaging so I have no idea how likely that may be. I have no previous experience with this product so don't take my word as gospel but if this is an issue that other people have brought up then I suspect that is a quality issue with the product in general.