Review : Black Eye Liner

So like I said in my last post this is my black liner review. I wear liner on a almost on a everyday basis, unless I am staying home in the weekend and not wearing makeup at all, I have liner on. I like a very heavy cat eye and prefer liquid liner to anything else. This review is just about all the black liners that I have and what I think about them in regards to pigmentation, how long it lasts, and so forth. So if you are in the market for a good black liner I hope this review can help you.

So for pencil liner I own several even though I don't use them much. From top to bottom here is the list:

L'Oreal Pencil Perfect in Ebony

Revlon Colorstay

MUFE Aqua Eyes

Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner

Milani Liquif'eye

I can easily say the best one I have tried so far in regards to staying power and pigmentation is the Milani. I don't every reach for the L'Oreal, Smashbox or Revlon however the Revlon is good because it comes with a small sharpener and decent better pigmentation than the L'Oreal for a drugstore comparison. MUFA Aqua Eyes does smudge on me and I feel like the pigmentation could be better so on the rare occasion that I'm in a rush and can't find the Milani in my makeup drawer I will reach for the MUFE. I don't think the MUFE is a good buy especially for the price. Go for the Milani if your looking for an affordable pigmented liner. Again I only really wear pencil on the waterline. If you are looking for a good black liner for your upper lash line that is not drugstore then I think MAC does really have some good ones. I never bought any just because I know I'm not going to use it so why spend the extra $ but I know several people that use MAC pencil liners and it looks good on them.

I only own one gel liner which is MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack. I have tried several others such as the L'Oreal Hip and the Maybelline one but those just didn't work. Too gunky and got in my contacts. I do like this liner. It goes on smooth and with primer it really doesn't budge for most of the day. However the only downfall is it does take time to put on. I just don't really have the time for this on a day to day basis. However I do like this on my lower lash line when I go for a really smoky look cause this can blend out quite nice. I think this costs around $14-17? For the price I do think its worth it if you only like gel. It will last you a long time so long as you seal the cap on tightly. Also if you are going to buy any gel liner from either drugstore or department I suggest you buy only ones that are in glass containers. This is simply for the fact that potted liners can dry out easily and I feel like glass pots with plastic tops seal better and plastic pots with plastic tops. 

I love liquid liner. I don't think pencil or gel would ever be able to give the same effect as liquid. Thats just my opinion and maybe I haven't tried as many good pencil or gels but I have been using liquid since high school and I don't really plan on changing that. In my last post I wrote that I like brush tip liners because I feel as though I can't get as thin, or clean of a line with felt. So for the majority of the last 8 years I have been using L'Oreal Lineur Intense brush tip liner and when they came out with the Carbon Black version I started using that. Recently I bought MAC Liquidlast liner to try out which is also a brush tip and it is waterproof whereas the L'Oreal isn't.  I have been using both for the past two weeks which is kind of way this post took so long because I really wanted to test this liner out. I have to say that I like both, but there are pros and cons to each.

Let me start off by talking about the L'Oreal, this liner is great if you have a steady hand and do not need waterproof. The only reason I think it could be better if is they came out with a waterproof version because towards the end of the day after maybe 12 hours of wear it can flake a little bit. This Carbon Black version is very pigmented, and dries down to a shiny black finish, almost patent leather looking. For the $7-9 dollars this cost at the drugstore this will always be my go to. The good thing for me with this not being waterproof is that because I have a heavy fold, sometimes if I'm not careful and patient while waiting for this to dry and blink or something it will transfer up onto my lid and it is quite easy to remove since its not waterproof. But regardless I would still love it if they came out with a waterproof version or just fixed the formula so it doesn't flake as much? Don't get me wrong its not like big chunks will flake off its more like the wing part and I think its partially cause I end up touching it a bit..and keep in mind I do wear this from 7:30AM to 7:30PM so for the price and the pigmentation and how long it lasts its pretty good.

For MAC Liquidlast, I did some reading on other peoples blogs and forums before I purchased it. It was one of few companies that had a brush tip not in a pen form, waterproof liner. But be warned this thing is pricy especially since you get very little product. If you go in store and see this bottle is very tiny and I believe I paid $17 + tax for this. First time using it I honestly though crap maybe I will return this, because since the formula is waterproof this is not as liquidy as the L'Oreal, it is like the middle ground between liquid and gel, so it can get gunky. I eventually warmed up to the product and let me just say when they say waterproof it really is waterproof. I usually wash my face with Philosophy Purity Cleanser at night to take off all my make up, even mascara and liner and this does not come off. You need a good eye make up remover for it. It dries down to a matte black finish, very good jet black pigmentation and stays all day. So the only downfall to this is its expensive for the amount of product you get, it can get gunky so you need to make sure you seal the top on tightly. You will probably have to buy another one before you finish the bottle because I honestly think by halfway through it will be to gunky to work with. Will I re-purchase this? Maybe because it gives me what the L'Oreal does not. Will this be my new favorite over the L'Oreal, no I don't think so. I think I will only use this for like nights out   and still use my L'Oreal when I go to work.

Below are swatches of all the liners mentioned in this post. 

From left to right:

MUFE Aqua Eyes

Revlon Colorstay

L'Oreal Pencil

Smashbox Limitless

Milani Liquif'eye

MAC Fluidline 

MAC Liquidlast

L'Oreal Lineur Intense

As you can see all the pencil liners I have are definitely not as pigmented as the liquid or gel liners. 

This picture is just after rubbing my finger through once. As you can see the L'Oreal Lineur Intense comes off very easily because it does try to this patent leathery feel, so if you rub your eyes a lot I would recommend that to you. Of all the pencils the L'Oreal pencil does come off the easiest as well. 

This final picture is with Neutrogena eye make up remover on a cotton pad and just wiping through on time. As you can see almost everything comes off which is should since that's what eye make up remover is supposed to do, but look at the MAC Liquidlast, it shows the most resistance, which is good and bad because yes I do want me liner to stay all day and not budge but when I come home, I don't want to spend 5 minutes just to remove my liner.  

Hope this was helpful and apologies for taking so long. 

Thanks for reading, please subscribe.

-amy