Sephora Smart Liner Eyeliner

This little product has made a huge difference to me. At first I was skeptical that it was just another gimmick, but for me it really works. I've always had issues with eyeliner- I think a lot of it is just nerves, I mean its a lot of pressure to get a straight line or you have to start all over again!?! So my hand always gets a bit shaky, and when I put the pencil to my eye it's like I'm suddenly blinking constantly.

Anyway, along comes this. I couldn't really understand the demo the lady in the store gave me and honestly I started getting embarrassed - I mean, a person my age who doesn't know how to do eyeliner. But basically you grip it with your thumb and forefinger, then your other three fingers stay wrapped around the back. The shape of the handle basically prevents your fingers from slipping and keeps consistent pressure on the pen.

It might not look like anything special, but I've never seen my eyeliner look this good- ever.

I think obviously, it's a big improvement for me.... Here I'm probably wearing gel liner (I cannot do soft pencils with an even halfway straight line....no way), but see how I have that little gap between my lid and the liner, and how the line doesn't extend far enough. I still can't do that flick thing, but using this liner I just press the tip down at the edge, to get the end like that above.

I like this eyeliner a lot. I didn't have any problems with it smearing or fading, and its pretty black, even over darker eyeshadows. Although it's not as easy as mascara for me, I've got the hang of it now. It's like eyeliner intuition for people like me who just don't have it. I think when I run out, or they discontinue it, I might try a regular felt tip liner and try holding it at this angle.

Essence Stays No Matter What: Waterproof Eyepencil

I remember wanting to try this out when I first read about it on the Essence website.  It is a waxy pencil, sharpening type.

I know some people think "black is black", but I'm definitely not one of those people, whether it's makeup, clothes, bags, whatever.... but especially eye products.  So that's the first thing I noticed about this... it's a little off.  But it's really almost indiscernible... unless you're someone like me.

The bottom is Essence, the top is Rimmel Scandaleyes.

I found this pencil to be dry, stiff, and tuggy.  It was all right on my waterline, but I had to go over it several times, and it did "stay all day" but it was easy to rub it off after 7-8 hours. It was not very comfortable to use on my upper lash line.  I didn't leave it for 24 hours (!?!?!) and I definitely prefer the texture of Rimmel.  

Maybelline Colossal Kajal Eyeliner

It was almost as though I couldn't not buy this, the displays are just everywhere.

Swatch: 

On eyes: 

I do like this eyeliner, but I can't use it on my waterline, although this is typical for me- I can only use a waterproof standard type pencil.  I've been wearing this daily for almost a week and on me, it lasts the whole day- it only starts to wear off around 8 hours, but at that point it's subtle, like the black is just a tad less black, and the line isn't as defined by 9 hours or so.  

Here is after almost twelve hours- I was wearing brown eyeshadow and it had basically disappeared: 

I do love the matte finish, it really is like a black charcoal, and I love the texture- it's softer than a lot of twist-ups I've tried, so it's easy to get it really close to the lash line.  If you've seen some of my other posts, you can tell I have a hard time getting my liner really close so it always looks weird having a gap- but I swear I can't notice it in the mirror, I only notice in the picture!!! 

The colour is really black, no doubt about it, but that's almost standard these days.  It doesn't go on completely dry, so there is time to smudge it if I want, which I can't do with gel or liquid liners.  I actually think this is an advantage over the gel liners, so I think I'll continue to use it until it runs out.