Loose Powder

I discovered the MAC counter at Macy’s around 5 years ago – I got sucked in by the pretty, vibrant colors like a crow drawn to gold. My first few purchases were eye shadows, which I loved, and at some point I decided to give their eyeliners a shot. I’d tried a zillion different eyeliner pencils over the years, none of which I was super happy with. They were either too thick & I had trouble making a nice concise line, or they were hard and scraped on my lid when I tried putting it on, and the few liquid liners I tried were a disaster. I’d pretty much given up. I started with one of their Powerpoint Eye Pencils, which I was somewhat happy with, but didn’t use too much. On the advice of a friend, I then picked up one of the Eye Kohl pencils, which I was assured was soft, went on nicely, and also lasted all day.

Well - found my holy grail eyeliner! Until I try something I like better, this is my all-time favorite eyeliner ever. I started with the color Rosemary & Thyme, which is a shimmery green/gold and loved that. My next color was Teddy, which I’m reviewing here - a nice, coppery brown. The pencils are soft enough to apply really smoothly and usually evenly without clumps, and when sharpened to a nice point they go on very concisely. On top of going on nicely, it also stays on nicely – I can wear this all day and at the end of the day, it will look almost as good as when I put it on. I got a sharpener from MAC (probably could’ve found one cheaper, but…) and sharpen it probably every 2x that I use it; it sharpens pretty well and doesn’t usually break or get peely or anything.

Teddy is a great color. I’d tried mostly purple or black eyeliner previous to discovering these pencils and I figured I should branch out a little. It’s a soft coppery brown that I wear with tan/neutral, brown, pink, etc. shades of shadows. You can also shade the color up your lid a little to add to your shadow – the pencil’s soft enough that is smudges and blends well.

(Pic – left, just bottom lid lined – right, bottom & top lids lined with Orglamix mineral eye shadow in hot chocolate. Yes, I was too lazy to do both eyes up for the photos. )

At $14.50 they aren’t cheap, but for me it’s worth every penny. All in all, these are fantastic eyeliners for me and I will be continuing to buy them.

Eyeliner is my main man when it comes to makeup. I can go without anything else, but I have to line my eyes and I’ve used just about everything: powder, pencil, liquid, and gel.  On my latest drugstore run, I bought L’oreal’s  High Intensity Pigment Color Rich Cream Crayon in Perfectionist (i.e. black).

Once you use it, you'll never get back the nice, sharp tip it had when it was new.

I think “eyeliner” is loosely applied here. Marketed as a versatile eyeliner and shadow product, what it really delivers on is the high intensity. The product’s thick and creamy texture make it a poor eyeliner. It’s hard to control and easy to smear, especially once the tip becomes blunt from use. It does have a conveniently-placed “sharpener” at the other end, but the crayon is so soft the tip just keeps breaking off and making a mess all over my fingers.

I wouldn’t recommend this as an eyeliner, unless you’re about to play football or single-handedly annihilate a dictator and his army for kidnapping your daughter.

It does, however, make a great eye shadow base, especially for the sparkly, bright colors in my palette that I couldn’t otherwise wear to work. So far I’ve tried the black HIP Crayon under greens and purples, with great success. I applied the black base all over the lid, then patted the desired color over most of it, starting at the outer corner, blending out the edges, and working my way in. The effects depend on the composition of the eye shadow, but the variety of the Color Rich Cream Crayon colors seems like a great way to tone down a bright shade or make a sparkly shadow pop.

Pros: Long-lasting, bold color that makes a great base.

Cons: Too sloppy to be practical as an eyeliner.

I feel like there’s a use for every kind of eye liner, but gel liners are really my favorite so far. So aside from the crayon that wished it was an eyeliner, I also bought the Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in blackest black.

Mac Fluidline

I’ve actually been using Mac’s Fluidline eyeliner since I first saw it a few years ago. Not every day, but it’s a very good liner. Gel is easier to control than a liquid liner, and I think it stays put a bit better. At the very least, you can layer more on and it won’t fade or flake, or dry with that weird plasticky sheen that some liquid liners unfortunately have.

Maybelline Lasting Drama

But after trying  Maybelline’s gel liner, Lasting Drama is my new daily must. It’s every bit as good as  Fluidline for half the price. It lasts all day and has passed the sweaty work-out test without smearing at all. I will definitely be buying more of this liner and trying out the other colors.   But here’s the bonus:

It comes with a brush—a  small tapered brush that comes to such a fine point, you can really control what you do. That’s not to say it’s 100% mistake-proof, but I’m getting really good at doing fine lines at the outer corners, which I could never quite pull off with the angled eyeliner brush (sold separately) I used with the Fluidline product.

Pros: Easily manipulated, waterproof, long-lasting gel liner paired with a great brush. It’s a conveniently-packaged duo of eye-defining perfection.

Cons: I haven’t found any yet, but I will keep you posted.