Liquid Eyeliner - swatches and reviews

Liquid Eyeliner

Hi, my name is indie and I have a problem with liquid eyeliner.  Okay, so truth be told, I don't really think it's a problem, but I fully admit that I love my liquid eyeliner.  I have two daily must haves, moisturizer and eyeliner.

I almost never use pencil liner.  It smudges so easily and wears off and overall is just far more transient a product than liquid eyeliner that I rarely feel the need to use it.  Liquid eyeliner typically goes on nicely, it stays where you put it and you never end up looking like a raccoon at the end of a long day.

I know that a lot of people don't like liquid eyeliner.  They find it difficult to apply and I admit, it is a skill that you have to work at, but it is well worth putting in the work (in my opinion).

I decided to do this post in two sections.  The first is swatches of the liquid liners I currently have and the other will be a review of my favorite liquid eyeliners.

Liner Swatches

As I said above, I'm swatching the liquid liners I currently have in my case.  I use liquid liner a lot and I experiment with different brands and colors a lot, so my current stash is pretty random.  Overall, I prefer liquid liners with a brush applicator but those are next to impossible to find.  I am really not at all crazy about the felt pen liner applicators, but I will say they've been steadily improving.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that I usually tend to avoid the drugstore liner brands.  My experience has been that their coverage is often lacking and if it isn't lacking then they tend to be so thick that they flake off halfway through the day.  I'm a snob.  Sue me.

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack ($15)
Okay, not a liquid eyeliner, this is a gel liner.  But in terms of staying power, it is much more like a liquid liner than a pencil.  The fluidline goes on smooth with good coverage.  It does have a couple of drawbacks from my perspective.  First, once it's on, it's on and it can be difficult to remove.  Second, you have to apply it with a liner brush.  I don't like that simply for the fact that you then have to do something with the brush.  You either have to put it somewhere that you won't accidentally touch it with something else (or you'll have gel liner everywhere) or you have to immediately wash it (I wash the brush at least every other day if I'm using it regularly) and that just wastes the product.  (Overall, 7/10)


Arbonne Liquid Eye Liner, Black, #7822 ($24)
I should have taken a picture of the applicator.  It's strange, a floppy felt applicator that took me a long time to get used to.  The liner has great coverage with no flaking and it comes off relatively easy.  Right now, this is my go-to liner. (9/10)

Stila Liquid Eyeliner
The liner is only available as part of a palette and it's meant to be used with black eyeshadow to set it.  I take it back, apparently you can get the liner from Stila.com.  I'm still less than happy with it.  By itself, the liner is less than stellar.  It's watery with uneven coverage.  If you use it with the black powder to set, it's probably a lot better, but I personally do not have the patience for that.  (Overall, 5/10)


Covergirl Liquid Pencil
This was a drugstore find and I don't know if you can even get it anymore, which is just as well because the product coverage was crap and the applicator is bad. (Overall, 3/10)


Revlon Colorstay Liquid Liner, BlackBrown ($4)
Again, drug store find.  I don't like the felt liner.  The coverage is okay, better than the Covergirl, but still nothing to write home about.  It's cheap, but that's about all it has going for it.  (Overall, 5/10)

Sephora Long Lasting Metallic Eyeliner
originally $10, currently $5 in aubergine and copper
These look like they're on closeout so I suspect Sephora won't be selling them much longer.  The coverage for the aubergine liner is MUCH better than the coverage on the copper liner.  The copper was incredibly watery and might work well as an accent, but definitely not as a liner itself.  (Overall, aubergine 6/10, copper 3/10)

Favorite Liquid Eyeliners

Here are my all time favorite liquid eyeliners:

Vincent Longo Liquid Eyeliner, Black/Brown ($17)
 I LOVE this stuff.  LOVE IT.  It has a brush applicator (SCORE), it goes on silky smooth.  It has great staying power, doesn't smudge, doesn't flake, doesn't run, AND it is really easy to remove at the end of the day.  I want to marry this stuff.  The only problem is that it is so hard to find.  Sephora used to carry it, now they don't.  I've found it on amazon.com and on beauty.com, but you can tell it's old stock.  There is a Vincent Longo site and you can buy direct, but the shipping charges don't justify it for me, so sadly I'm currently without a feasible supplier for my beloved product.  (Overall, 9/10 -- just short of perfect because it's so hard to find.)

Vincent Longo Vibrant Eye Waterproof Liner, Moreno ($18.50)
Very, very similar to the regular Vincent Longo eyeliner, but it comes in some really fun colors (bright green, white, bright yellow).  Overall, 9/10 for the same supply issues noted above.

Arbonne Liquid Eye Liner, Black, #7822 ($24)
Fabulous coverage, funky applicator.  Reviewed above.

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack ($15)

Fabulous, just high maintenance.  Reviewed above.

e.l.f. Studio Endless Eyes Pro Mini Eyeshadow Palette – Limited Edition

I have this eternal conundrum.  I love color, absolutely love it.  But it is really difficult to incorporate into my daily makeup routine.  I have a professional management job and while I absolutely covet just about everything from SugarPill (especially the Burning Heart Palette), I have some very serious questions about how much I could really use the products in my daily routine.

So before shelling out the money for SugarPill, I decided to experiment with something much more affordable just to see what I would use and what I wouldn't use.  I understand that the product quality between a discount store product and a high end product is very different, but when you're on a budget, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I will say up front that I love e.l.f.  They are SO affordable that it really allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of trying out new products and colors.  Their quality is a bit hit or miss.  Some of their stuff I absolutely love as much as my far more expensive brands.  But there are also some disappointments - though, for $1, I can deal with quite a bit of disappointment.

When I was at Target a couple of weeks ago, I picked up the e.l.f. Endless Eyes Pro Palette for $5.  Let me say that again, $5.  The Palette has 32 colors and while I do wish they didn't skew so neutral brown/black, there is a good bit of color and for someone like yours truly who has some serious questions about incorporating color into the work environment, this was a great bargain.

The quality of the shadows isn't outstanding and it does seem to vary from color to color, but again, for $5, I'm really not going to complain too much.

I have played with the colors a little bit so far.  I used this palette and some other green eyeshadow singles by Jane cosmetics to play around with a green look for St. Patrick's Day.  

Overall, I am really happy with the value of this palette:  8/10.

(but I still covet SugarPill)