All About Black Eyeliners

I said two posts ago that I will let you know my thoughts on the Maybelline gel eyeliner, but then I thought I might as well write about a bunch of eyeliners. More interesting than just one, right?

First things first: the thing with me and eyeliners is that I have one eyelid that refuses to cooperate. I have double eyelids. My left eye is, well, normal. However, my right eyelid, for some reason, folds closer together or something, so that whenever I put eyeliner on the top lid, it will eventually smudge onto the lid by the crease. I drew a picture of it (above) so that it’s easier to understand. Because it does it on one eyelid and not the other no matter how careful I am to make the liners’ thicknesses equal, I’m pretty sure the reason is my right eyelid is just, well, closer together. Ugh, I have non-symmetrical eyelids, hahaha.

Anyway, so I have extra reason to be on the lookout for smudge proof eyeliners. I’ve tried many in the past, but here are the ones currently in my make-up arsenal (only my black eyeliners) and some others that my sister owns are mentioned as well. Jump below the cut!

(Again, can’t find my digital camera cord, so I’m stuck with my cellphone camera. It’s not *that* bad … just very sensitive to lighting, haha).

1. Wet n’ Wild H2O Proof: This is a black liquid eyeliner I bought a long time ago. The waterproof part is what sold me on it. I find this a little difficult to apply. It does not go on smoothly, you really have to work hard to put it on nicely, and not messily. I don’t want to say it goes on chunky because that’s not quite the right word, but it’s not a smooth liquid liner in any case. However, it does live up to its advertisement: it is very waterproof and does NOT smudge. When it dries, it is very dry though (like dry paint kind of feeling). Eyeliner does not somehow end up on my upper crease on my right eye. Even with make-up remover, I find it difficult to take off! So if you put in the extra effort into applying the eyeliner, it will work in the long run. I don’t use this that much just because I don’t use liquid liners much, but overall, I find this to be okay to use. I usually reach for this if I want to make a chunky black line, because it’s hard to make a smooth thin line with this liner unless you put in a lot of work.

2. Revlon ColorStay: I used to love, love, love this eyeliner and I would use it all the time in high school. It’s very liquid-y in comparison to the Wet n’ Wild one, and very easy to apply. It did smudge onto my upper crease and wasn’t waterproof but it wasn’t so bad that I had to avoid this liner. I stopped using it because for some reason, over time, the liquid eyeliner seemed to turn into water or something. A month or so after I buy a brand new bottle, whenever I applied the eyeliner, instead of a nice thick black liquid, it would be like black watercolour paint or something. I tried shaking before using it, and I tried simply buying a new one, but it always happened!! I thought maybe it was because I stored it in the bathroom, but my sisters’ liquid eyeliners are also stored there and her’s did not turn into black watercolour paint, so I don’t know what’s going on. I store it in my bedroom now, but I haven’t used it since (the one in the picture is brand new, actually).

3. Annabelle Smoothliner: I love using this eyeliner for my lower water line. It is waterproof and smudgeproof and very long-lasting (says so right on the pencil) and I absolutely love this pencil. I prefer it for my lower water line because eyeliner smudges easily for me there, and so far, this pencil has been amazing. Even when I yawn (tears come to my eyes when I yawn usually), the eyeliner stays put. I’ve fallen asleep wearing this liner and wake up with it perfectly in tact. It’s awesome. And to make the liner even sweeter, it’s very inexpensive (I think I paid $1.99 for this?). I have NOT tried it for my upper lid yet but I’m guessing I’ll also get good results.

4. Sephora Nano: This is an okay eyeliner, but is by no means perfect. It smudges onto my upper crease on my weird eye easily (after a couple blinks, actually), and when applied to my lower water line, it will eventually smudge or fade as the day goes on. It is not waterproof at all, I found out. But it does go on smoothly and easy to use. I usually use this when I have dark eyeshadow on, so that even when it smudges, it’s not really noticeable. I never use this for my lower water line anymore, since I have my Annabelle liner to do that.

5. Bonnebelle Eye Style Precise Liner: I don’t think they make this anymore, this is quite an old eyeliner of mine. It’s a little different from the rest because it is not a pencil. You twist it like you would a lipstick. I actually really like this liner even though it is a bit smudgy and not waterproof. At least, it is less smudgy and more waterproof than the Sephora pencil. And you never have to sharpen it, haha! I liked to use this for my lower water line because it goes on smoothly, and nice and dark (the Annabelle one takes a few strokes to get it on dark). It’s one of my more favourite liners because the smudging is pretty minimal. Sadly, I’ve nearly used up the whole thing and I can’t buy this anymore (at least, I have not seen it anywhere).

6. Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner: My first gel liner! I actually did not know what gel liner was until I saw a YouTube make-up guru use it (oh, so sheltered). I love this eyeliner. I use it for my upper lid, and no matter how thick I make the line, it does not smudge and seems to be fairly waterproof (when I yawn; though tears don’t usually travel up so I don’t really know). It’s easy to put on, it goes on pretty smoothly and it’s nice and dark, which I like. This has become the eyeliner I use nowadays.

I’ve also used some eyeliners owned by my sister (when I’m lazy to grab my own and her’s are just sitting right there, haha). They’re not mine, so obviously I don’t use them all the time, therefore my experience with these liners aren’t as great as my experiences with my own, so you should take the following opinions with a grain of salt. Still, here are my two cents:

1. Sephora Long Lasting Liquid Eyeliner: This is a liquid eyeliner, in a bottle much like the Revlon one in the picture. I’ve used this once, and I don’t actually really remember what I thought of the actual liner, but I do remember (vividly) thinking the brush is ridiculously thin. Most liquid eyeliners I’ve used have a standard brush size so the extremely thin brush threw me off and I couldn’t apply it very well.

2. MAC Pencil Eyeliner: Oh my goodness, I hated this eyeliner. It ALWAYS smudged on my sister’s eyes and made her look like a raccoon. MAC is supposed to be a very good brand (and it is! I love their lipsticks and eyeshadows!) so I was convinced my sister was just bad at applying make-up. She told me to try the liner myself so I did and it smudged SO bad on me. I’ve never had an eyeliner that smudgy. So … we both stopped using it. I don’t even know where it is anymore.

3. Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner: I’ve used this pencil liner a couple times. I find it similar to my Bonnebell eyeliner (except this one is an actual pencil). The few times I used it, I used it on my lower water line, and there was pretty much no smudging, though it’s not very waterproof. Still, it’s a good liner.