Thursday, July 31, 2014

the collection | pencil eyeliner

Top to bottom: Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver, Rimmel Nude, M.A.C. Coffee, Urban Decay Perversion, Urban Decay Ransom, Urban Decay Mushroom.

Left to right (once swiped, once smudged): M.A.C. Coffee, Rimmel Nude, Cynthia Rowley Beauty Silver, Urban Decay Ransom, Urban Decay Mushroom, Urban Decay Perversion.

Oddly enough, pencil eyeliner is one of the things that has taken me the longest time to master when it comes to makeup. I first learned gel eyeliner and was very content with it, but I felt the need to branch out a few years ago, and here we are now.

I have swatched all the pencil eyeliners I own in the above photo. Each swatch is one pass using the same pressure I would on my eyelid. In every second swatch, I have smudged the liner by stroking each swatch three times with my fingertip.

As you can see, half of my pencils are Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On pencils. I love the creaminess of their formulas, and they make some of the most unique shades. Sadly, Ransom has been discontinued, but there are plenty other options to satisfy your purple cravings. Mushroom is my favorite shade: I have a thing for unique taupes. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it adds just enough subtle definition to rock. Its only downside is that it smudges rather sheerly, so it needs a little more layering than, say, Perversion, which is blacker than the dark of ages past.

My two least used eyeliners of the bunch are the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Nude and the Cynthia Rowley Beauty eyeliner in Silver. I bought the Rimmel liner for my waterline on sleepy days, but I can't stand tightlining, so it was a waste of $3. It is a nice formula, but the shade isn't even that great for me: it looks orange on me. If you like brightening up your waterline, though, this could be the product for you—you could even use it as concealer in a pinch if it's close to your skintone. As for Cynthia Rowley's lovely Silver, I simply don't have much need of that shade. I received it in a Birchbox a couple of months ago, but I haven't used it other than swatching it admiringly. It really is gorgeous, though: whenever I decide to use it, I'm sure that I'll love it.

Finally, the pencil that really started my foray into flick-less liner: M.A.C. Coffee pencil. I'm quite a fan of Tanya Burr, and I love the look that Jim gave her in one of her "My Boyfriend Does My Makeup" videos, which included this pencil. Tanya raves about it pretty consistently, so I decided to try it out. At first, I was taken aback by its stiffer texture, but it seems to have aged rather well in the year I've had it. As you can see, it smudges rather well. If I want to use eyeliner but I don't want a cat eye, I run this along my lashline and smudge it out with a pencil brush. It's a great standard liner, but I may try Demolition from Urban Decay once I'm out of this.

Which pencil formulations are your favorite? Do you prefer pencil, liquid, or gel?

2 comments:

  1. I love the pencils
    and appreciate this post
    it's "eye-opening!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, friend, for your
    kind words. You have made me smile
    with your wit and puns.

    ReplyDelete