Awesome Eyeliner! Review and Infoze!

OK, how about a little cheapy treat? I need to tell you about my new current favorite product of all time for the moment. I got this eyeliner, see... Yeah. It's e.l.f. (shocker, I know), and it is just an extraordinary product.

The Essentials Waterproof Eyeliner Pen (2$ each!) is not like any other eyeliner I've ever had. I don't know if it's the applicator tip or the liquid's chemical makeup or what, but I've never used anything like it. It's not exactly a liquid liner, but it's definitely not a pencil. It's filled with a thick, inky liquid like regular liquid liners, but you don't dip a brush into a pot of paint to apply it, and it doesn't act like liquid eyeliner at all. It's like all pigment or something... closer to a henna, maybe, than anything else; it's really hard to describe. But it. is. awesome.


Here is a jump break because why not. Clickenze link for all the gory details!

[Let me apologize now for not including any pictures. :( I just got a new computer (finally yay) and copied all my pics and stuff over. Well, the last time I plugged my phone into a new computer, it copied over every single image from the hard drive and filled itself up so badly I can't even add a damn contact. So I'm a wee bit gun shy. =\ Hopefully I can post some pics of the pens themselves, the tips, and even some action shots soon.]

This eyeliner comes in a pen-like apparatus that has a spongy, fibrous tip which comes to a very fine point indeed. Since the tip is tapered and wider toward the bottom, it's easy even for me to do matching, even, precision lines that are either thick or thin. For the first time in my entire life, not only can I have eyeliner that doesn't look like a toddler did it with their non-dominant hand, I can have it all styled and... chic... and have both eyes match! I gave a couple of these as a birthday gift to a friend of mine who swears she's even worse at applying liquid liners than I am - and hasn't used them regularly in years because of that - has bought all the colors and now swears by this stuff!

The tip is stiff and sturdy - it's not rigid enough to poke your eye or anything, but it doesn't flop all over the place - so tiny lines are totally doable as well as nice, thick, bold sweeps and even cat-eye type flares. It never wears down or rubs itself (giggity) to bluntness. The tips of all of mine are as sharp and fine as the first time I used them, but given the tip's material, it would be easy to just snip off a corner and make it sharp again or trim off any stray fibers.

But the awesome applicator isn't the bonus; it's the liquid itself! I don't know what this stuff is made of, but it's absolutely a miracle! You know how e.l.f's (and really most other) liquid eyeliners are really slick and shiny, very much liquid paint? It's not like that at all. It goes on liquid, but it dries (almost immediately) matte. It doesn't get painted onto your eyelid so much as it just colors it. No matter how much you layer on, it never dries hard, crinkles, or flakes off, ever.

Oh. Wait. Did I mention that these are TWO DOLLARS EACH?? Oh I did? Oh.

The colors are BOLD, too! It comes in crazy bright purple and teal and green and ash gray (and more!) as well as your standard black and brown. Unlike lots of other eyeliners, the darker colors are clearly visible for what they are. They don't all just end up looking black; the color really stands out. You can apply it lightly or with just one swipe for a more subtle, pale line, or you can go heavy for the full rockin' effect. And it doesn't rub itself off (giggity) or need to set and dry before you can go back over it or, like, open your eyes. It's almost like a tattoo in that it just produces a color exactly where you put it without any of the effects of having painted something on, the color just exists there. Maybe it's like what a Sharpie would do? Seriously, I have trouble putting into accurate words exactly how this stuff works.

Even though it doesn't flake off or anything, it's still easy to remove it. Soap and water, just plain water and some damn good rubbing, or a makeup remover pad (THESE are fucking awesome and just one tiny pad can completely clean off 10 layers of 80s night goop from both eyes!) gets it off with no residue or leftover. Sweat, rain, or time won't get it off easily, though; I think it may actually earn the name waterproof for once.

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BUT lemme stop whoring this stuff out for just a minute. While I highly, highly recommend this eyeliner and still think it's one of the best I've ever used, unfortunately it doesn't get all 5 of my stars. It's packaged horribly. It's an amazing product terribly conveyed, and that really detracts from its perfectness. In fact, for some, it could possibly ruin it altogether.

For one thing, it's really hard to get the cap off of the pen cleanly, so if there's any buildup of liquid in there - and there often is for me, I'll tell you why in a sec - when you yank it off, the liquid splatters all over your bathroom. If it were a twist-off cap, that problem would be eliminated. It's just a pop-on, though, and it's really snug, so you have to either pull hard or carefully place your fingers and nails and finesse it off. It's the same with all 5 or 6 of them that I have, so it's not just like one bad cap, either. Alas.

But the majorest of major bummers is... well, the whole pen design itself. The tip can go really dry after just a minute, whether you've got the cap off or not - but not every time, no consistency at all! - and I cannot find any clear way to re-wet it (like you'd sharpen or twist up a pencil or just dip the brush into the pot, that is) for the life of me!

I honestly can't tell if the liquid is kept in the big pen part or just right in the cap. The pen seems to be a tiny bit squeezable, but not enough to be able to squeeze any liquid onto the tip. If you twist the cap, there is audible and tactile feedback, almost as if there is some kind of spring in there, so it seems like maybe you're supposed to... but that doesn't do anything. And when it does go dry, sometimes it can really affect the way the liquid goes on. I've had one corner of one eye super bold and all the rest pretty desaturated. I've had the whole shebang all pale when I wanted to go bold.

Luckily I've found a couple ways to rig it, I just don't think that's the intent, and there just MUST be SOME way that's built in! I've even emailed e.l.f., sent a message via their website, and tweeted @askelf looking for the designed way to revitalize the tip, but I haven't heard back. I'm hopeful their social media girls will have some useful instructions.

Anyway, what I do is just wet the pad of my finger and lightly roll the applicator tip across it. That usually brings the boldness back until at least the next time I use it. A couple of times, just gently wiping the tip with a napkin has helped. In desperate situations, I will bottom of the pen - the end opposite the tip - and shake the living shit out of it. Sometimes that works like magic, sometimes it does nothing, and sometimes it fills the lid to the very brim with thick ink. That's why I said above that I'm super careful taking off the cap! I've made my bathroom look like it was attacked by a squid before. Whatever method I use, I have always ended up being able to refresh it and get it back to good.

If there were some way to rejuvenate the tip - if you could twist it or squeeze it to force the liquid from the pen into the tip - then this eyeliner would literally be PERFECT.

I have at least one of every color (I doubled up a couple), and even my expensive ass Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner - which I do actually fork over nearly 20 bucks a pop for because I adore the color selection - can't hold a candle to e.l.f.'s product's longevity, ease of use, or look and feel. Honestly and truly, the two buck chuck here is the far superior product.

So all told, even with the technical difficulties, the e.l.f. Essentials Waterproof Eyeliner Pen is still the best eyeliner I've ever used in my entire life.

GO BUY IT YOU WILL LOVE IT I PROMISE!