A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Yesterday, I talked about recession-proofing your makeup with a bargainous £6 eyeshadow and today, well… you’ll see…

We’re living through some seriously tough financial times… upon this, I think we can all agree.  Yet, out of this seemingly never-ending recession, beauty brands really haven’t done too badly.

You see, in times of “austerity” (oh, how I loathe that word and all it stands for), life’s luxuries have to take a back seat… there are bills to pay, food to buy, and children to clothe.  And of course, all of these things are far more important than the need to satisfy any aspirations for a more extravagant lifestyle.  Except that, quite understandably, it’s precisely now more than ever that we genuinely need those fluffy distractions and escape from reality that life’s superficial offerings can deliver.

And so, instead of spending our pennies on designer clothes, handbags and expensive holidays… we’ve turned our attentions to slightly less flahoolick things such as shiny lipsticks, nail polishes, and Groupon-funded spa treatments.

In the midst of all this… it’s quite clear that some brands didn’t get the memo.

Launching today, exclusively at Debenhams.com is this rather spectacular and horribly-priced coffret, The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Vault… yours for just £240.  Now I could go on about what a ridiculous waste of money it is… but the truth is, if I could afford one… I’d be at least somewhat tempted.  After-all – and as much as I genuinely hate to call this a “bargain” – I can’t argue with the fact that this 40-shade set represents a saving of £320 compared to buying each eyeliner individually.

I could argue the toss that unless you’re a regularly-employed makeup artist, you have no bloody need for or business owning that many eyeliners.  But then, I’d be a bit of a spoil-sport wouldn’t I?  I’d also have to hide my ridiculous eyeliner stash under the bed and try very, very hard to keep a serious face whilst doing so.  And let’s not even talk about how much eyeliner you’d have to apply daily to use them up before the recommended eyeliner “use by” allocation of one year.

To put it plainly, that’s some serious investment right there.

However, I know that in all honesty, you care not one jot.  Because look at it.  It’s fucking amazing.  Lend us a tenner?

Will you be buying it?  Would you, if you had the spare change?  There are only 40 “vaults” available and the U.S stores sold out in 9 hours… you’d better be quick if you’re going to nab one!

The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Vault is available online now, from debenhams.com, priced at £240

Please tell me that you had to read my title twice!  Childishness aside, I thought I’d share a recent purchase with you.

Just as with foundation, I love the promise of a new eyeliner.  You may have noticed that I’m not a gel liner kinda girl, which was tricky in the old days because when I first started blogging, it was ALL about the gel liner.  Oh lord how I tried to make them work for me, I bought brush after brush… slanted ones, angled ones, thin ones, push ones… and liner after liner… but for the life of me, gel liner is something I am just never going to love.

This was a frankly devastating situation because I wanted a flick.  I wanted ALL OF THE FLICKS.  And you can’t do that with kohl, well… not unless your name is Charlotte Tilbury, and I’m only halfway there with the name thing.

“What about liquid liner?” I hear you ask…

Well, up until the time I started blogging… I hadn’t even heard of gel liner.  All my friends used kohl or liquid and I couldn’t. bloody. do. liquid either could I?  The closest I could get to achieving the semblance of a straight line was with the Ruby & Millie i-writers (remember them?), but even then… I couldn’t do it consistently.

I wish I could tell you that I’m about to share the secret of the liquid eyeliner.  I’m not.  All I know is that my unevenly hooded eyelids make the task trickier than it ought to be, which explains why despite copying exactly how my peers applied their liners, my flicks would always be wonky.  All I can say is: don’t give up.  Find the tool that you feel gives you the most control (even if you aren’t quite there yet) and keep practicing.  For me, it’s always been felt-tip shaped liners.

Massive introduction over, the POP Ink Outliner Eyeliner is a pretty brilliant felt-tip shaped eyeliner which you should try if you struggle with your flicks.

Let me tell you about it…

This liquid liner is a chunky affair, built like a giant kids crayon with a stubby length and chubby girth (“girth” *beavis laugh*).  You can see that the nib is also super-sized, rendering it useless if you want super-fine lines but marvellous for those of us who want to rock a more dramatic look.  The felt tip is quite firm but soft enough to give a little flexibility at the tip without sacrificing any control.

With a light stroke, you can achieve a fine line but it does take a little patience.

I’ve only been using this for around a month, but it doesn’t show any signs of drying out.  Infact, the closure “click” is very strong and it takes a bit of effort to pull the lid off – it gives the impression that they’ve paid attention to preventing it from dehydrating too rapidly – something which can be a real problem with this kind of eyeliner.

The formula is inky black and dries quickly.  It promises to be water-resistant although I feel that it sometimes fades quicker than I’d like, especially as I’m one of those awkward people who cry when they laugh.  It doesn’t even have to be that funny.  I don’t have watery eyes at any other time, life’s a bitch.

The swatch above shows two single swipes, one using just the tip and the other, showing a firmer press at a 45 degree angle.  The beauty of this eyeliner for novice application is partially thanks to the fact that you don’t have to repeat your lines, one pass and the pigmentation has reached its full potential.  It also cleans up very nicely with the tip of a cotton bud should you make any mistakes.

POP Ink Outliner Eyeliner is priced at £10.00, and is available to buy online at www.asos.com and popbeauty.co.uk

How are your flicks?

I perpetually live in hope when it comes to the Precision Inks from Illamasqua.  For whatever reason, my body chemistry and the polymer-whatsits inside the formula repel one another.  I also know that I’m in the minority when it comes to having trouble getting them to stay on my eyelids but regardless… here’s a quick review of the latest Precision Ink from the great (Great?) British brand…

The Precision Ink provides a neatly tapered, perfectly controllable “brush” with which to dispense the product along the lashline – it’s well designed and allows both precision and decent coverage without needing to take multiple passes.  When you get the hang of how the liquid flows from the brush you can use the angles to your advantage and swiftly draw both thick and thin lines.

The formula is fairly wet and does occassionally attach itself more to my lashes than my lashline… but I find that to be true of most non-pen style applicators, whilst they’re great for providing quick coverage, you may have to do a little cleanup afterward, unless you’re very handy with an eyeliner!

Now, as for Wisdom… what makes it special?  What made me hope and pray to the Gods of makeup that the formula and I would finally, magically become compatible?

The shade.

Wisdom is an absolutely beautiful gilded olive/antique gold – it reminds me a little of Urban Decay’s old liquid liner in Honey… but perhaps a little more sheer.

I’ve swatched it above both on its own and over a black liquid eyeliner to demonstrate the depth of pigment.  Wisdom makes a fabulous alternative to the usual black and is light enough to work really well as part of a simple neutral, work-appropriate look whilst adding a little “interest” to a look that you might be a bit tired of wearing.

Unfortunately, it just doesn’t last well on my eyelids at all.  I don’t know if it’s because they’re hooded and I literally “rub” away the product with my upper lid as the day progresses or… gosh, I really don’t know.  Either way, none of the Precision Inks I’ve tried since their launch have lasted longer than around 4 hours for me without flaking off in great chunks and leaving bald patches.  Other people I’ve spoken to on Twitter find them some of the most long-wearing eyeliners they’ve ever tried.  C’est la vie.

Illamasqua Precision Ink in Wisdom is part of the limited edition Generation Q collection, priced at £17 and available on counter and online now, while stocks last.

Do you have a nemesis product that you just can’t get to grips with?

* press sample

I’ve been wearing a lot of kohl lately, reaching over my usual liquid liners in favour of a smudgier, more deconstructed look than normal.  This Summer, Clarins have released one of the most-beautiful-to-hold kohl liners that I’ve ever used.  The Clarins Kohl Kajal promises a soft, creamy texture that’s both deeply-pigmented and delivers a long-lasting formula.

I know that there are many different methods of applying kohl kajal and I tend to hold the larger-than-normal nib horizontally, running it along the lower waterline back and forth to build pigmentation before squeezing my eyes shut and hoping for a good amount of transfer to the top lashline!  I’ve never really been able to simultaneously run the nib along both upper and lower lashlines.  At least, not without my eyes watering.

The beauty of kohl is that its softness really delivers product into the base of the lashes, making them appear thicker and giving your eyes greater definition.  The Clarin’s version allows great manouverability with the application thanks to the cleverly designed packaging, you can tell I’m digging the packaging right?

It’s not all good stuff though as this doesn’t deliver enough pigmentation to make me delirious with joy.  Although quickly buildable, if you do the transfer method of application like me, you’ll be squinting like nobody’s business in an attempt to increase the depth of colour.  This does make it more suitable for work-appropriate looks but I do like a bit of inky blackness from my kohls!

The formula smudges easily (in a good way) but resists migration down my face admirably despite the warmer weekend weather.  I wouldn’t say that it ever fully “set” on my eyes (I was able to go back in and blend out further an hour later) but it remained on my waterline for a good few hours and between my lashes for the entire day.  It’s perhaps the perfect solution if you’re looking for a subtler version of the Indian kohl pencils.

Clarins Kohl Kajal is available to buy on counter and online at Clarins.com, priced at £15.00

* press sample

You know how I love to come across an unexpected beauty bargain?  Well, this one is my latest and it’s from the M&S debut Limited Collection make-up range.  The range went live last month, you can read more about the brand’s new beauty ventures in this post but the main thing you need to know about the M&S Limited Collection is that everything comes in at under £6.00

The Limited Collection includes almost everything a girl needs for her daily makeup bag from foundation to bronzer, nail polish to cheek tint and most things that fall in-between.  I was sent a few random bits and bobs from the new collection and I’ve got enough of a feel for the products to confidently call this one out as worth a look next time you’re in store.

The shadows come in a range of finishes and although I suspect that some of the base products will be a little hit and miss when it comes to shade selection (light, medium and dark anyone?) there are some funky nail shades on offer and this little gem of a liquid liner really turned my head…

This liquid liner in turquoise packs one hell of a tropical punch in the colour stakes.  It’s incredibly pigmented and doesn’t do that annoying liquid liner thing of pushing the pigment to the edges of the line, leaving the centre colour-free and in need of seven more layers.  The above swatch images show a single sweep of colour (except for the very outer “v” on the eye where for neatness’ sake I had to go over it).  My only caveat with this product is that it takes a while to dry… I’d say around 90 seconds to set, that’s quite a long time when you’ve only got five-minutes to do your face in the morning.

Marks & Spencer Limited Collection Liner in Turquoise is a complete steal at only £4.00 for 6ml.

* press sample

As the summer approaches, my thoughts turn to bullet-proofing my makeup to last the course of a hot, tiring day.  I don’t know about you but despite my dry skin, the first to make a dash for freedom is any and all makeup down the bridge of my nose.  Then my eyeliner melts into my tear ducts, developing into hugely attractive eye bogies before the last of my foundation gives up the ghost and literally puddles in the area where my nose meets my face (hello face).  If it’s really hot, my eyeliner will also strive for symmetry and create matching lines across my upper eyelid where the “hoods” rest gently on the lash-line.  It’s a beautiful sight to behold.

Bobbi Brown’s new Long-Wear Eye Collection promises to stay the distance without letting you down or showing you up.  The eye pencils from the new collection are richly-coloured and deeply-pigmented.  They’re creamy and have that soft, gel formula reminiscent of my beloved Avon Mega Impact/Supershock Gel Eyeliner (whatever they’re bleedin’ being called at the moment).

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils* are available in six shades: Jet, Mahogany, Black Navy, Black Plum, Hunter and Smoke, providing a colour option whatever your personal taste.  I really like an off-black range that carries the density of an inky black but without the harshness on maturing features.  Not that my features are maturing, shutup.

These pencils haven’t given me any trouble sharpening, the uber-softness of the Avon ones means that I do need to chill them in the fridge for half an hour prior to sharpening, total pain when you need a pencil stat.  I didn’t have to do this with the Bobbi Brown pencils.

Mahogany is swatched on the left, Smoke on the Right.  You can see the density of pigment is really quite impressive.  It’s a teeny bit less pigmented than the Avon offerings (which are insanely pigmented) but as I said earlier, they do provide a little more precision during application thanks to a firmer texture.

Here are the same swatches after scrubbing the back of my hand with soap and water for a good 30/40 seconds.  I was impressed that they didn’t smear or transfer as I swiped and rubbed.  You can see that the pigment has eroded in places but if you imagine that swatch as drawn across your lash-line, I think you’d be fairly happy to emerge from the swimming pool 3-hours later with that much still intact no?

Unfortunately, whilst I think these pencils are brilliant.  This is where the praise ends.

I’ve been comparing these all along to the Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils (which don’t come in as many shades admittedly) simply because the Avon ones are my benchmark and indeed, my daily staples.  As I swatched both alongside one another, I expected the Bobbi Brown ones to outlast the Avon.  They don’t.  They wear identically both on the back of my hand and on my waterline, around 5 hours.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are priced at £17 each.  The Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner pencils are currently priced at £4 each.  And there’s the rub, I’m not going to recommend that you spend extra money needlessly… both are fabulous long-wearing, densely pigmented pencil liners.  The Avon ones are substantially cheaper.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils are available to buy on counter and online from BobbiBrown.co.uk

* press samples

Jen is from London and works in PR/Social Media.  She’s a bonafide beauty junkie with a self-confessed “mild” shopping problem!  The following article is a guest submission, you can read more from Jen at A Beauty Junkie in London.

Hello!  Jen from A beauty junkie in London here!  Whilst Charlotte is away on her holidays (not that I’m jealous at all) I’m doing a little guest post for you!

Here’s a little look at the new Khol & Contour Shadow and Light Pencils* from Bourjois.  These pencils each include a light and dark liner shade that compliment each other.  The light shade in each of the pencils has a metallic sheen to it whilst the darker one is matte.

Bourjois Khol & Contour Shadow and Light Pencils

Natural Light

With Flash

Shade wise, the dark shades are all consistently pigmented and feel creamy when used.  Of all of them, the navy blue is the weakest in colour pay off.  The paler shades on the other hard really vary, of course as they are the paler shades the colour pay off naturally contrasts with the darker ones… but when looked at alongside each other the ‘dragee’ shade (the one with the blue) is a bit lame.  So overall, the marine/dragee shade is my least favourite.

I also found that the texture of the lighter shade was a little crumbly, with the tip of the pencil breaking off of when I went to swatch them – because of this I’d definitely swatch them before first use as you don’t’ really want it going in your eye.

The two stand out colour pairings are the khaki and the champagne gold and the brown and the ‘caramel’ purely on the strength of the pigment and how the colour combinations are safe and neutral – but still slightly more unusual. If I was to choose one, I’d go with the khaki/champagne!

* press samples

If you would like to submit a non-commercial post to be considered for inclusion on Lipglossiping.com, please email for more details.

If you’re a little colour-shy when it comes to your eye makeup, coloured liners are the best place to start.  You can introduce a full spectrum of shades without turning too many heads just by adding a pop of colour to the waterline.  My favourite way to wear brights is with a flash of colour just beneath my lower lashes, it brings brightness to my eyes and makes me look a lot bolder than I feel!

Estee Lauder have released two Intense Kajal Eye Crayons this Spring, a chunky pencil with a creamy formula that lends itself well to both lining and using as a shadow.  If you’re looking for that pop of colour, might I point you in the direction of 03 Dramatic Teal, a shade that I can see flattering most, if not all, skintones.

Not much to look at in their generic stubby pencil-form, these crayons glide without pulling and yet remain firm enough to achieve some truly precise strokes across the eyelid.  The tip stays strong despite pressure and deposits nothing but creamy colour in its wake.

You need to allow around 2 minutes for the pencil to set fast and if your eyelids are particularly oily, you may find these migrate a little.  For normal complexions, these should set and hold throughout the day.  The only time I had any bother was when wearing a moisturising primer, combined with a cream foundation and to be fair – I was an oil-slick by lunchtime everywhere.

Both shades are limited edition, if you pick up one thing from the Spring Collection, let this be it.

Estee Lauder Intense Kajal Eye Crayon in 03 Dramatic Teal & 01 Dramatic Black are priced at £17 a-piece and available on counter and online from boots.com – the teal appears to be sold out everywhere else!

Following on from the Summer success that was Estee Lauder’s Illuminating Powder Gelee with it’s “tribrid” Prisma Shine™ technology, the brand have created a collection of six new eye-shadows that make use of this all-in-one liquid, powder and gel texture.

“A lot of drama on the eyes creates sensuality, a sexiness. Smokey eyes are sexy and playful and I wanted to give women different ways to wear the look, anytime.”  Tom Pecheux, Creative Makeup Director, Estée Lauder

The unusual formula strives to create an eyeshadow that applies as smoothly as a cream, gives a molten metal-esque gel shine whilst wearing like a powder.  Having played with the collection over Christmas, I don’t feel the creaminess in the formula quite as I did in the Illuminating Powder Gelee but the bounce and soft texture are equal to the brand’s previous creation.

The six shades available in the limited edition Pure Color Gelée Powder EyeShadow (£19) range are:

Cyber Copper; Cyber Pink; Cyber Lilac; Cyber Silver; Cyber Green; and Cyber Teal (not shown).

Designed to be applied with both a dry and a wet brush, I’ve swatched them all on bare skin to show the difference between the two types of application.  With some shades, the difference is extremely noticeable as the metallic shine amps up to extraordinary proportions!

A few points to note about the shades…

Cyber Copper is the “brown” in the set, a great crease colour that is unlikely to let you down.  Should work particularly well with blue/green eyes thanks to the underlying warm, copper tones.

Cyber Pink is best used as a highlight shade, on my pale skin it blends out a crease colour nicely without adding too much glitz when used dry.  Also works beautifully tapped beside the tear ducts with a wet brush for some super sparkle.

Cyber Lilac is one of the most versatile shades in the collection.  Used dry, it is beautiful swiped over a standard taupey-brown crease colour, adding a real 3rd dimension to the proceedings.  Wet, well… it’s simply a stunning metallic purple.

Cyber Green is, in my opinion, the must-have in the collection, though hardly ‘green’ — this is a black with antique-gold sparkles that positively shine when applied with a damp brush.

Cyber Silver is a more wearable alternative to standard silver being less glitzy or obviously metallic than other silver eyeshadows in my collection.  I like to wear this dry, layered over another shade to give greater dimension.

All shades blend smoothly, particularly when applied dry.  My favourite method of application is to apply the shadow dry with a brush before wetting the foam applicator and reapplying in areas I’d like to build greater intensity.  Despite the all-singing, all-dancing formula, I’m not sure that colour-wise they really offer anything hugely new BUT (and this is a big but), I haven’t achieved such longevity from an eyeshadow ever.  These babies wear like nothing else, all day long with no fading or creasing.  For reals.

Cyber Lilac and Cyber Green are my top picks.

Also included in the collection are six new Pure Color Intense Kajal Eye Liners (£16) in shades:

Blackened Black (01); Blackened Cocoa (02); Blackened Plum (03); Blackened Sapphire (04); Blackened Olive (05); and Electric Teal (not shown).

Described as containing 70% pure pigments that can be used on the inner or outer rim, I’ve found them to share the same long-lasting qualities as the eye shadows.  Wear is particularly impressive on the inner rim where the colour fades but doesn’t run or disappear completely.

From the shades shown above, only 05 (Blackened Olive) is a limited edition shade, the rest will make their way to the permanent line.  I found 04 (Blackened Sapphire) to be much harder in texture than the rest and was the only one to need warming-up prior to application.  You can see from the swatch that there is a bit of skipping in the application and from the set, it would be the one I wouldn’t recommend.

05 (Blackened Olive) and 02 (Blackened Cocoa) are my top picks.

For a ‘mini’ collection, it’s not particularly compact and as a huge fan of Estee Lauder’s Sumptuous Colour mascaras, I am delighted to see the inclusion of three new Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascaras (£22) in shades:

Extreme Teal; Extreme Violet; and Extreme Copper (not shown).

All of the coloured mascaras in the Cyber Eyes Collection are sadly limited edition and if you’ve never tried a coloured mascara before, I recommend that this is the place you start.  Estee Lauder’s coloured mascaras never make sacrifices on quality of product for the sake of injecting some fancy colour into the formula and the new shades that I have infront of me are both beautiful.

You walk a fine line with coloured mascaras, it’s easy to over-egg the effect with high street options and look like you’ve stepped off the set of Dynasty.  These are understated but have enough welly behind them to make people take a second glance!  Such a fun way to complete a look.

I put together a FOTD with some of the products.  The light was fading quickly so you’ll have to excuse the graininess in some of the pictures.

I’ll list the products used at the end.

Cyber Lilac on the lids (used dry, then reapplied wet on the lid (with sponge) once the crease colour was in place)
Cyber Green in the crease (dry)
Cyber Lilac under the eyes (wet, with a precision brush)
Cyber Pink in the inner corner to highlight (wet, with a precision brush)

Blackened Olive to line the inner rims (both top and bottom).

For the purposes of a useful FOTD, I applied a single coat of both shades of mascara, you can see in the closeup photo which eye shows which mascara!

The NEW Pure Color Cyber Eyes Collection* is available at Estée Lauder counters nationwide and online at www.esteelauder.co.uk

Are you lemming anything from this collection?  Already made your purchases?!

* press sample

I’ve heard SO much about this eyeliner over the past couple of years and following my semi-disappointment with my Illamasqua Precision Ink, I was in the market for trying out something new.  Combine this with a late night mooch around eBay, and the rest (as they say…) is history.

Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner is the finest-tipped eyeliner pen I’ve used.  It’s a brush tip rather than a felt tip and the bristles hold together tightly to provide a very tight line.

I find the formula to be quite watery and it can bleed a little but thankfully dries very quickly.  For a very dark line, you’d need to make a couple of passes which is a shame.

I paid around £10 for mine (inc. shipping) which brings it well under high-end prices but toward the top end of high street.  It does fade throughout the day and I’m not going to give this holygrail status simply because I’m not completely sold on the formula.  The precision brush though?  Well, it’s an absolute dream for winging out.

The above photo shows one pass and you can see that it could do with a second swipe, there’s a hint of feathering but check out that sharp wing!

Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner is available to buy on eBay (prices vary).

What’s your favourite eyeliner at the moment?

I fished the Smashbox Soft Focus Powder Eyeliner in Gunmetal out of a press day goody bag a couple of months ago and promptly fell in love.  Deeply pigmented with a lovely hint of sparkle, it ticked many of the boxes that the Guerlain powder liners have never been able to do for me — number one being a soft, flexible tip that doesn’t fill me with fear everytime it comes within 2 inches of my eyeball.

I think that these powder eyeliners are a love ‘em/hate ‘em type affair and after buying and giving up on the Guerlain Kohl, I thought I was in the latter camp along with all the other haterz.

Not so.

Yes, there’s fall out.  Obviously more so than any other kind of liner but I remedy this by applying before foundation and it doesn’t bother me.  You can (if you’re careful), apply without dropping a speck but if you manage it consistently, you’re a better woman than I am.

The ‘nib’ of the wand is a flexible, soft sponge that holds enough rigidity to run along the waterline but is also soft enough to provide a good application to the lashline.  I feel that the Smashbox shades are inferior to Guerlain’s which are generally, simply beautiful — but I can work with these happily.

The Gunmetal on the left contains more sparkle than the Black.  The fall out is visible and I didn’t take any care here to minimise it.   I went out and bought the Black because I loved the smoky definition that the Gunmetal provided but wanted something a little more dramatic to wear in the evenings.

My favourite thing about the Smashbox Soft Focus Powder Eyeliner is the way they wear after a few hours, the line fades evenly and cleanly – if you want something sharply defined that will look the same at 6pm as it did at 8am, these won’t be for you.  Over the course of the day, they soften and melt without straying too far and give a nicely ‘lived in’ look, not as dramatic as the whole rock-chick thing but heading in that direction.

The Smashbox Soft Focus Powder Eyeliners are priced at £19.50 each (yes, expensive) and are available instore at Debenhams, or you could save a few pennies and buy online from JustBeautyDirect.

Do you wear loose powder eyeliner?  Love it or Hate it?

Estee Lauder’s Autumn 2011 collection goes by the name Modern Mercury and includes three limited edition Pure Color Liquid Eyeliners in a trio of metallic shades.

I’ve got one of the three shades here to show you: Graphite.  A sparkling charcoal with multi-coloured shimmer that makes such a lovely change from black.  I’m already a big fan of charcoal eyeliner, it provides a softer look that still carries a bit of impact.  Infact, I’m wearing my Lord & Berry in this post on another item from the Modern Mercury collection!

Long-handled, slender and well-designed with a flexible, soft nib for drawing precision lines, the Graphite liquid liner ticks most of the boxes.  I prefer this design to spindly brushes or chunky nibs as I find they offer the greatest compromise between control and precision.

The inky formula is well pigmented and opaque within two strokes.  It dries very quickly to a smudge-proof, water-proof finish providing a metallic gleam that manages to avoid the ‘wet-look’.

It’s all great so far huh?  Except, there is one problem… it flakes.  You’ll get to around 90% satisfaction before this bothers you but really?  It shouldn’t flake at all and it’s a bugbear for me.  It won’t stop me wearing it but it will stop me wearing it with complete confidence.  The above photo was taken about 5 hours into my day and you can see that it’s holding up pretty well but there is evidence of some flaking going on… a few specks around my eyes and a little caught in my eyelashes.

You can’t see in the above photo but the top edge of the line is no longer perfect, this is the first area to show signs of wear.  I’m being pernickity (as always) but when I’m reviewing an eyeliner that costs £19.00 – it’s only right that I am.

How about some comparisons?  I dug around in my eyeliner drawer (it’s only a little drawer, I’m not completely mad) and pulled out a few that seemed fairly close (ok, the last one is MILES off!):

1.  Barry M Metallic Liquid Eyeliner #1
2.  Chantecaille Luminous Eye Liner in Pianissimo
3.  Estee Lauder Pure Color Liquid Eyeliner in Graphite
4.  Lord & Berry Liquid Eyeliner in Slate
5.  Chantecaille Luminous Eye Liner in Allegro
6.  NARS Liquid Eyeliner in Bullitt

Most of these are now discontinued but luckily, the one that bears the closest resemblance isn’t!  Again, it’s Barry M that’s coming up to be the nearest in terms of shade duping so if you’re on a budget, check it out!

Estee Lauder Pure Color Liquid Eyeliner in Graphite (£19.00) is available on counter now and online at Estee Lauder.

Do you wear grey eyeliner?  What’s your favourite?