Liquid liner….friend or foe?
I recently entered the battle with the liquid liner. It is a battle indeed! I can do pencil, I can even do gel liner…but the liquid stuff, uugghh nope, disaster :O
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s liquidy, or the fact that it’s so darn difficult to make a non-wobbly line with it, or mere superstition…But I do get the point, it does look sleeker and classier on occasion. Challenge accepted ;)!
To make my life a bit easier though, I decided to try something new…the eyeliner pen. For reasons I cannot quite explain, it looked easier to me.
When I first went to the store, I saw that Essence, Catrice, Maybelline, L’oreal, etc. all offered one of those. There was even a choice between a fine liner pen, and a regular liner pen.
For starters, I took one from Essence (€2,60). Later on, during a Maybelline sale week, I scored their eyeliner pen as well. Normally it’s more expensive, €9, and I would have passed on it…but thanks to the sale, an opportunity presented itself to compare the Essence vs. the Maybelline eyeliner pen.
As far as packaging goes, the pens are almost identical: black, plastic, with a cap. The tip of both pens is a like a pointy sponge. As you see, the Maybelline version has a slightly longer tip.
Swatched:
Let me begin by saying that with the eyeliner pen, I may finally come to terms with the liquid liner. I find it much easier to use. My hand feels more steady somehow…
The Maybelline liner pen feels more liquidy, and a bit more black compared to the Essence version. It also applies a bit easier. I feel like with the Essence pen, I sometimes have to press harder to get something out. However, with both I manage to make nice straight lines.
Both eyeliner pens have very good staying power (8-10 hours, or more…I just didn’t try longer) and are very easy to remove with eye makeup remover.
Recommending one over the other is difficult and a tiny bit unfair, because in all honesty, you can achieve a very similar result using either of these products. I have a slight preference for the Maybelline liner pen, just because the tip is a bit thinner, and the application feels easier. However, Essence does offer a thinner version of the pen, plus it is cheaper.
Have any of you tried an eyeliner pen? How do you feel about it?
longlivemakeup 