I think I was in my early 20s when I first discovered eye liner. Before then I was just happy with curling my lashes and adding tonnes of mascara in an attempt to make my small, almond shaped eyes appear larger. It was Kohl liner I experimented with first and I mainly used it along my lower lash line in a smudgy fashion. I was terrified of liquid liners and back in the day I hadn’t even heard of gel liners. But wanting to get the sexy but sophisticated, cat eye look, I plucked up the courage to pick up a liquid eye liner (can’t even remember the brand). Failing to get the hang of it, it was quickly tossed aside.
Now when the felt tip liners first appeared, my first thought was “about bloody time”. The concept was simple, the application fuss-free. Having said that, drawing on a flick can be tricky at times and getting them symmetrical is a mission impossible at other times but perseverance and practice pays off. Having used a fair few, I’d thought I’d put together a little review of the ones I’ve used/tried this year.
First up is the Bourjois Liner Feutre (which unsurprisingly translates as felt tip pen) in Ultra Black. This is one of the better ones I’ve stumbled across and I picked this one up when Boots were running a brand promotion which was spend over £10 and get a free felt tip liner. The pen is designed in a way that it curves inwards along the length of the pen which makes it a comfortable hold. The nib is the perfect size for me and it glides on super smooth, and it’s claim to last 24 hours suggest that the formulation is smudge proof. I’ve never worn it for a full 24 hour day, but it hasn’t ever budged when I’ve worn it for a good solid 11 to 12 hours. I just find that this eye liner takes the faff out of what can be a quite a difficult task, making a winged eye more easily achieved. Verdict? 5/5
The next one was a result of being enabled by a blogger as to who exactly, I cannot remember. The product in question? The Loreal Super Liner Perfect Slim. It has a design similar to the Bourjois one but the curved part is specifically in the area where you’re meant to grip the pen and its made with a different coating/material from the rest of the pen. I have an appreciation for products which are ergonomically designed to enhance comfort and is user-friendly. Personally though, this is one of my least favourite felt tip liners as I find the nib too long,too thin and too pointy (so the name perfectly slim rings true). It’s great for those who want precision application and for those that want to wear a subtle flick as the line it creates is one that is very fine. But for those who want a more bolder line/flick or even somewhere in between a very fine line and a strong, bold line then this probably won’t float your boat. It’s only redeeming feature for me is how pigmented the product is and this is only noticeable when swatched beside other felt tip liners. It’s not a bad product, just not for me. 3/5
I was kindly sent the Eye of Horus Liquid Define to try. Eye of what I hear you say? Eye of Horus is an Australian owned company whose products are based on the ancient Egyption formulas and ingrediants. Intrigued? So was I! Unlike the first two mentioned, this pen is poker straight with a slightly wider body. The nib sits somewhere between the Loreal Super Liner (but not as pointed) and the Bourjois Feutre (but not as rounded). It’s also waterproof so If you’ve got a long day ahead or get caught in the rain without a brolly, this liner will see you through and make sure your eyes are still perfectly preened (that is of course if you’re sporting a waterproof mascara as well). Annoyingly, as I found out about this brand through Sharon the Makeup Artist, I automatically went to the Australian site and made the order to be shipped to the UK and as a result I ended up paying more :-/ They actually have a UK site as linked above and are also stocked at cocktailcosmetics.co.uk . Having used the first two mentioned, I would say that it’s the packaging that let’s it down (and thats me nit picking). It just doesn’t sit as comfortably in your fingers as the Bourjois and Loreal liners and if, like me, you can be there for some time trying to perfect that flick, it’s just not as comfortable to grip. Good product, packaging could be improved. 4/5
The last of the bunch is one that is surprisingly a winner of a Teen Vogue beauty award and I’m guessing it was for best eyeliner. Why do I say surprisingly? Well where do I even start! I first discovered the Eyeko brand when they collaborated with Alexa Chung sometime last year. Their Skinny Liquid Eyeliner Black was the product that called out to me so I requested it as a Christmas gift. It’s not a surprise then that when I woke up on Christmas morning, I found it packaged in a Space NK bag under the Christmas tree. The packaging is slim, as you’d expect from the name skinny, so makes it easy to handle. The nib is just the right size and it was pretty much love at first application. Unfortunately the love was short-lived. Within three weeks of using the product, it had turned rock hard and there was barely any ink (is that what you call it?) left. I thought “that’s weird, I don’t remember leaving the cap off accidently”. So I gave it the benefit of the doubt and exchanged it for another one in-store (I went to a different store just incase the store my boyfriend had purchased it from had a bad batch). I was happy for about 2 and a half weeks when the same thing happened again. Rock hard. No juice. This has never happened to any other felt tip liner I’ve used. So that was it, my love affair with it ended almost as soon as it had started. By chance I got another one but a smaller sample size in a beauty subscription box this year. I was intrigued to see if it I would be let down again and sure enough, after only two weeks, it dried up like the sahara. It’s such a shame because I wanted to like it and it could have been so good! Verdict 1/5
So from a mix of price ranges, it was a drugstore one that came out on top and it happened to be the one that I didn’t really pay for. It just goes to show that a higher price does not equal better quality.
Have you tried any of the felt tip eye liners above? What is your favourite or even least favourite felt tip eye liner?