Drugstore Eyeliners I’m Loving
Fall is usually the time of year I begin loving my brown and black eyeshadows again and wearing a smokey eye day and night but this season I have been favoring the easy clean look of perfect winged liner with a bright berry or red lip.
With my budget on my mind I tend to buy drugstore eyeliners over prestige brands because honestly, most of the time I can’t tell the difference between a 9 or 20 dollar pencil. I’d much rather splurge on a pretty Tarte Blush or an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette.
That being said, here are the liners I have been loving all fall:
1. L’oreal Carbon Black Linuer Intense Liquid Liner: This felt pen is so quick and easy to use and gives you a jet black line that wears with little flaking or smudging. My favorite thing about this pen is it dries quickly so I dont have to worry about that annoying smudge I get on my upper lid if I use a liner takes too long to dry. You can achieve a thin or thick line with the product depending how you hold and it.
2. e.l.f Brightening Eyeliner in Black: I’m not sure why this pencil is considered ‘brightening’ but I like it because even though its a pencil it doesn’t tug on my lid when I use it. The pigment of this is a dull black but that makes it easy to wear for daytime looks. I like using this before I apply my liquid liner to really fill in any gaps between my lashes. I feel like you get a much more intense look this way. Another bonus, since I can sharpen this to a super fine point I can use it on the inner third of my lashline if I don’t want to pull my liquid or gel liner all the way to my tear duct.
3. L’oreal Carbon Black Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil Liner: I have a love/hate relationship with the product. I love it because it’s crazily versatile. It works amazingly along the water line and is a gorgeous jet black color. You can sharpen it and use it like you would liquid liner and map out a perfect winged eye or you can work fast and smudge it for a smokey look that won’t budge all day. My issue with this pencil is it’s so creamy that you can sharpen through it in 2 weeks. I hate products that use up easily, especially since this isn’t the cheapest drugstore liner.
4. Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in Blackest Black: I love using gel liner when drawing any kind of cat eye or winged liner look. No matter how nice liquid liner looks, gel liner always looks slightly better to me. Using gel takes longer for me though so I usually reach for my liquid pens when I’m in a hurry. This Maybelline product is amazing. I’ve had it almost a year and it hasn’t dried out or become flakey. The product goes on smoothly, has gorgeous pigment and great lasting power. This also works on my water line and lasts at least a few hours before it disappears.
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Physicians Formula: Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Kohl Kajal Eyeliner Trio
I purchased two of these Physicians Formula Kohl Kajal Eyeliner Trio’s last week when they were buy one get one 50% off at CVS. They came in a number of different sets based on eye color, I purchased the Green eyes and Blue eyes set. My eyes are actually hazel but I liked the colors that these came with better and I have green contacts that I wear often anyways. I’ll start by saying I have picked these up and put them down without purchasing probably 5 times in the past few weeks. They always caught my eye but then I couldn’t figure out why they were shaped so oddly and how you would sharpen them, so I would put them back down. However, since they were on sale I bought them. After getting home I started having second thoughts though so I started reading some reviews online. They were all bad. Most people said the tips broke off and the point wore down quickly. There was no way to sharpen them and once the point wore down you were stuck with a blunt end that was too wide to use. That gave me second thoughts again so I started researching Kajal eyeliner in general just to see if I was missing something. That’s when I had my aha! moment. These aren’t supposed to be used like a regular eyeliner. When using them you hold them so the stick is parallel with your eye, this does not wear down the point. So again when you use this do not hold it so that the tip makes right angle to your lash line but instead slide the eyeliner on it’s side across your lashline. I hope that makes sense!
Now that I had done my research I decided I would give these a chance instead of taking them back. I have good and bad things to say about these pencils.
I’ll start with the good.
1. I really like the color and pigmentation. I read a few reviews that said the color wasn’t saturated enough but I don’t have that complaint.
Swatches of Kajal Blue Eyes Trio
2. I found these to be fairly creamy and I did not have any tugging or pulling on my eyelid when applying this. Again, I read reviews where people said these didn’t seem soft, but I have not had that issue.
3. The box suggests layering shades together and I think you can create some really beautiful looks that way. My favorite so far is lining close to the lashline with the brown and then tracing along that line with the blue.
4. I’m still able to create some pretty cat eyes looks with these even without directly using the point of the pencil. I actually think its easier creating that shape with these then with my normal pencils.
The Bad
1. These are labeled as waterproof and are supposed to last well on the waterline. I do not find that to be true at all. It fades off of my waterline very very quickly. Also, while I like the pigmentation against my skin, it does not apply very darkly to the waterline.
2. These do not set well. I notice a lot of transference to my crease when I first apply these. It seems like they take at least a good 5 minutes to set which is not very convenient. Even then I am kind of paranoid about them smudging so I have been using a powder to trace along the edge of the line. This seems to work, especially for the liner underneath my bottom lashes. Again though, these are promoted as waterproof so I would think these would be less smudgy.
If you are looking for these in the store here is a picture of the Green Eyes set still in the box
Kajal Green Eyes Trio Package
Things To Know:
1. These are not low-maintenance eyeliners. I think they look beautiful but they take time to set.
2. This is not a precision eyeliner. Try not to use the point! Use them correctly and they’ll last awhile.
3. For the cleanest application I recommend using a powder to trace the edge of your line. This will prevent them from smudging all over the place.
4. I really liked the color and pigmentation of these.
5. I found these to be really fun to use, I recommend layering the shades.
6. I suggest wearing these for a low-key date night or a fun lunch with friends. I do not recommend these if you plan on going to the bar or dancing, I feel like if you got hot these would probably smudge away quickly.
Overall, I say give these a try if you have some extra cash to spend and you’re looking for a new product to play with. I really liked mine and I’m glad I didn’t return them 
Sidenote: I think I have a new obsession with Kajal eyeliners. I want to try some real ones from India, I read you can order them online from ebay for like 2 dollars!
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Favorite Drugstore Liquid Eyeliners
Nothing looks more classically beautiful than black winged eyeliner. One of my favorite ways to get this look is liquid liner so I’m always trying new formulas. After testing out almost every product available at the drugstore I have found the liners below work best for me. Keep in mind I prefer a felt tip because I think they are easy to use and allow me to create the most versatile eye shapes.
My first and absolute favorite Liquid liner of all time is L’oreal’s Carbon Black Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Liner. It’s super black, not too wet and stays all day. It also dries super quick. I find this has some of the darkest pigmentation of any drugstore liner I’ve tried. I’m obsessed with this and think it should be a staple product in everyone’s collection. It retails for about $8.99 and I usually try and get them when they are BOGO 50%
Another liner that works really well is the Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner. It also has a felt tip and is really easy to use. It dries fairly quickly and doesn’t smudge on me once it sets. My only issue with this is the darkest shade blackest black has a slight brown undertone to me. This retails for 5.99 so it’s a little cheaper than the L’oreal formula. The handle on this liner is also a little shorter than the L’oreal liner and my personal preference is the longer handle.
L'oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense and Maybelline Line Stiletto
If you are looking for even cheaper alternatives I have 2 recommendations; Wet N Wild’s Liquid Eyeliner and Elf’s Studio Liquid Eyeliners. Both of these products can be purchased for between 1 and 2 dollars and have amazing pigmentation. The Wet N Wild liner has a flexible brush tip that may be a little more difficult to use if you are new to liquid liners. The Elf liners have a very hard stiff brush tip. I think these are great products but I do find the formulas for both are very wet and require some extra drying time if you don’t want a smudgey mess. I also find the wear time and staying power of these are slightly shorter but you can’t beat the price.
Elf Studio Liquid Liner and Wet N Wild Liquid Liner
I own all of these in various shades and I’ll continue to repurchase them. If you have a drugstore favorite be sure to let me know so I can try it out if I haven’t already
