Makeup Withdrawal

Showing posts with label eyeliner. Show all posts

Eyeliner Sandwich Technique

Friday, July 20, 2012

Come on, this post's title involves the word sandwich. How could you not want to know more?

It's been ridiculously hot this summer in Minnesota, with temperatures in the 90s and uncomfortable humidity. My skin has been super oily and sweaty, meaning that my eye makeup pretty much melted off each day. While searching for a way to make my liner stay, I discovered a way to also really make the colors pop.

I own a few liners that are sort of sheer. Interesting colors, but not very good payoff. You know when you line your eyes over and over again with the pencil, and even after layer after layer it still looks rather weak? So, the eyeliner sandwich was born.

After applying my eyelid primer (I use either LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer or e.l.f. Eyelid Primer if I'm only doing a wash of color) and apply my shadows, I start with one layer of eyeliner. I then take a black shadow (I've been working with matte ones like Calvin Klein Night Dusk or Rock & Republic Fatalistic) and a small brush (I prefer angular) and apply it on top, firmly patting it into the shadow. Then, apply the eyeliner again on top.

Here, I've used L'Oreal HiP Cream Crayon in Intricate sandwiched with Urban Decay Perversion shadow.

I've been really thrilled with the results. Colors that were just 'meh' on their own now have really great color payoff. Vibrant jewel tones that I've wanted all along. This has let me rediscover some products that I've literally left sitting untouched in my stash for forever (like that Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil and that L'Oreal HiP Cream Crayon) just because the color was so sheer and hard to work with. These swiggles on the left are of the liner by itself, the right patch is after it has been layered with black shadow. Best of all, my eyeliner has been lasting all day even through the heat.

Have you tried something like this before? I know that some people use black shadow on top of their liner to set it.

Some of the products in this post were given to me as a gift by family and friends. The rest I purchased for my own use. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

Milani Liquif'Eye Metallic Eye Liner

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Hello!
Ugh, I'm aching for it to be Friday already. This has been such a long week! I spent this week trying new and exciting things (sculpting stiletto nails and helicopter perms!) including a new eyeliner.
I've actually been out of eyeliner that I like for the last ... 3 months? I've been making do with that Rimmel Soft Kohl liner, it's not the softest or longest lasting liner I've used but it's decent. Finally, last week I picked up a new liner, Milani Liquif'Eye.
I had heard good things about this liner- how easily it applied, how it was much blacker than Urban Decay 24/7 Zero, etc.
It was priced at $8 and the pencil is made of that super easy to sharpen material that's kinda plastic-y. I got Shade 01, a black that is anything but metallic.
Really, this is the softest eye pencil I've ever used. It glides on so easily, literally melting into my skin. It's so smooth, it's almost gel like instead of creamy. It's... too soft. I actually had a hard time controlling it, the first time I tried to put it on, it slipped across my lid and I ended up with a huge black streak down my cheek. I've learned to use a lighter hand though, and application has become easier. It's smudgeable for about a minute before it sets into a matte black liner.

The first day I wore this, I didn't have any other makeup on at all, not even primer. Within about five minutes, I had black rainbows smeared all over my lids.
Day two: I wore primer underneath and tried to set Liquif'Eye with a black matte shadow- Rock & Republic Fatalistic. By the time I got to school (so, 10 min) it had smeared horribly.
Day three: I finally figured that I'd try Liquif'Eye with full eye makeup. I used primer, and did a full EOTD with my NARS Pleasures of Paris Palette. I also set the liner with Fatalistic. This time, it lasted all day- 12 hours or so.
I guess this liner needs the whole get up to last on me! I'm not sure why, I wouldn't describe my eyelids as super oily or anything. That's too bad, there are some days when I just want to run out the door with a couple swoops of eyeliner on. Another thing I noticed was how fast I went through this liner- I've only had it for a week but because I have to keep sharpening it (the 'lead' is really thick and to get a nice clean look, I have to sharpen it every use) and I've used about 1/2 of an inch in that time! I'll use up this pencil in no time.

Even though I did somewhat like this liner (so black! so smooth!) I do prefer Prestige Total Intensity Liners (which, might I add with frustration- I CAN'T FIND ANYWHERE! They're out of stock everywhere I look!) and will go back to them as soon as I've finished this pencil.

Have you tried Milani Liquif'Eye Liners? Did you like it?

Product featured was purchased by me, for my own use.

La Femme Cake Eyeliner Sealer

Sunday, May 16, 2010

I may never have to buy another eyeliner again. Ok, aside being slightly over the top and blasphemous, I did find a product that is just plain awesome. La Femme Cake Eyeliner Sealer.
What it is: a small little squeeze bottle with half a fluid ounce of eyeliner sealer. This is great, great stuff. More useful than liquid gold. Actually, pretty much everything is more useful than liquid gold. I mean, what would you do with it? Pour it over your cereal and eat it? But I digress.
Here's the thing. You can use this liquid to turn any loose or pressed eyeshadow into liquid liner. That means I have about 200 new liners to mess around with.

Here's a few examples:

And these are just cheap eyeshadows! All under $5. Heck, the LA Colors shadows are from the Dollar Store. But look at the way that teal ends up being a fantastic matte liner that doesn't budge all day and is easy to manipulate because it's thin like ink.

You just simple add ONE drop (it'll be enough, trust me) of the sealer to any cake liner or shadow and mix it. Preferably with loose shadows (scoop some out so that it doesn't contaminate the rest). On shadow cakes, it will kind of ruin the texture of the shadow, so you'll want to limit the spread of the sealer and just use it in one corner. The more shadow to liquid ratio, the more pigmented the liner will be. Mess around with it! I recommend using a really small angled brush or bend eyeliner brush with it.

La Femme Cake Eyeliner in Grey

La Femme also makes eyeliner cakes, and this product goes really nicely with those. Another similar product is Ben Nye's sealer. However, I found that Ben Nye's version wasn't as long wearing and the liner fell off (in strips too, like wall paper or something, extremely odd) mid day.
I wouldn't recommend this for the waterline, because it does sting a little. The best part about this product is the price. I bought the sealer for a mere $3.50! Since each application takes literally one drop, 0.5 oz will probably last me for years to come.
So? What think you?

Dueling Eggplants: L'oreal HiP vs Maybelline EyeStudio Liners

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Ah, violet liners- how you tempt me so. It doesn't matter that I already have about 5 of you in liquid and pencil form but I crave you even more.
Now, I finally got around to getting the L'oreal HiP Cream Liner (I'd been telling myself over and over that I really didn't need it, but it was 40% this week at CVS and free with my bonus bucks) and I'm glad that I did.
Dark plummy liners are so shhhhhhexy. Blargh, that usually drives me crazy when people type like that, but for aubergine colored liners, I'll make an exception. I like how they're completely professional looking (when applied liberally of course) but also great for doing a dark violet smoky look to make eyes smolder.
I'm blabbing, on to the actual review.

Here's what they had in common: both came with brushes that I wouldn't really use for liner. The Maybelline brush actually makes a great lip brush, great for nice edges. But I don't like how it's rounded, I'm a liner control freak that requires precision. The HiP one could be usable in a pinch, but the applicator is just so small it becomes hard to handle. Both are also housed in small glass pots, with plastic caps.
Quick note: This is NOT my wrist. It's my fiance's. That's why it's really hairy and a tad darker than mine (he's about NC25), I did not become infected with lycanthropy . Also, there was no way I could drag him outside to take pictures, I'm afraid you'll have to do with indoor shots with flash.

The Maybelline one is much more sheer and though it's billed as a gel, is harder to work with (kind of chunky). Also- a pet peeve of mine is that in the picture of the 'final look' on the packaging it looks really opaque and dark, but in actuality it's got kind of got gold shimmer and really quite see-through, requiring many layers to build it up. The few times I've worn it, it's smudged. Grr.
The L'oreal HiP one is creamier, but more blue violet than the other and darker. It's more subtle, less shimmer and much more opaque. Easy to work with, as you can see it only takes one swipe to reveal the color. This one wins, hands down. It might look dull to those looking for a pop of color- it's really more of a 'unblack' when lining the eyes. Pretty long lasting on the eyes as well.
Tiny bit of difference in the amount- L'oreal 4.5g vs Maybelline 3g.
Here's the worst part- you want to know the reason why I swatched it on Mr. MakeupWithdrawal? Because in the few times I've played with the Maybelline one, it has stained like you would not believe (Luckily, this is the type of thing he won't notice). Seriously- gross grey stains that take a few days to come off. Come on now, Maybelline- what's the deal here?

The Search for Cheap Plum Eyeliner

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

You know how Greek heros like Hercules had quests? Well my quest is to find the perfect smokey purple eyeliner under $5. Is it that unreasonable to hope that there is a beautiful plum out there, slightly shimmery but not too much smokey grey in it? Is it also too much to ask that this eyeliner stays on all day, doesn't smudge and happens to be waterproof?
I bought 3 different liners, and tested them out.

The first one is from e.l.f., I bought for a dollar. Now usually when I review a product, I leave a bit of room for the possibility that I might be wrong about a product and let the reader decide if it's worth the investments. This isn't one of them. This product is the single worst cosmetic purchase I have ever made. It's hard to draw a line with it- sure, it performs well when you draw on your hand, but when you actually use it on the eyelid, it tugs the skin quite a bit. At the same time, it's greasy feeling and fades off right away. Completely rubbish for an eyeliner. I tried to salvage it by using it all over my eye lid as a dark base. What a mistake! The next morning, I woke up with whiteheads on my eyelid. Whiteheads! Eyelid!
The next one, which is a step up (barely) is the Wet'n'Wild MegaChrome Eyeliner in Antique Amethyst. This one was about $2 dollars when I did a BOGO free with WnW products at Walgreens. It still was rather dull but this one was definitely creamier and didn't make my eyes break out.
My favorite one so far is the Ulta brand Automatic Eye Liner in the color Raisin. It's got great color yet I think the most appealing part is the waterproof qualities- once you apply this liner, it stays. No little purple rainbows even if your eyelids are greasy. The best part? I bought this at Ulta for a dollar during one of their sales (normally $7). So it is indeed to find a spectacularly pigmented eye liner in an interesting color that is still cheap. I highly recommend waiting to purchase colored eyeliners when there's a sale of some sort going on (no matter the brand- anything from high end cosmetics to drugstore makeup), also keep in mind the return policies- I like buying from places that let you return used makeup for any reason at all (it's why I love CVS!).