Swing-ing Sixties eyeliner; Review

By Jo Phillips

Cent - brigitte_bardot When you think of the 60’s you think of The Beatles, Carnaby Street, Rock n Roll, Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy, monochrome fashion and that eyeliner flick.

For this month’s beauty review, we decided to put the best black liquid eyeliners to the test, by trialling them to create our own 60’s flicks, and here’s what we found.

Creative Director Jo trialled the Double wear Zero smudge liquid eyeliner by Estee Lauder (left eye) and Givenchy’s Liner Couture Precision Felt Tip. (right eye)

Screen shot 2014-10-24 at 22.35.08  “Estee Lauder was an excellent black finish, with a slightly thicker brush than most.  No smudging and was really nice matte result without looking ‘dry.’  Excellent staying qualities…almost to the point it was a bit difficult to remove!”

 “Givenchy’s version has a mid sized brush, which I felt was a good size, not too small or thin.   It never smudged and was really black and nice matt without looking ‘dry’.  The brush was a little hard but not too bad when running over the eyelid.  Excellent staying qualities and when taking off at end of the day it came off well.

Donna our Fashion Editor trialled Eyeko’s Visual Eyes Liner against the Ligne Blackstar from By Terry.   Screen shot 2014-10-26 at 14.08.11

She commented that “By Terry’s pigment wasn’t very strong at first but with a couple of layers it looked much better.  Once it was on, it lasted ALL day which I loved.  The pen style was easy to use with regards to creating the cat eye.  The pen was sturdy and so that helped to create a strong graphic line.  I found the Eyeko trickier to use overall, despite it being a pen style, though I felt that the intensity of the black is fantastic.
Beauty Editor Alexis put Chanel’s Ecriture de Chanel stilo pen (Right) and Guerlain’s brush and inkwell style liquid eyeliner (Left) through their paces.  Here’s what she found:

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“The pen style of Chanel was super easy to use, though I didn’t feel as though I had as much control over the line as I did with the brush format of Guerlain’s version as I got a much sharper, cleaner finish first time round where I had to go over a few times with the Chanel pen.  Both had extremely black ink and dried to a beautiful finish, though I would say the Guerlain looked a tiny bit more matte and the Chanel resulted in a more glossy looking black.  

Good staying power from both too, I think Chanel’s pen style is great for beginners whilst the gold handle and glass inkwell packaging of Guerlain is a treat for more practiced eyeliner fans.”

 

Leah on our editorial team trialled Stila’s s (Left eye) Stay all day Waterproof liner against MAC’s Superslick liquid liner (right). She says:

Screen shot 2014-10-24 at 22.36.09“MAC’s Superslick liquid eyeliner is waterproof, smudge proof, and goes on effortlessly. Applying this sleek eyeliner was easy to do, and created the perfect level of blackness with one easy glide.  It lasts throughout the day, and manages to retain its vibrancy taking you from day to night.

With a thin marker tip, the Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner is the right size and shape to create the 60’s flick. However, to create the best results meant I needed 2-3 glides of the eyeliner to perfect its darkness. This made it somewhat difficult to apply with the precision I would like, but its long lasting durability is definitely a plus.”

 

Yasmin from our Design team tested out Topshop’s liquid liner (left) and the Nars eyeliner stilo (right eye). Here’s her thoughts:

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“The nip of this pen was quite thick therefore easy to create a full thick line on the eyelid but quite hard to create a precise flick as it was too thick to thin the line out at the end.  The pigment was not as black as I was expecting, so had to go over it three times for it to be the level I am used to, but the durability is fantastic!

My make up bag is FULL of Topshop products as I love the range of lipstick colours they have so I was excited to try their eyeliner.  The nib is perfect to create a thin line and create that ultimate 60’s flick so I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn’t got much practice creating that winged liner look.  This too is not as black as I had hoped, so I had to go over a couple of times till I achieved the colour I wanted.”

Our NY based fashion contributor Claudia tested Urban Decay’s 24/7 Waterproof liner (Left) against Burberry’s Effortless Liquid Eyeliner (Right)

Screen shot 2014-10-24 at 22.53.14“The precision tip of the eyeliner made it pretty easy to use and easy to create a definite flick.  The pigment of the Urban Decay eyeliner was very black but had a little hint of green, and it wasn’t difficult to remove and it didn’t smudge at all, despite a lot of running about.    Both Burberry and Urban Decay have ultra-fine applicator tips which helped to draw on an even line and both had long-lasting hold.  I loved the ergonomic design of Burberry’s pen style liner however. It gave me a solid secure grip and I felt much more in control when applying the liner. This just gave it the edge of the two types.”

 

Art Editor Angelina put Bobbi Brown’s Long Wear gel liner (left) against Illamasqua’s Precision Ink liquid pen liner (right) and felt that…

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“Both of the eyeliners are easy to use (my problem is that I never wear eyeliner which makes it difficult for me to put it on – especially the liquid one) … The black of the liquid one is more intensive and I think it looks much better than the Bobbi brown one. Although the gel eyeliner was easier to put on. With a bit of practice I would definitely go for the liquid one – it creates (if used correctly) a very sharp and intensive line.”

 

Fashion Junior Avy tried Butter London’s matte liner (left) with Nyx’ Two-Timer Dual Ended liner (right) and said;

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“The Butter London’s nib is very flexible so it is easy to draw your desired style, and keep the line straight (especially for people with shaky hands like me!).  The pigment is deep so you don’t need to stroke it few times to make the line more visible. The style of the pen is very comfortable, the middle – slightly rough & concave, so that your fingers won’t slip while you’re trying to work with it.   Whilst the NYX liner has a kohl on one side – soft, but strong so it’s easy to navigate and even if you press it a bit stronger (to make more vivid line) – you won’t break it.  The felt tip side is quite short so you need to be a a little bit more detailed when working with lines.  As well as additional pressure, you need to be more precise, but the colour is rich and glossy.  The NYX liner is a perfect tool for vamp look, which is eternal.”

So there you have it, a huge selection of the best brands across the market.  But before we leave you, we need to tell you about some makeup artist kit favourites: the 3 dot liner from Clarins, which allows you to really go to town on Twiggy style lash designs as well as perfect the flicks thanks to it’s clever triple pointed applicator.   Whilst a firm favourite for those working red carpet is Chantecaille’s Le Stylo liner, which like most of the styles trialled in the review, is in a pen format.  The nib is precise and firm to use so it’s an excellent one for creating all kinds of liner styles, whilst the pigment is excellent upon first use and stays put till you remove it.  Be quick for this one though, it’s been selling out everywhere so we think the secret is out!

Cent - eyeliner - twiggy

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