I’m still a liquid eyeliner novice. Back in May, I received a limited edition medium brown felt tip eyeliner from essence. It’s the perfect shade for me, and the felt tip that’s part of the slim pen is so easy to use that I can’t make a mistake. I’ve had it a while, and it is almost out of “ink”. It’s from a European LE so I’m out of luck on getting a replacement, boo hoo.
So I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement. I doubt that a dupe for the essence shade of brown exists in a liquid. I lowered my expectations and started looking for any liquid brown eyeliner with a felt tip applicator.
I went to CVS armed with a 20% discount coupon, good for all non-sale items. L’Oreal had two different products that claimed to have a felt tip. One looked more like a pen, Lineur Intense Felt Tip, and the other one was L’Oreal Waterproof Telescopic Precision Liquid Eyeliner, a little bottle with a long wand top. They were priced about the same, and both had brown shades. I went with the Telescopic because the shade of brown looked a little less black than the other one. Neither was close to the essence shade.
I was eager to give it a try, and I went right to it. Much to my disappointment, the felt tip was nothing like the essence felt tip that held its shape and was easy to use.
The L’Oreal Telescopic Precision felt tip is more like a brush with too much give for a novice like me. I found it hard to control, though the result wasn’t bad. Plus the formula is very wet, and a little migrated into my eyes. I wasn’t able to make a thin line. It was difficult for me to wing out. And the dark brown shade reads almost black. This was not what I had in mind, so back to CVS it goes.
Another issue for me was removing it. I have dry eye, and I have tiny plugs in my lower tear ducts that prevent my tears from draining. (Sounds strange, I’m sure.) I try not to tug too much on my eyes when removing my eye makeup. This eyeliner kind of flaked when I removed it with makeup remover. It wasn’t difficult to remove, but all the little flakes got into my eyelashes and into my eyes. Not good. If I didn’t have eye problems, it wouldn’t be an issue, but with my situation, it was.
While this product wasn’t right for me, it would probably be fine for someone with more experience and dexterity. I will go back to using a wet slanted brush with one of my many brown eye shadows.
The price is anywhere from about $7.99-$10.49, and CVS charged $10.49 for it before the coupon kicked in. (Because CVS always seems to have the most expensive prices, I only shop there with a coupon. This weekend, there’s a 30% off coupon that would put the price in line with other retailers!) The size is 0.06 fl. oz/2 ml, and it comes in black and dark brown.
Ingredients: Water, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Bis PEG/PPG 16/16 Dimethicone, Sorbitol, Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Laureth 2 Benzoate, Sodium Methylparaben, Ammonium Hydroxide, Sodium Cocoyl Apple Amino Acids, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Sodium Polyacrylate, Potassium Sorbate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Trisodium EDTA, Coconut Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, May Contain (+/-):, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 77266 (Black 2), Mica, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)
L’Oreal doesn’t promote “not tested on animals”, so I assume it does. The product contains parabens, that some may wish to avoid. There doesn’t seem to be any gluten-based or derived ingredients in the product, but if you’re gluten-free, you should carefully review the ingredients.
So, what’s your favorite eyeliner? Got any liquid eyeliner recommendations for me?
I’ve tried liquid eye liners and it takes me a while to apply as I feel liquid is so unforgiving. I prefer gel or pencil eye liners.
I do have a felt tip liner from Loreal called Loreal Lineur Intense in Earthen Rock Brown. I haven’t used this product in a while and not sure if Loreal still sells it, but it is a nice brown, not too dark.
Monica.
That was the other one I was considering, Monica, but the shade looked a little darker so I went with this one. The felt tip had too much give for me. Oh well!