You know what "they" say right? Never ask a girl with winged liner why she's late.
I love me a good flick of liner, but brush + pot of gel liner = time I don't always have. Plus, it seems like every time I'm in the mood for some dramatic liner all my liner brushes are dirty (note to self, wash brushes more often!) So imagine my excitement when I heard about an innovative new product that combined the look and texture of gel/cream liner, with the convenience of a pen applicator. Perfect, right? Let's get into the nitty gritty...
Officially releasing on June 27th, I managed to get my paws on a mini of the Benefit They're Real Push-up Liner, named the same as the well received They're Real Mascara (which I actually really didn't care for). It's innovative pen design boasts what the brand calls it's AccuFlex™ angled tip which is designed to gently pushes lashes aside so you can get the absolute closest to the lash line. A click or two of the pen releases the supposed ultra black, matte, waterproof formula through the tip for super precision. One of the reasons I never like typical felt tip pen style liquid liners is because it is rare to find one that dries to a matte finish, is waterproof and doesn't flake, so needless to say, this had some pretty big promises to live up.
So did it live up to the hype? So far, yes!
Did it make application any easier or quicker for me, though? Not yet. In fact, the first time I used the liner, it was a complete and utter FAIL. It didn't go on smooth, the wings were wonky, and I ended up washing both eyes and starting over. I'm chalking this up to growing pains however, because once I got the hang of it, it was perfectly easy to work with. If you have slightly crepey lids lid me, you may find you need to ever so slightly anchor the lid taught with a finger to get smooth application, since this is a gel and thicker in texture than a liquid which would glide on. The tip does get extremely close to the lash line, as you can see in the picture there aren't any gaps between lashes, and I didn't even feel the need to tightline!
Is it waterproof? Yes! I learned this the hard way when I went to remove it after the first botched application. There is a remover branded specifically for the removal of this and the mascara, but any good oil based eye makeup remover will get the job done. It was a slight bit stubborn, but in my mind that is a plus - I hate migrating melting eyeliner.
Did it flake or smudge? No! This was another big concern of mine. Often I find eyeliner flakes away in the inner and outer corners of the eyes, and after wearing this all day long I can truly say it didn't do that on me. Now, it wasn't an overly hot or humid day here in Vancouver, but I have horribly watery eyes and was rubbing my eyes all day, and almost all eyeliners smudge on me, which this didn't.
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| Believe it or not, these pictures were taken about 6 hours after application! |
Are you excited to try this? Have you had a chance to preview it? What is your favourite black eyeliner?
