Eye Pencil vs Liquid Eye Liner vs Gel Eye liner ♡

Have you ever gone to the store to pick up your usual eye tool to line your eyes, and wondered 1) why there are so many brands making the exact same product 2) what all the rave is between eye pencil, liquid liner and gel liner? Well, hopefully today's blog will help you out a little bit!

Side by side comparison
From left to right we have:
Maybelline Line stylist, Revlon Gel Liner, Maybelline
Master duo liquid liner.

Over the years, I have definitely tried my share of all three of these eye products. Let's start off with the evergreen eye pencil. Now I've found that the biggest difference between drug store brands and the more expensive brands is a) the richness of the color b) whether it rubs off easily (especially on your waterline) c) how smoothly it glides. That is not to say that a drug store brand will NOT provide these qualities, nor will an expensive brand unconditionally provide these qualities. It just takes a little bit of testing. I have found that Covergirl easily rubs off the eye, most especially the waterline. I have also found their colors to not be as intense. I have found myself reapplying this eye pencil about 3 times throughout the day. The plus of this liner is that it does easily glide onto the eye and easily comes off with a wash with a cleanser. There are two eye pencils I would particularly recommend. One is a drug store knock off, and it is the Maybelline Line Stylist. This eye pencil is retractable. It gives you a nice edge to easily line your eyes and create a sultry cat flick. The color is very rich, and the black color is absolutely gorgeous. The CG eye pencil pales in comparison. That being said, the Maybelline liner hardly pales at all, in that it takes a good scrub to get this thing off! I would highly recommend getting a MAC makeup remover, or prepare for a scrub off. The next recommendation is Stila's eye pencil. These go on ever so smoothly and will last all day! If you ask me, it is worth the splurge, but Maybelline does a pretty darn good job if you don't quite see yourself splurging on eye pencil!

On the left is Maybelline New York Line Stylist.
On the right is Maybelline Master Duo Liquid Liner
The top and bottom right images show how rotating
the liquid liner wand can give a thinner or thicker line.

Now let's move on to liquid eye liners. I have always been a fan of liquid liners, personally. I think they are ridiculously quick to put on, since you add a couple strokes, a quick cat flick and go about your day. They stay on until you wash them off and since it is liquid, you don't have to reapply to get the depth of color you want, making it that much quicker! My absolute favorite liquid eyeliner that I have recently started to use is the Maybelline Master Duo. It has the perfect liquid liner wand which can be flipped from side to side, with one side being thick and the other thin. This lets you control the line you want to draw. My only main complaint about this product is that it gets all over your eyelashes (well at least mine!). On a bright note, I don't really need mascara since this liner coats my eyelashes already. Keep in mind, this liner dries rather shiny, giving it a permanently "wet" appearance. That may not tickle of the fancy of some people, but going over it with eye shadow instantly gives it a matte look. Also, make sure to give this product a good shake before use though, or you will get a big hot watery mess :/ But other than that, LOVE this product!!! A tutorial on how to create the perfect winged eye liner using this product will be coming up soon :)

Now let's talk about gel liner! I am pretty new to the gel liner product, and I have found that I absolutely love it, IF I have the time that day. Gel liner takes me a lot longer than eye pencil and liquid liner combined to apply. Since I have to keep re-dipping the brush and reapplying the gel liner in small strokes to get the right shape and consistency, I have found that it takes me a while to get my desired look. The plus side to gel liner? It stays on all day long, doesn't budge, and can look absolutely stunning if you put in the time and effort. I have been loving the Revlon Gel Liner. It comes with a little brush that is stowed away in the screwable cap itself, so it is very small and sleek to take with you on trips. The gel liner itself is a very rich color and goes on very smoothly.

I hope this was a helpful post for you. If this helped you in any way and you'd like to read more on beauty and fashion tips, please subscribe! Have a lovely week!!

xoxo,
GirlontheGo