Pencil, Gel, and Liquid: Which Eyeliner Do You Use?

Prior to my discovery of beauty blogs, I've always been a pencil eyeliner gal. I've always found it the easiest and most convenient to apply. Although, I made the biggest crime in beauty by tugging and pulling my eyelids to get that nice and clean line on my upper lashes, but now I know better to avoid doing that... ever... no matter how much of in a hurry I am.

Eyeliner is an eyeliner right? Maybe, but then it all depends on the look you're trying to achieve. Maybe some of us are a little more simpler when it comes to makeup that either a pencil, gel, or liquid will be suffice in one's makeup bag. Not in my case.  These days I find myself using three different eyeliners. It may be two at the time or just one kind by itself. Whether it be out of convenience or depending on my mood or look I'm going for, there's always still a reason for me to reach out for all three of them. I thought having more than one type of eyeliner is ridiculous, but they do serve their purpose.




Pencil Eyeliners




It's the basic little black dress of makeup. Looking a little dead or tired? Slap this baby on your face and it can make a difference in the world. Pencil eyeliner is what got me started with makeup. A little effort of lining my waterline and I look awake almost instantly.

Pencil eyeliners are great for lining your waterline or using it to create a smokey eye by lining your upper lashline and then smudging it. My favorite pencil eyeliner of all-time will have to be MUFE Aqua Eyes in 0L. It stays put in my waterline with minimal to zero smudges at the end of the day and it easily glides on my eyelids without tugging it.

However, since I do have oily-lids, I'm not a big fan of pencil liners when it comes to lining my upper lashline (not unless I'm using it for a smokey look). It'll start to get messy at the end of the day as the liner travels up to my crease even after applying primer on my lids. It's also more challenging to get a sharper or defined line with a pencil eyeliner not unless it has just been sharpened. It's not as cost effective though if I have to keep sharpening it. So if I want a more precise line, I either reach out for my gel or liquid eyeliners.

Gel Liners





Gel liners are excellent for people with oily lids. Gel liners have a better staying power than pencil eyeliners and are pretty easy to apply. It's also easier to adjust thickness of your eyeliner depending on the brush you use. The best eyeliner brush would probably be an angled eyeliner brush since it gives you better control in lining your eyelids and it gets really close to your lashline while giving you a precise line that you want without ever having to tug your eyelids.

What's good about gel eyeliners is that it has the look of a pencil which is a little more natural but with the precision you can get with liquid eyeliners. It's great for creating a catline. Excellent for long nights when you're dancing your butt off since it has awesome staying power. My biggest gripe about gel liners is having to cary a separate brush for it. You won't be able to easily stow this away in your purse if you need to touch-up.

Gel liners are also good your lower lids but not your waterline. Use this on your waterline and you'll see it gone within minutes. But, I've also found that using gel liner is a good practice if you want to transition into using a liquid liner. My favorite gel liner is MAC in Blacktrack.


Liquid Eyeliners




Liquid eyeliners are probably the most difficult to work with out of the three if you don't have a steady hand or you're just not use to it. There is very little room for error when using this since the liner dries almost instantly and it's a quite difficult to fix once it's on your lids. But, it gives the most dramatic and defined line which makes this your best bet when creating a catline.

I've always shyed away from liquid liners because they were pretty intimidating. It wasn't until recently when my love for it grew exponentially since I've been rocking out catlines almost everyday. Sometimes when you're just in a hurry... all I really need on my face to look a bit fixed up is eyeliner. Liquid eyeliners takes a lot of practice in some getting used to, but once you knock that down, you might be reaching out for this more often.

Since liquid liners can be really dramatic on your eyes which is excellent for nighttime looks, it might look a little too strong during the daytime.

My favorite liquid liner is Revlon ColorStay liquid liner. It's inexpensive but it does the job and lasts the whole day without smudging.

See what I mean about owning multiple eyeliners? They do serve their own purpose. Which eyeliner do you frequently use?

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Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in 0L (Review)

Oh whaaaaaat?!? A product review?!?! It's been awhile (a long while) since I've done of these.



If you're wondering what's the stubby looking thing right below the eyeliner is, that would be my first MUFE eyeliner that I purchased. I remember I purchasing it last year at the Makeup Show LA. It has gone a long way for me and it has served me well. I really used that liner up til it was gone!

This eyeliner has been my best friend for the past some odd months. The time and effort I do to get ready for my face has slowed down just like my blogging did. If I was going to have some makeup on my face, this will be it. Line my waterline, and I'm out the door.

What I really like about this eyeliner is it stays on my waterline, or if it decides to wander, it's minimal to none. And it hasn't failed me yet when I'm out in the wee hours of the night dancing. It stays put. I used to touch up my liner after a few hours or clean up any smudges with other brands, but not this. And I really love how black the eyeliner is. It's really, really, really black. Just the way I like my black eyeliners.

I've mainly only used this eyeliner on my waterlines, not so much on my lids. If you have oily lids and you didn't prime your lids, don't expect a miracle that it'll stay nice and pretty because it most likely won't.


FTC: Product was self purchased. For any questions about the product review, please feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment below this post.

Product Review: H2Pro Ceramic Tourmaline 300 Styling Iron (Special Edition)

Product Blurb: H2Pro Ceramic Tourmaline 300 Styling Iron (Special Edition) incorporates advanced combination of three distinct Nano technologies: Nano Ti + Nano TiO + Nano Ag. This powerful trio instantly creates unmatched styling capabilities and health benefits, leaving your hair healthier, shiner, and more vibrant. The advanced self adjusting plates equal more smoothness and sleekness from a styling tool like never before.

Heat temperature: 140-450°F

• Nano Titanium (Ti) = enhances the ionic effect, allowing hair to absorb more moisture for superior conditioning and shine
• Nano Titanium Oxide (TiO) = removes chemical pollutants and toxins from daily exposure
• Nano Silver (Ag) = removes harmful or damaging bacteria from the hair

Price: $160

Available at: http://www.h2prousa.com/





H2Pro Ceramic Tourmaline Styling Iron packs some major heat. I've had my fair share of drugstore brands to expensive straightening irons, but this one tops my list (yes, I've tried out so many straightening irons that I have a list).

What I like about this straightening iron is that it really heats up in mere seconds. I mean it gets really hot, and it stays hot. I've had straigtening irons that don't heat up consistently which can be a problem when you're in a hurry because it's not doing its job properly. Although my hair is relatively straight, certain sections of my hair do tend to go their own way or it gets puffy. Also, my hair is really thick and sometimes it usually takes several runs of the iron to get my hair really straight. But because this straightening iron maintains its heat temperature, it only takes me one run of the straigtening iron per section of my hair which also means less time spent on the mirror straightening my hair. It takes about 10 minutes max (for me) to acheive the pin-straight hair that I always want.
The iron also makes a good curler. Since the plates are not that wide, it makes it easy to wrap the iron around your hair.

Another good thing about this iron, is it keeps my hair nice and shinny, and it doesn't dry out my ends the next day. I don't know if it's just me, but whenever I straightened my hair (using a different iron), my ends tend to get really brittle the next day. I never experienced that using H2pro.

And, one more thing to love about this product is it doesn't pull your hair. I really hate straightening irons that snags your hair. Some irons tend to catch a strand or two of your hair, and ends up pulling it. But with this iron, it only glides down your hair nicely and won't snag or break your hair.

The only negative thing I can say about this iron is it's not recession friendly. But if you are looking for a good quality straightening iron, you might want to check this one out.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5