Mary H.K. Choi’s Desperate Hunt for an Eyeliner Replacement

Theprioritiesforitsreplacementinorderofimportanceareasfollows

Oh, I loved the price and wanted to love the rest of it since NYX came heavily recommended. Sadly, I can’t condone it. It arrived completely dried out. As arid as the desert and entirely unsalvageable even with my desperate administering of life-giving micellar water. The brush was the smallest of all, shortest, thinnest, and even still featured a stray. There was a stubborn, wiry piece that had broken free of the nib that would scrawl a faint line that was indifferent to the efforts of the whole. I may have gotten a dud sample, but the tip alone doesn’t inspire any affection.

Even while acknowledging my pecuniary biases, I would have happily converted to Lancôme’s Artliner were it the true dupe of my dreams. The tip, as promised, was exactly the same as the L’Oréal and while I could steer it with virtually the same level of skill and confidence, the formulation was a little anemic. It required a double coat, which is not a deal-breaker, but I also didn’t love that it was a screw top rather than a yank top. A fiddly chore before a fiddly chore is not my favorite.

For someone who is routinely overwhelmed by Sephora as a shopping experience, I am usually a big fan of its house brand. Unsurprisingly, its nonbrush black liquid liner is a contender in many ways, but the nib is moody. While the tip is long and pliant, there’s little consistency with whether or not the line would draw regardless of how much pressure was applied. The formulation was truly formidable but ultimately felt a little plasticky to me.

I imagine this is their Lineur Intense Felt substitute and while I had to overcome whatever resentments and biases I harbored for it not being the Felt Lineur Intense, I was pleased with the formulation. My quibble was that much like the Sephora tip, it was persnickety, the delivery would be inconsistent until the capillary action of the pigment would kick in which made it less trustworthy than I like. Trust is everything in that first moment of liquid-liner contact. It establishes the fate of the whole enterprise.

This featured far more consistent delivery than the Sephora or L’Oréal, but its dependability comes at a price. The nib is too hard. Without sounding too much like eyeliner Goldilocks, the true line comes at the cost of an unyielding tip that causes drag and skips over the eyelid. If you move at a slow, deliberate pace, you fare better, but the process proves tedious once you consider that whatever line you commit to has to be accomplished twice. That said, the formulation is incredibly hardy. Possibly the most stalwart of the bunch and might be great for the oily lidded or those searching for a truly waterproof eyeliner grail. This does, of course require a little more effort in the removal.

Far and away my favorite. I was shocked by how much I loved it. And despite this liner not being readily available at any CVS, it is worth the forethought, planning, and price. The nib is exceptionally long, precise, and yielding enough that it doesn’t skip. The formulation is also terrific. True black. Matte and lasts all day but is easy to remove without rubbing or turning into little pigment pellets that inevitably scatter in your sink basin.

This features a sponge tip that delivers beautiful liner coverage and dries quickly. The nib moves with precision for the absolute finest line, and you can move forward and backward to deliver pigment. That said, the tip is sensitive. Erring on the side of too precise for my needs, but this is not a deal-breaker. The formulation is also terrific but not entirely waterproof, though perfectly serviceable for all-day wear without migrating. All in all, since these are readily available on Amazon, I will likely keep a few on deck.