YSL Ultramarine Long-Lasting Waterproof Eye Pencil

While I know photos, swatches and reviews of the new Yves Saint Laurent Metal Eyes palettes might be more popular, I really wanted to share this eye pencil first, because there's something interesting about them. If you're a fan of the limited edition Giorgio Armani gel eyeliner pencils and have already used the ones you got to a tiny stub (or you simply might have blinked and they got sold out right under your nose), these YSL liners might cheer you up a little.

I don't know if the formula of the YSL waterproof eyeliners is exactly the same as the Armani ones, but they're exceptionally similar (remember both cosmetics companies are part of L'Oreal)- the gel consistency that gives a liquid-like finish, the intensity, tenacity and ease of use. So far I only bought one YSL pencil, this one in Ultramarine (#3), so I can't do a side by side comparison of the black and other colors, but I suspect it'd be hard to tell them apart. Both Armani and Yves Saint Laurent are waterproof, last from early morning to night without budging and don't smudge.

You need to keep the pencil sharpened for precision (they come with a sharpener in the box, which is very very nice), because otherwise you'll find yourself with a wonky uneven line you cannot smudge. The color sets instantly and stays there, whether you use it on your lid or on your waterline. And have I mentioned yet they're waterproof?

I love the shade of #3 Ultramarine. It's dark enough to give all the definition one wants and yet not too harsh and has a nice brightening effect. I think dark navy blue and very dark green are my best bets for daytime eyeliner colors, not that it would stop me from getting the black and brown once there's nothing left of my poor Armani pencils.

Bottom Line: a must have (and a better deal than Armani).

YSL Long-Lasting Waterproof Eye Pencil ($25) is available from yslbeautyus.com and YSL counters.

All photos are mine.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Eyes Wide Open Brightening Liner Duo

I take full responsibility for this little fiasco. I have reasonable reading comprehension skills and should have known better. But I was looking for a solution for bunny eye days and Rouge Bunny Rouge is fast becoming one of my favorite brands so I added Eyes Wide Open, the  Brightening Liner Duo, to a Zuneta order a few months ago and hoped for the best. I never use a white eyeliner on my waterline- it looks unnatural and does nothing to improve my eye situation. I liked Rouge Bunny Rouge's idea of using a flesh-tone liner instead. The problem is that my flesh is not petal pink.

You can see where this is going.

Eyes Wide Open Brightening Liner Duo has two sides. The thinner pink end is for use on one's waterline, to make it less red and open up the eye. The thick white pencil is for brightening the inner corner. Both have a cool satin finish that would probably work well for the pale and pink-toned among us. Unfortunately, I'm not in that category, hence a frosty pink disaster. I didn't like the white brightener any better. Between the starkness of the color (the swatches don't betray how bad it was on my face) and the thick consistency of the product, it was not the best option for my inner corner. A touch of gold, ivory or sheer peach wash works better on me. The one white eye shadow I use these days is Burberry and it has a certain glow that the Rouge Bunny Rouge pencil lacks when it comes in contact with my skin.

The good news is:
 1)  Last week I actually found the perfect eye brightening pencil for those of us who don't do pink. Details coming soon.
 2) Rouge Bunny Rouge has so much other great stuff to offer I don't hold a grudge.

Bottom Line: Your mileage may vary.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Eyes Wide Open Brightening Liner Duo ($34.90 at the current exchange rate) is exclusive to zuneta.com. They ship worldwide.

All photos are mine.

Sue Devitt Kalahari Eye Intensifier Pencil

There's something weird going on with my Sue Devitt Kalahari Eye Intensifier Pencil. As you can see in the photos, it's not new; I've had it for months. I first took pictures when I bought Kalahari last summer but none turned even remotely acceptable. I tried again month after months, every time I did a major swatching/photographing session. I used my old camera, my new one and in desperation even my phone. Kalahari remains elusive. I'm not too happy with this eleventy seventh attempt, but it should do. It's not like the swatch on Sue Devitt's website is so much better.

As camera-shy as Kalahri might be, it's a great color and product for the lazy person's smoky eye. I've been a devoted fan of Sue Devitt's Eye Intensifier pencils for nearly a decade. The combination of excellent pigmentation, great texture for both lining and shadowing and pretty colors has made them an essential go-to items. The results I get from lining my eyes with these pencils and then smudging (the Intensifiers have a built-in smudge applicator, but also cooperate nicely with good smudge brushes) is inversely proportional to the time and effort it takes. Adding a touch of a sheer/shimmery eye shadow over it takes it to the next level and the eye makeup is done.

Kalahri is a true gray. The finish is opaque and creamy with  no shimmer. Like all Sue Devitt Eye Intensifiers, this pencil has an ideal yield so it doesn't pull the skin, but enough resistance for accuracy and once applied and set it stays put from morning to night.

Bottom Line: a favorite.

Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier Pencils ($22) are available from Ulta and suedevitt.com.

All photos are mine.

Urban Decay Clinic 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, Urban Decay Clinic 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil  is an intense emerald green. It has a sparkly metallic finish that might be a bit too much on days you're not trying to bring out your inner leprechaun, but I saw it a few months ago at Ulta when Urban Decay first released the 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils and Clinic was too pretty to resist. Have I mentioned it's green?

The 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils have the smoothest and softest texture imaginable from a shadow in pencil form. It glides on effortlessly and gives you a short window of opportunity (less than a minute) to blend it before setting and becoming indestructible. The color doesn't smudge, budge or crease and you can trust it to stay there from early morning until bedtime. I find that it cooperates nicely with powder eye shadows so I can actually use this Urban Decay color as an accent color in an otherwise neutral, well-blended normal people's look.

I really enjoy this pencil and would probably consider adding other colors to my collection, but allow me a fuddy-duddy moment to complain about Urban Decay's habit of using drug-related terms to name colors. It's not cool, not funny and doesn't make me feel warm fuzzies towards the company or it's product, as fabulous as they might be.
/end old nerd rant.

Bottom Line: Kiss me, I'm Irish

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils ($20) are available from Ulta and Sephora, in-store and online.

All photos are mine.

Giorgio Armani Long Wear Waterproof Eye Pencil Spring 2011

The last time Armani had these Long Wear Waterproof Eye Pencil I blinked and missed them, because for an unknown reason they're a limited edition item and they were sold out before you could say "Giorgio". I was adamant about not repeating this mistake again, so now that these little pencil miracles are part of Armani Spring 2011 collection, I made sure to get one in each color- black, dark brown and green leaf.

The thing about Giorgio armani's Long Wear Waterproof Eye Pencils is the incredible gel-like texture and finish. They glide on your eyelid with ease and a fluid-like consistency, they set within a second and stay put with no smudging all day long. The pigment is clear and intense like a gel and can line the eye by itself or as a base for powder products.

The Long Wear Waterproof Eye Pencil can be used on the waterline, but I personally avoid it, since my eyes are tear-prone and eventually even this waterproof formula surrenders and the color bleeds and gives me raccoon eyes. But as long as I keep the liner on the lash line and my upper lid, these Giorgio Armani eye pencils have become true favorites.

Bottom Line: Get them while you can.

Giorgio Armani Long Wear Waterproof Eye Pencils for Spring 2011($27 each) are available from Saks, Barneys and giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com.

All photos are mine.

NARS Hollywoodland Soft Touch Shadow Pencil Spring 2011 (and comparison to Goddess)

I know it feels like NARS week here and on several other blogs, but the Spring 2011 collection, while not even in quality, seems to offer something for just about everyone. One of the better and most useful item NARS created is Hollywoodland Soft Touch Shadow Pencil. Hollywoodland doesn't have the melty Crayola texture of Celebrate, the other Soft Touch pencil from this collection. Instead, it is similar in consistency to the first batch of pencils from last year and offers an alternative to those who found Goddess too pink for their taste.

Goddess is a pink champagne shimmer while Hollywoodland is a soft gold. I love both and find them among the most useful and versatile one could have in a makeup collection. They layer, highlight, help with quick touch-ups, travel well and require no special tools or skill. Unlike Celebrate, Hollywoodland (and the other pencils) don't melt or crease on me. I use the pale colors as highlighters and the dark ones on the lash lines (upper and lower) with no issue (10-12 hours of wear in non-extreme weather) and absolutely love them. That's why I was so disappointed in Celebrate's sub-par performance. The pencils make an excellent base that ground and illuminates powder eye shadows. Layering gives that coveted lit-from-within look (try it with Dior or Edward Bess eye shadows on top). I'm still finding new ways to use them and hope for more new colors.

Bottom Line: Yes, please.

NARS Hollywoodland Soft Touch Shadow Pencil for Spring 2011 ($24) is available from narscosmetics.com.

All photos are mine.

NARS Celebrate Soft Touch Shadow Pencil Spring 2011

I bought NARS Celebrate Soft Touch Shadow Pencil (one of two pencils released for Spring 2011) before reading Christine's review on Temptalia. Between the underachieving performance she reports and the fact Celebrate has a distinct yellow base and is far less of a parrot green than promised, I'd probably have skipped this one. Truthfully, it wouldn't have been a huge loss.

Right now the NARS Soft Touch shadow pencil range comes in six colors (I'll show and review Hollywoodland in a few days). They vary in texture and perform different tasks, but up until now I liked all of them, including Palladium. Celebrate is the creamiest one of the bunch, which as you can see in Christine's review is  a disadvantage. While I experienced less creasing, the melty texture makes it pretty useless as an eye shadow. I've found that applying more than two coats is a bad idea as well as trying to cover the lid with the product. The only way to make it work is as an accent color along the upper lash line. That's where you can get creative and incorporate Celebrate into your look. That is, if you like the color.

I was pretty horrified with the amount of yellow when I first swatched Celebrate. It looked way too yellow on my arm, but apparently since my lids are darker it looks much better up there. The one perk of sporting my weird skin tone is that it really carries color very well. As long as I don't go to town with these shades and blend everything well, I can use blue and green to enhance my very brown eyes. So, yes, this crazy chartreuse may actually work (I use a beige base and ashy wheat in the crease. When in doubt go with Bobbi Brown). Also, there's a similar shade to Celebrate in  Shu Umeura Morphorium Blue Spring 2011 palette (Christine also mentions MAC Chartreuse), so it can be intensified and anchored. Not an everyday look but quite fun on darker skin tones, and used with caution (as in minuscule amounts) it's not too wild for those of us born long before 1990.

Used as described above I had no creasing or longevity issues, but that's only true when you don't even try to cover the lid, which limits the use of this NARS pencil. It also takes too much trial and error (lots of error) to figure out how to make it work. A simple eye shadow pencil shouldn't require so much effort.

Bottom Line: Christine gave it an F, I'm more in the D- camp, but honestly, you can pass.

NARS Celebrate Soft Touch Shadow Pencil ($24) is available from NARS counters as well as from narscosmetics.com.

Sue Devitt Golden Triangle Eye Intensifier Pencil

From the "can't go wrong with this" department, we have another beautiful Sue Devitt chubby Eye Intensifier Pencil. Golden Triangle is a metallic olive with quite a bit of gold sheen that would appeal to any khaki green lover. The color is so pretty, it brings out rich hues in brown eyes, looks like a million dollar and takes about 15 second per eye to apply, including blending.

The texture of Sue Devitt's Eye Intensifiers is quite soft and smooth. They are more of an eye shadow than liners- I use Golden Triangle on the lid and in the crease, with or without a wash of a nude base eye shadow (Le Metier de Beaute in Naked is a favorite). The built-in blending sponge is surprisingly good for this task, making the Eye Intensifier a perfect choice on the go. They stay put until I go after them with an eye makeup remover, so that helps too when there's no time for touch ups and mirror breaks.

Botton Line: a makeup bag staple.

Sue Devitt Golden Triangle Eye Intensifier Pencil ($22) is available at Barneys, some Bloomingdale's location and Henri Bendel, as well as from suedevitt.com.

Photos and veiny wrists are all mine.

Sisley Deep Silver Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner

As promised, here's the second Sisley Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner I picked, this one is in Deep Silver. It might or might not be a limited edition and in any case seems to have a more limited distribution online. The counters all seem to have it, but online I only found it as saks.com.

Deep Silver is an apt name. It's a grayed silver, not too light, sparkly or shiny, but definitely festive. The ultra-soft texture makes it a perfect product for a quick application if you're upgrading your day look in a hurry and want to give your lids some serious silvery finish. But it's not too over-the-top that you can't use it to draw a precise line and just smudge it a little or tone it down with an eye shadow and wear it during the day, given this is the only "statement makeup" you use. It's also great when applied along the bottom lashes- not on the waterline- for a very soft silver smoky eye.

Once again, this is the best eyeliner pencil of its kind I've ever found, which almost makes up for the obscene price tag. It has the Swarovsky crystal at the tip, velveteen pouch and a very sophisticated look, but I can't help thinking that a little modesty in packaging would have made Sisley Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner a lot more affordable and popular. On the other hand, maybe that's the whole point of the line. I'm just happy to see the beauty and quality.

Sisley Deep Silver Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner ($53) is available from Sisley counters and saks.com.

All photos are mine.

Sisley Black Diamond Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner

I'm fully aware that feeling an intense love for an eyeliner kohl pencil might be a new height of makeup geekery, especially when said pencil is an obscenely priced Sisley. But let's talk eyeliners for a few minutes, it's a good topic. I've been thinking of myself as more of a gel/cream eyeliner person for years now. Pencils were the very first makeup item I've tried in my teens- they're cheap and easily available , all brands offer them and one can go to town with them and do the Momsen (or whatever was the 1980s equivalent of this look) to the complete horror of parents and teachers everywhere.

Eventually you become a lot more sophisticated both in product choices and their application. You realize that pencils are not the most luxurious liners around. As a matter of fact, this is the one makeup item where I can easily say that some drugstore brands are doing as good a job (or even better) than many fashionable department store brands (Chanel, I'm giving you the stink-eye). In recent years the only eyeliner pencils I bought (excluding chubby shadow pencils that are a different breed) were those that offered an interesting and unusual colors, not blacks and browns for everyday wear. I've also adjusted my expectations, thinking there's only so much one can expect from a pencil and that it will never be as good as an eyeliner gel.

I was wrong.

And that's why I fell for Sisley Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner. Hook, line and sinker. Sisley is a company that doesn't play around. They make ultra-luxurious products, price them accordingly and make sure they deliver, even when we're talking about a simple khol eyeliner. Phyto Khol Star is the softest and creamiest pencil I own- you don't need to use any pressure when drawing a line. Yet, it doesn't smudge (unless you smear it on purpose), migrate or move even sixteen hours later. The line stays in place, looking every bit as precise and dark as when you first applied it in the morning.

The color itself is also in a league of its own. The pigment is intense and glossy like a gel or liquid eyeliner. But you don't need an extra brush or to work on your skills, making this Sisley pencil a huge help when doing your makeup quickly on the go (or packing it). If I understand correctly, the entire Phyto Kohl Star line is shimmery. This is definitely the case with Black Diamond and the other liner I have, #4 Deep Silver (I'll show it later this week). You can see the tiny glittery particles in the swatch, but they are not too prominent to make the liner a shine-fest and I find it perfectly acceptable for day-wear as long as you apply everything else judiciously.

The packaging is as beautiful as you would expect from a top product. Personally, I'd prefer Sisley would maybe skip the Swarovski crystal they placed at the end tip and lower the price a bit, but I do like the velveteen pouch that comes with the pencil- I hate when things get scratches and chaffs when I pack makeup in a bag or a train case.

Bottom Line: You get what you pay for.

Sisley Black Diamond Phyto Khol Star Eyeliner ($53) is available from top department stores as well as online.

All photos are mine.

Sue Devitt Victoria Falls Eye Intensifier Pencil

The chubby Eye Intensifier pencils from Sue Devitt have been part of my makeup arsenal long before starting this blog. They are wickedly efficient multitaskers that require very little skill or effort to give one a pretty look. They work both as an eyeliner (medium to thick line) and an eye shadow, can be smudged, sheered and create the perfect smoky eye. The Eye Intensifier pencils are also my go-to item for a simple casual look (aka "just dropping at the dry cleaners/post office/corner store before getting back into jammies and slippers") that still gives my eyes depth and definition. So, yes, Sue Devitt has earned her place in my shortlist with this one.

Victoria Falls is a gorgeous rich almost navy blue. It's one of the colors I find most flattering on me, both for my skin tone and eye color. It's not too bright and doesn't look age inappropriate (I keep everything else nude/neutral), but definitely noticeable in a very good way. I've been playing with Victoria Falls in several combinations and looks- top lashes, bottom lashes, paired with nothing but a black mascara or smoked out with some Chanel Bois Bleu eye shadow. The pencil always works and looks much more sophisticated that the 30 seconds per eye it actually takes.

I use a primer, of course, and the Eye Intensifier stays put without creasing or fading for about 8-10 hours (depending on weather and activity). Topping the pencil with an eye shadow cements it in place until I bring on the makeup remover. The one thing I wouldn't recommend is using this product on the waterline. Not that it's meant for that in the first place- the Eye Intensifier is many things but it's not a kohl, as I've learned the hard way- it made my eyes water and sting when I tried. It was my fault, though, so I now keep it on the outer side of my lashes and all is well.

Bottom Line: highly recommended.

Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier Pencil ($22) is available from Barneys, Bloomigdale's and Ulta, as well as through the company's website (suedevittbeauty.com), which right now offers a 20% discount for the holiday weekend (no code needed).

All photos are mine.