Review: Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Eyeliner in 'Blackest Black'

 Today's review is of a new liquid eyeliner I've been trying out. I was tired of getting gold flecks all over my face from the packaging of my L'Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense eyeliner, and I wasn't quite ready to shell out $20 for Stila's felt tip eyeliner pen. I decided to go with Maybelline's contribution to the eyeliner game which is the Line Stiletto Ultimate Precision Liquid Eyeliner.
The black and silver packaging is really pretty looking and quite sleek for a drugstore product.

 The precision tip the product touts is not as precise as I would like. Similar to the L'Oreal Lineur Intense (my review here!), the applicator ends in a rounded tip rather than a pointed tip like the Stila eyeliner pen I love so much. It makes creating a cat eye or wing slightly less precise so I prefer to use this liner for simple lined eyes.

I do really like the formula of the eyeliner itself, however, which makes this eyeliner pen an everyday item for me.  The black color is very inky and remains shiny through out the day which I think is prettier and daintier than a matte black liner look. This liner is also smudge free for a whole 24 hours. See this eyeliner on me here!

I prefer this liner over the L'Oreal Lineur Intense because I find the color to be a bit more inky and the packaging will not fleck off on me in the future like the gold packaging on the L'Oreal product is now.

This liner will set you back about $7 and I do think it is worth the small dent in your wallet. Other than the slightly less than precise tip, the formulation is great and worry free through out the day.

Unfortunately this is another fail in my adventure trying to find the perfect dupe for the Stila Liquid Eyeliner pen I love ever so much. This item falls just short!

xxSJ

Review: L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner in 'Black Mica'

I have recently fallen in love with a liquid eyeliner....an eyeliner this post is not going to be about. Stila's Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner is so amazing and it was all I could use over the summer. Unfortunately, my miracle marker gasped its last little dying breath a week ago so I had to find a replacement... on the pursuit for a cheaper alternative to the Stila $20 pricetag, I picked up the heavily recommended L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Eyeliner in the color 'Black Mica:'

I like the look of the packaging as there is no brand on the container whatsoever! That's kind of nice as it gives the product a rather sleek finish. The product is very lightweight and made of plastic, however, so it doesn't necessarily feel as luxurious as it looks.

There is the little felt tip. Something to note is that you do have to re-dip the applicator into the tube to get more product (like a quill and ink!) and for me, there is not enough product in one dip to complete both eyes.

The tip is very flexible as you can see in the above picture from me bending this guy against the lid. This is rather nice because stiff applicators can create a rather wobbly looking line on your eye and they are not quite as forgiving if you make a mistake, which, let's be real, no body's perfect! The flexible tip is definitely a plus.

Here is the color on my hand done in one, rather wobbly, stroke.  The color glides on very smoothly and there are not any transparent spots. I like the application quite a bit! I wanted to compare to some other eyeliners:

The left is the L'Oreal Lineur Intense, the middle is the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof liner, and the right is Urban Decay's Perversion pencil liner. Perversion definitely takes the cake for pigment, but it appeared that the L'Oreal and the Stila liners were actually quite comparable! Could I have found the perfect replacement? Weeeeeelllllll.... not exactly.
I haven't quite gotten used to the applicator tip not being as fine as the Stila marker was, so I find the wing of my eyeliner isn't quite as precise as I would prefer. Perhaps that would take some practice? Additionally, I find when this liner is applied on top of eyeshadow, it takes on a rather gray tinge instead of a pure black pigment... disappointment!

I will say that the liner definitely lasts all day with no flaking so thats great and I will definitely continue to use this product until I find a better replacement...or perhaps I'll bite the $20 bullet and revert back to my Stila ways...either way I'll keep you posted!