Hi,
I'm a bit of a eyeliner fanatic and have tried many eyeliners, from pencil to gel to liquids, from high street drug store to luxury brands. I apply my eyeliner pretty thick, (top lash line with wing, bottom lash line and water line) so its quite a big deal for be when it comes to finding a good quality eye liner.
I've researched the Internet, through blogs, review sites, Youtube and have found majority of the reviews/ tests do not actually put them through a thorough water test.
My ideal eyeliner would with stand literally being able to put my face underwater and everything staying put without going all panda eyed. So with that being said, my goal is to find an actual water proof eyeliner that can with stand water- Not just a splash or a rub.
So my first review will be for Bobbi Browns Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner.
I've read that this eye liner has won awards and it has absolutely fantastic reviews on a lot of sites. Dubbed as "the best", "smudge proof", "lasts all day", and of course "waterproof" so I was super excited to try this and put it to the test.
The Bobbi Brown long wear liner retails for around £18, and comes in a small round glass pot. Unlike some other gel liners; this does not come with a brush. Some criticisms of this liner that I've read are that the liner dries out quickly. I haven't come across this as of yet.
Consistency of the gel is quite creamy and I've found it easy to apply and comes out nice and pigmented.
The shade I am testing is "Ink Black". I've done a swatch on the back of my hand for the generic, smudge and water test. I've also applied to my eyes and submerged my face in water in a separate test.
Smudge Test-
I used the swatch on my hand and rubbed my finger over the eyeliner to test how smudge proof the liner is. The pictures below show the liner after being smudged. There was very very slight "crumbling" around the edges of the line, and a little bit had come off onto my finger but overall, the liner seemed to stay in place pretty well.
Smudge and Water Test -
For this test; i dipped my finger in a glass of water and rubbed the top half of the liner. The liner had come off quite a bit with the water and smudge.
Water submerge and soap-
After submerging my hand under a tap and using soap the line had almost come off completely.
Application on eyes test
1)Standard application- thickly applied with wing and tightlined top and bottom before submerging in water.
2) Face submerged in water with no rubbing on eyes- liner seems to have stayed on pretty well.
3) Face submerged for the second time. Swiped face and eyes lightly with hand to take off excess water before opening eyes. Slight smudging under eyes.
4) Submerged for third time, face swiped with hands to remove excess water before opening eyes - more smudging on the bottom
5) Face submerged one last time with hands rubbing excess water off. Bottom lash line completly smudged around the bottom. Top line seems to have stayed on throughout pretty well.
Thin top lash line application and tightline water test.
Ok so realistically, going by the above test; too much eyeliner underwater just won't work without smudging. As the top line seemed to have stayed put quite well- I did a thin line above my lash line and tightline top and bottom and did another water test.
1) Application before being submerged in water-
2) Face submerged under water- no rubbing on eyes. Similar to above- seems to have stayed on pretty well with one dip and no rubbing on the eye area.
3) Face submerged in water again, face and eyes lightly swiped to remove excess water- slight smudging under the bottom lash line again.
4) Face submerged under water, face and eyes wiped. Panda eyes!
CONCLUSION-
I absolutely love this liner for the texture and application. The eye liner itself seems to stay on pretty well on a standard 8 hours at the office. There's very slight smudging on the outer corner of my eyes by the end of the work shift but as a whole- the liner stays on pretty well, also need to note that my skin around my eyes and face are extremely oily at the moment due to flux in preggo hormones!
Unfortunately, as seen from the above tests- there is no way I'd wear this liner swimming, thick/thin or tightlined as it seems this liner does have a tendency to smudge with water or oily substances. I did notice, however, that the top lash line didn't smudge as much as the bottom lash line, so perhaps if you're a subtle liner wearer and only wear it above the lash line- this may work for you in water. Otherwise, I would advise staying face above the water and only light dipping in the pool if you plan on using this liner as I would only say this liner is water resistant not water proof!
Rating:
Texture: 5/5 - Lovely and creamy, easy to apply.
Smudge Resistance: 4/5 - knocked one off due to the slight smudging on my eyes at the end of a work day.
Water Resistance: 2/5 - 2 marks for not coming off completly under water, -3 marks for the panda eye smudging!
Thank you for reading !
Reviews coming up:
-Benefit - They're Real push-up liner.
-Make up Forever- Aqua Eyes- Waterproof pencil eye liner
-Maybelline Eye Studio - Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24H.
-Lancome Soucils Gel -Waterproof eyebrow gel cream
Amy x
