Getting your lines blurred?? Maybelline Gel Liner 24H reviewed...

When I was a teen I used to love those columns asking celebs the contents of their make-up bags and their one "could not live without" make-up product. For many many years mine was Dior's Waterproof Trinidad Black pencil eyeliner. However as I dipped my toes into the world of liquid and gel liners I now find my kohl is simply just not intense enough and am always on the hunt for the perfect gel liner...

The Detail:

The catwalks went crazy with gel eyeliner in A/W12 and so far S/S12 is showing no signs of it disappearing. This lead to every brand and her granny releasing their own version of gel liners and the good news for us is that this includes the more affordable high street brands. Maybelline's offering with a ridiculously long name, Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner 24H, comes in at a well priced €8.65 for a small pot (size not listed anywhere on the packaging as far as I can see but I reckon its about 3g). A bonus for some would be the inclusion of a brush for application but as ever with these freebie brushes I tend not to like them and opted to use one from my ever growing collection of make-up brushes! The jar itself reminds me a lot of Bobbi Brown's Ink which indicated a positive start!

The Images:

The packaging and product alongside it

The gel in jar and a swatch

An unwilling model - me with newly applied liner prior to any alcohol and dancing!!

... a few drinks and 8 hours later the liner is still looking well!

The Sciencey Bit:

Eyeliner is worn primarily to enhance the eye's natural shape and size or in many cases to change the apparent shape of the eye. The more intense the colour the greater the effect. Eyeliner actually originated in ancient Egypt where wearers used makeup to protect their skin from the sun. Eyeliner was believed to do this and also to protect eyes from a multitude of potential eye ailments. Wikipedia tells me that research also showed eyeliner, in particular, was worn to protect the wearer from the Evil Eye!! Technically speaking "kohl" is liner made in ancient times using ground lead sulphide. We continue to use this word in the modern day to describe black pencil liner but obviously lead is no longer an ingredient.

The Conclusion:

Well as mentioned above I started out as a kohl/pencil liner girl. My brief foray with liquid liner in my teens was pretty disastrous and while I have finally mastered the use of it now I still find the smallest tremor in your hand can lead to an absolute make up disaster. Liquid liner requires one smooth swoop to look its best where as gel can be built up and I reckon it is perfect for beginners and those with shaky hands looking for that more intense effect than pencil can provide. It's also great for achieving more dramatic liner looks.

So is Maybelline's Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner 24H worth trying if you fit any of the above catagories?? In my opinion most definitly! It's consistency is great - super creamy and not too wet like some of the other budget brands offerings. This means it goes on really smoothly and also dries in seconds becoming smudge proof and also preventing the need to keep your eyes closed for AGES after application in the hopes of avoiding murky brow bone smudges. Another major eyeliner issue I have is it slowly sliding it's way off my eyes and down my face as the night progresses!! As you can see from the above pictures while my powder clearly needed topping up my liner was still in place 8 hours later... I was incredibly impressed with this and for me it's sealed the deal! The final pro was it slid off easily with my cleanser not leaving me with my usual panda eye look the following morning.

Prior to trying Maybelline, I found all the good gel liners were over €25. While that may not seem like the highest price point the problem is you get a relatively small pot of product and even worse it dries out much before you get to the end of the jar (and believe me NO amount of Inglot's Duraline fully restores  BB's Ink or MAC's Black Track). I'm really impressed and reckon its the best dupe out there for BB's Long Wear Gel Liner shade Ink. My only disappointment is that Intense Black is currently the only shade Maybelline have on sale here. In the states they have an Aubergine one so fingers crossed they will extend this range in the coming months.  For me I reckon this one's a keeper cheap as chips and super long lasting!