Category Archives: Eyeliner

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Eyeliner Review, Swatches, Photos

Taupe, Nude, Deep Blue

Rimmel released its Scandal Eyes liners in the UK a little while ago, but they are new to the US. They showed up first in temporary displays, which had a only a few shades, but now that Rimmel wall displays are being updated, more shades are available. I’ve seen them in-store at all the major drugstores in my area, and they’re already online at Ulta.com – and only $4.49. Per the Rimmel website, seven shades are available in the UK and ten shades are available in the US. Two of the shades I purchased, Nude and Taupe, are available in both countries, and Deep Blue is US-exclusive.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the US shades:

Let me cut to the chase: I LOVE THESE. This review is going to be a complete rave, I love them SO much. They might even replace Prestige Total Intensity pencils as my all-time favorite eyeliners. I will definitely be buying the black and a couple more shades (and will also be trying out the Scandal Eyes Shadow Sticks to see if they’re just as good!

So, what makes them so great? They are creamy but not too soft (the Prestige pencils do have a tendency towards being too soft). They are smudgeable at first, but after they set they don’t migrate, smudge, or move. I tried to smear the swatches on my arm, but was completely unable to – I eventually got them to flake a little, but only after my arm was quite red from rubbing at it! Nude lasts about 5-6 hours on my waterline – I wear contacts, and I’ve never had anything last six hours on my waterline before! And, I get all day wear on my upper or lower lashline.

In the below swatches, the line on the left is a single pass, and the square on the right is a built up swatch. There isn’t much difference, because these liners are very pigmented in one swipe – you don’t need to go back and forth to build them up!

Nude // Taupe // Deep Blue

Nude is a peach beige – it’s great to see more shades like this at the drugstore. Taupe is a light brown – it’s fantastic shade for my lower lashline, as it defines, but isn’t harsh like a darker brown would be. I normally only use eyeshadow on my lower lashline because I find most pencil lines too harsh, but this is very wearable. I think it would also make a great upper lashline color for light blondes who want a natural but defined look. Deep Blue is a very dark navy blue – gorgeous, and a great alternative to black.

Edit: I love these so much that I went back and bought more! Here are quick swatches of the five shades I currently own:

I also have a comparison of my nude (or again, light peachy beige) pencils – the Scandal Eyes one is a bit darker and more orange in comparison to the others, which are the MAC Pro Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 (now available online) and the concealer pencil from the Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer.

Hard Candy // MAC // Rimmel

There’s not much else to say – go buy these now! And tell me what you think!

MUA Makeup Academy 3 in 1 Contour Pen Swatches & Review

MUA 3-in-one Contour Pen — Black, Smoked Plum, Sea Blue

My final MUA post of the day is a review of the £1.50 3 in 1 Contour Pen – which actually seems to be a pencil liner, though the texture is a bit unusual, and it took me a minute to figure it out! The texture is more like a pen, but given the nib twists out (& back in again) and is a couple inches long, it is actually some type of pencil. I would guess that it’s named the 3-in-1 Pen because the angle of the nib allows you to make make thin lines, thick lines, and well – I’m not really sure what the third way to use it is!

3-in-1 Contour Pen: Black, Smoked Purple, Sea Blue

The Sea Blue and Black shade have good pigmentation, but the Smoked Purple shade has very poor pigmentation. Below, I’ve used the different sides of the nib to make a thin line & a thick line – each line is one swipe of the pencil. Then, the rectangular swatch is built up with several passes of the pencil, to see how pigmented it can become – it makes a big difference for the purple shade!

MUA 3-in-1 Contour Pen; Sea Blue, Smoked Purple, Black

These are very smudgeable, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference. Some liners smudge until they set, but these liners never set – they remain smudgeable forever. After I photographed my swatches, several minutes after application, I ran my finger across the swatches firmly, with this result:

Smudged MUA Contour liners

Not surprisingly (give the smudging), these do not last well. I have normal to dry skin, so most eyeliners last well on me – some last until removal, but almost all liners last at least 8 hours, more or less. These Contour liners were very faded by the 4-5 hours mark.

Given the poor pigmentation of the purple shade, given the fading, and given the way these smear, I do not recommend these liners. There are plenty of other budget liners that are far superior for only a couple dollars (or pounds) more!

Maybelline Master Duo Navy Gleam Liquid Eyeliner Review & Swatches

Maybelline Master Duo Liquid Eyeliner – Navy Gleam

I’m not usually a liquid liner person – I prefer pencils, pens, and gels – but I was still excited about the prospect of Maybelline’s new liquid liner, advertised as a glossy liquid liner with a dual tip and long wear. Unfortunately, it’s quite bad.

First, the applicator is annoying. On the package, it looks like the entire applicator is thin in one direction and wider in another, and perhaps if it were shaped like that it would work better – but the actual applicator tapers, and has an oddly shaped tip that is hard to work with on the eye. It is possible to draw a wider or a narrower line on your hand or arm, but on the eye, it’s hard to control the direction of the tip and the width of the line.

Being unable to draw a fine line would be enough to make me mildy dislike the liner, but that’s not why I say it’s a terrible product. It’s extremely sheer, which is not what I want in an eyeliner! On the left, I’ve tried to do a heavy swatch, which is still somewhat sheer, and also is taking a long time to dry. On the right is a single swipe (the narrowest I could manage), which is very sheer as you can see. It is possible to go over the liner a second time once it has dried to darken the color, but it still does not become dark and opaque.

Yet another problem is the slow dry time – a thin line takes about 30 seconds to dry, and you must keep your eyes closed the whole time, or else you’ll end up with spots of eyeliner all over your eye area.

But, there are positive attributes as well: The liner is, as advertised, glossy and long wearing. It is completely waterproof and smudgeproof – it will flake off with oil, makeup remover and/or enough pressure, but it won’t ever smudge.

Overall, I cannot recommend this eyeliner to anyone. The applicator problem is worth working around – you could always use a brush. It’s long wearing and totally smugeproof, so would be great for anyone with oily lids. But, the sheerness of it, and the difficulty / impossibility of building up the color make this a poor choice for anyone.

Birchbox Mini-Reviews

My November Birchbox – probably my favorite one thus far

Beauty sample box services have a mixed reputation. Some love getting samples each month; some don’t understand why samples are worth paying for. I’ve written before about why I think Birchbox in particular is worth it (it’s due to the points system, which basically brings down the cost of each box to around $5). I’ve now been a Birchbox subscriber for seven months, and I like it enough that I’m considering buying the year-long option (pay for 11 boxes and get 12).

Today, I’m going to review several (though not all) of the makeup items I’ve received over the past seven months. Thus far, I’ve received at least one, and often two, makeup or nail polish items in each box – I hope this trend continues!

TheBalm Beauty Queen Staniac – mini size

First up – TheBalm Staniac, which I received in my first box last June. Staniac comes in three shades (“Beauty Queen is a magenta-toned pink, Prom Queen is a lovely rose pink, and Homecoming Queen is a dewy peach”), and I received a mini tube of the shade Beauty Queen, which I would describe as a bright raspberry. It is a true stain – waterproof and very transfer-resistent. It’s very pigmented, but is remarkably easy to blend, given the pigmentation level. I really like it – I wish I could buy minis of all three shades!

TheBalm Hot Mama mini

Next, another TheBalm product – Hot Mama eyeshadow / blush, which I just received in December’s box a few days ago. This is also a mini product. It is a Nars Orgasm like color – peachy pink with golden shimmer, but more pigmented and more shimmery than Orgasm. It is very smooth and pigmented, fantastic quality. It’s far more shimmery than I prefer for a blush, but I would wear it as a highlighter or an eyeshadow.

Pixi Lid Last Shadow Pen – Shell Sheen – full size

The Pixi Lid Last Shadow Pen in the shade Shell Sheen is a full size product from last August’s box. It is an eyeshadow pencil. It is very creamy and blendable, and the shade is perfect for an inner-eye corner highlight. It’s a nice product, but nothing extra-special.

Sumita black eyeliner – full size

November was an exceptionally good box, and part of that was the Sumita eyeliner I received. I have plenty of black pencil eyeliners I love, so an eyeliner really has to be special for me to sit up and take notice. This one is great – it’s very black and intense, and once it sets, it does not budge. I did my best to smudge the swatch on my hand, and it didn’t move at all. Recommended!

Model Co. lip gloss – Showgirl Red – full size

My November box also included a Model Co. Shine Ultra lip gloss labeled Showgirl Red. The gloss is actually a sheer pink, so I wonder if it’s a mislabeled Berry Pink (one of the other available shades) – but it doesn’t really matter to me. It adds a just hint of color. It also has a very fine shimmer that makes my lips look full and glossier, but is not visible as shimmer. I love the texture – it’s very moisturizing and not sticky at all. The one downside is the sweet, artificial fruity scent, which I loathe – but which luckily fades quite fast. I have been keeping this in my purse for a bit of extra moisture and shine!

And, swatches!

swatches - the Balm Stainac Prom Queen ; theBalm Hot Mama Pixi Shell Sheen, Sumita black eyeliner

the Balm Stainac Prom Queen unblended / blended; theBalm Hot Mama
Pixi Shell Sheen, Sumita black eyeliner

And I forgot to include a swatch of the Model Co lipgloss with the others, so here it is alone:

If you are interested in signing up for Birchbox, I would love it if you decided to use my referral link (I pay for my own box). You can, of course, go directly to Birchbox.com to sign up as well.

Drugstore Makeup Quick Reviews: Featuring Wet n Wild, L’oreal, and NYC

Today I have something a little bit different – mini reviews. I am a little bit behind on reviewing some products I’ve recently purchased, so I though I would knock out several reviews with one post. Thus, short reviews!

First up: Wet n Wild Juicy lip balm in Cherry. This is a chubby balm with slight tint. I love the color it gives my lips, but I absolutely cannot STAND the artificial fruit scent – it actually makes me gag. I will never wear this again!

Wet n Wild Cherry juicy lip balm – left is one swipe, right is multiple swipes

Second, we have Wet n Wild Coloricon Shimmer eyeliner in 154 Black. This is fairly basic black eyeliner with silver shimmer. I expected it to be fairly hard (because the last generation of Wet n Wild eyeliners were), but it’s quite reasonable – not soft, but light pressure gives a line with medium pigmentation. It works very well on my lower lash line, where I prefer a soft black instead of a very deep black. It’s a little bit to hard to be ideal on my upper lash line, which requires something fairly soft. I bought this for 60 cents during a 40% off sale, and it’s worth that price – or even the full price of $1 – but I wouldn’t pay more for it.

WnW coloricon shimmer eyeliner – black

I bought L’oreal Gilded Bronze Eyeshadow single during a sale – I’d never tried L’oreal eyeshadow, and it looks like a lovely deep bronze. It did not disappoint! It’s a lovely color, and is soft, smooth and pigmented. Recommended!

I received in an Influenster box. The eyeshadows are very smooth, but a little too soft and prone to crumbling. I re-swatched them this morning, with a fingertip, and they performed significantly better than in the swatches below, which are with a sponge-tip applicator. With a fingertip, the white, silver, and medium grey perform adquately, and only the dark grey lacks pigmentation. However, this palette is still not worth it to me – the colors aren’t unique, and I have much better versions of each shade. The included primer isn’t as good as my other primer, and I’m not really sure what to do with the illuminator – it’s far too sparkly for me to use as a browbone (or face) highlighter.

NYC IndividualEyes – Dark Shadows

swatched without primer

NYC IndividualEyes Dark Shadows - swatched

swatched over the included primer

But, I didn’t want to dismiss all NYC IndividualEyes eyeshadows based on one bad experience. So I picked up the Animal Instinct palette from the Fashion Predator collection – which Nouveau Cheap gave a great review. This palette was definitely superior to the Dark Shadows palette. I found that the first two shades were quite sheer, but the latter two shades (brown and blackened green) had decent, though not great, pigmentation. I will probably depot this one, keeping the brown, blackened green, and maybe the copper, and toss the rest.

NYC IndividualEyes – Animal Instict

swatched without primer

NYC IndividualEyes - Animal Instict - swatched

swatched over included primer

And thus concludes today’s mini reviews. Thanks for reading, especially if you made it all the way to the end!

The Dark Shadows palette was provided for consideration by Influenster. All other items in this post were purchased by me. This post includes affiliate links.

Tarina Tarantino Eye Dream Hyperliner Review & Swatches

Tarina Tarantino Broken Doll, Sparkling Ammunition, Cute Robot

Next up in today’s Tarina Tarantino post-a-thon are three of her Eye Dream Hyperliners: Broken Doll, a very pale pink; Sparkling Ammunition, an olive green, and Cute Robot, a deep blue. All three are shimmery.

These are very soft-textured pencils – they remind me in softness of Prestige Total Intensity eyeliners. They are softer than Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners. When first applied, they are very blendable and smudgeable, and although they dry down somewhat, I was still able to smudge my hand swatch after two minutes – which is very different than the Prestige Total Intensity liners, which are soft but then set to an immovable finish.

However, I’m wearing Sparkling Ammunition on my upper lash line right now, and it hasn’t smudged or migrated over the last hour – though I do have dry lids. These are going to need some experimentation (they could be set with translucent powder or matching eyeshadow), but I think they are probably best for people with normal to dry eyelids.

I applied Broken Doll to my waterline about an hour ago as well, and it’s still going strong – I think these are actually quite a nice texture for the waterline, since they are so smooth and easy to apply.

As requested, here’s a picture of my eye with Broken Doll on the waterline – it’s quite hard to see in photos, but does brighten up the eye area:

I apologize for the blurring of the swatches; for some reason none of my pictures came out quite right! Additionally Broken Doll looks white next to the darkness of the other colors – but it is actually a very pale, shimmery pink.

Tarina Tarantino Cute Robot, Sparking Ammunition, Broken Doll - swatches

Cute Robot, Sparkling Ammunition, Broken Doll – flash

Cute Robot, Sparking Ammunition, Broken Doll – natural light

When I swatched the eyeliner in store, I thought Sparkling Ammunition might be a dupe for Prestige Total Intensity eyeliner in Intense Olive (it’s not) – but it was when I got home that I realized there was something familiar seeming about Cute Robot. I pulled out my Prestige Total Intensity eyeliner in Fierce Blue and Intense Olive, and here are the results:

Comparisons: TT Cute Robot, Prestige Fierce Blue, TT Sparkling Ammunition, Prestige Intense Olive

Left to right: TT Cute Robot, Prestige Fierce Blue,
TT Sparkling Ammunition, Prestige Intense Olive

In terms of color, Cute Robot and Fierce Blue are definitely dupes. The texture also feels very similar upon application; however, Cute Robot remains somewhat smudge-able while Fierce Blue sets to an immovable finish. Cute Robot is also easier to remove (because it’s not so stubborn!) Personally, I prefer Fierce Blue.

As you can see, Sparkling Ammunition and Intense Olive are in the same color family, but are not dupes – Sparkling Ammunition is more green and more shimmery, while Intense Olive is more olive-brown and lower shimmer. I love this color family, so I’m glad I have both!

Overall, these are nice eyeliners but they don’t blow me away. I almost never pay for a high end eyeliner because I’m so happy with my drugstore eyeliners, and I wouldn’t consider these an exception to that rule. If there’s a color you like, it’s worth it at the sale price of $9, but at the full price of $15, I probably wouldn’t buy it – with the possible exception of Broken Doll, since it’s such a nice eye-brightening waterline shade and I’ve never seen something similar at the drugstore. As always, I recommend Prestige Total Intensity eyeliners as an alternative – super cheap, super awesome.

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