PENCILS AND LIQUIDS AND PENS, OH MY!

Since eyeliner is a huge part of my makeup routine and something I not only love to use, but love to experiment with, I thought I'd do a little post on the different types of liners there are out there and what their strengths/weaknesses are.

Top: Pencil. Middle: Pen. Bottom: Liquid.

Pencils

Pencil is probably the most versatile liner. It can not only be used to enhance and thicken your top 'lash line, but can be used in your waterline to make a look more dramatic or as a base to either change or intensify eyeshadow pigment.

I find it harder to get a good, crisp upper lash line with pencils, no matter how 'sharp' I try and get it. However, it's great to roughly line your upper lid and then smudge out for a quick, simple smoky eye.

If you're just starting out with eyeliner, I'd recommend going for a pencil first, since you've less chance of blinding yourself with one of these than the other more runny products.

Liquid

Liquid liner is for the big boys. It takes practice and patience to get the art of not smudging this down and, unless you're a complete freak of nature (i.e. very lucky), you've spent many a teenage year cursing whoever invented these annoying little tubes of goop. However, once you do you get the technique down, you get amazing, intense results which make any eye makeup look 100% more impressive.

I definitely would not recommend this for your waterline. I have a distinct memory of being in my early teens with my first pot of liquid eyeliner, hovering in front of the mirror in my bedroom, trying to line my bottom waterline with liquid and suddenly everything going black. Do not recommend.

Pen

I love eyeliner pens. As with gel (which I'll talk about in a minute), these are quite new to the eyelining game. They are, however, genius. The mix the intensity and pigment of liquid liners, with the ease of pencils. They tend to last ages but come off easier than the other liners. They have a really thin nib, so you can do some pretty elaborate and dramatic stuff.

My favourite and I highly recommend.

Gel

I currently don't have a gel eyeliner, hence the lack of image and swatch. However, gel eyeliners are amazing. They're usually waterproof, so stay on forever, seriously intense and really easy to apply. The only negatives are that they dry out quickly and that decent gel liners are few and far between. 

The first one I ever bought was brilliant and the brush it came with was perfect, but I've never been able to find one that matched up so I'm still on the hunt. When and if I find one, you'll be first to know.