Beauty, Eye Liner, Eyes, High End Brands, Makeup, Review, Swatches

Liquid eyeliner is a must have for those early mornings when I just need a quick, intense liner to blend in my falsies and go. That’s it though. I just can’t get with using liquid liner to create my signature cat eye. After years of practice, I can make it happen but it takes a lot more effort and time. Liquid liner is just too messy, too hard to control and sometimes too streaky to give me that sharp, steady wing that fiercely slices through. Every time I try to do a wing with liquid liner, it ends up all over my lids and in the inner corner of my eyes as my hand lightly shakes with anticipation. So much stress!

Gel liner, on the other hand, is a more laid-back medium that’s super cat eye friendly. Gel liner is my go to carving out my graphic winged liner because it’s so easy to control and only requires the flick of a brush (and a little shading) to get a killer cat eye without the mess. There’s a ton of nice gel eyeliner formulas on the market but Bobbi Brown’s is one of the best, hands down. Her Long Wear Gel Eyeliner is a smudge-proof, budge-proof smooth, creamy formula that comes in a large variety of shades of mattes and shimmers. Of course, my go to color is Black Ink, a rich, deep black with a matte finish.

Black Ink has a very soft, creamy formula that glides across even the driest lids like butter. It’s insanely pigmented too so there’s no fear of skips or streaks like you’d get from those tricky liquid liners. I often apply the Black Ink Long Wear Gel Eyeliner with Bobbi’s Ultra Fine Eyeliner Brush because they go hand and hand together like peanut butter and jelly. I’m able to create a thin, tightline across my lash line or easily build it up for a thick, intense graphic cat eye.

Most times when brands claim a product is long wearing it ends up falling flat halfway through the day. Not this beauty though! The Black Ink Long Wear Gel Eyeliner is practically indestructible lasting me all day and sometimes all night if I accidentally fall asleep in it. The Long Wear Gel Eyeliner quickly sets in under a minute and it stays put all day without smudging or smearing for over 8 hours. I have very watery eyes that are the worst in the morning when I’m applying my makeup but Black Ink holds up like a champ during my watery application and still manages to pull through by the end of the day. It’s not a waterproof formula but it is water resistant so you’ll need an oil based makeup remover like Lancome Bi-Facil or Bobbi’s Soothing Cleansing Oil to get it all off. Black Ink isn’t super tough to remove but the formula is so long lasting that it definitely isn’t going to slide off with a little hot water.

Bobbi’s Black Ink Long Wear Gel Eyeliner is one of the more expensive gel liners on the market but it’s well worth the price ($26). A little goes a very long way and the formula holds up extremely well on both watery eyes and oily lids. I’ve been using my Black Ink pot religiously for over 8 months now and I’ve just barely scratched the surface and it’s still just as creamy and smooth as the day I bought it. If you’ve been struggling to achieve a smooth, mess free cat eye then I recommend giving Bobbi’s Black Ink Long Wear Gel Eyeliner a try. You can thank me later!