My eyes are watery. I mean, like whoa. Watery as all get out. My seasonal allergies happen to occur in all four seasons so no matter what I do, my eyes are watery, itchy and often red. Which makes wearing eyeliner a bit hard at times. I need an eyeliner that wears like iron — but is gentle and non-irritating. For ages I’ve been using Urban Decay’s 24/7 pencils but like any true makeup junkie, I always wondered “Is there something even better out there..?”
Answer: Hell yeah.
Milani Liquif-eye
Milani Liquif-eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencil in 01 Black. Wow. The pencil is incredibly soft and creamy and deeply pigmented. It goes on smooth, without tugging or dragging. Initially I was worried that it would smear but after a few seconds, it sets and does not budge. Ever. You have to work fast if you want to smudge/blend it out because once it sets, it’s not gonna move. After wearing it normally, I had no smudging or smearing or fading after about 6 hours — it looked as perfect as it had when first applied. And that is with me liberally using eye drops and my normal eye-watery-ness.
Oh gawd, cuticles!
Since I had been using Urban Decay 24/7 Pencils, I wanted to see how the two compared in pigment. The Milani is much darker and richer, as you can see:
One pass for each pencil. Milani wins!
And then I got out my trusty wet-naps and tried to actually remove the stuff:
Milani -- besting wet-naps everywhere!
Right. Wet-naps were not up to the job, people. While the Urban Decay was coming off, the Milani barely budged. This is after a LOT of scrubbing. I think this shows that the UD pencil is great — the Milani just has that much more crazy staying power. I had to go and use an oil-based eye makeup remover to remove them completely.
After trying the Black and being completely mad for it, I decided I really also needed to get the Aqua.
Milani Liquif-eye Metallic Liner in Aqua 04
And of course, I wanted to see how it compared in color and pigment to Urban Decay’s Flipside:
Milani Liquif-eye in Aqua Vs. Urban Decay 24/7 in Flipside
While both are gorgeous, the Milani is a bit darker and richer. I actually forgot to take a picture when trying to remove them but the result was similar to the black liners. While the Urban Decay pencil hung in there admirably, the Milani stuck like a fabulously colored glue.
But last night I decided to do the ultimate test. I lined my waterlines generously — one eye in Black and one in Aqua — and after about 6 hours, I decided to watch the season 2 finale of “Downton Abbey” (yes I am one of those crazy Downton fanatics). Now, no spoilers or anything but the season 2 finale was a 2-hour-long weepfest. Tears of joy and sorrow and just sheer “OMG it’s the damn finale” tears. I didn’t hesitate to blot and wipe my eyes and no eyeliner came off on the tissue.
After the show, I went and checked my liner and while my eyes were red, the eyeliner was completely intact. The Aqua had faded slightly but there was zero smearing or smudging or migrating. The Black was perfection. Result!!! I really can’t wait to see how well this holds up once summer rolls around — 100+ degree weather with a billion % humidity? Yeah, I think they’ll actually last nicely and I won’t end up with raccoon eyes. For a change.
I got these eyeliners at CVS drugstore for less than $8. To compare, the Urban Decay 24/7 Pencils are $19 at Sephora. My only wish is that the Milani liners came in more colors — presently they only come in Black, Brown, Aqua, Gold and Silver. I generally don’t wear brown eyeliner but I plan on picking up the Silver and Gold as soon as possible. You can find Milani at many drugstores and also buy it online at Milani.com.
In any case, the gold liner will come in handy once March rolls around, am I right?
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna in "The Hunger Games"
Yeah, I’m also one of those crazy Hunger Games fans!
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