Review & Swatches: Sephora Collection Nano Eyeliner

You know the feeling of desparate browsing the Sephora website after having realized your order is just a couple bucks short of qualifying for the free shipping (ing, ing...)? Yeah, that is what prompted me to get these Sephora Collection Nano Eyeliner pencils in Azur Blue (no. 16) and Nuage (French for 'cloud', no. 14) on two separate occasions - they have decent reviews on their website and fit the bill perfectly, being just $5 each.

This is what Sephora claims about the product: 'A highly pigmented eye pencil. Sephora Brand Nano Eyeliner glides on smoothly and comfortably, creating a lovely line of color. Shea butter and rosemary extracts make this formula soft and easy to work with.'

What I like:
- the wide selection of shades and finishes (25 in the range) makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for
- the end of the pencil is marked with the shade of the eyeliner, and it even matches the finish of a given shade (cream vs. shimmer)
- the formula is quite soft and smooth; I was especially impressed with the shimmery Nuage, which had a much better consistency than Urban Decay's Gunmetal, a possible dupe (see swatches below)
- the reasonable price

What I dislike:
- the amount of the product you get is quite small (but I cannot find any information on exactly how much you get, strange); after all, Nano is just a marketing strategy driven way of saying 'mini' or 'travel-size'.
- the size of the pencil doesn't fit into two of my sharpeners (I learnt that the hard way by ruining 1/3 of an already small pencil) - so now I'm forced to buy a Sephora Nano Sharpener for another $3. How. very. annoying.
- the pigmentation is not the best; I need at least 3 swipes to get my line saturated enough.
- the patchiness: the pencil somehow seems smudged and faded in the outer corners of my eyes; however, it doesn't get any worse throughout the day.

Will I repurchase? No, thank you (although the necessary investment in the sharpener might change my perspective). Honestly, I believe there are better eyeliner pencils at the drugstore with a comparable price and shade range (another eyeliner review coming soon!), and if you ever need something to bump up your order total, please add that Jack Black lip balm to your cart - the additional $2.50 is really worth it.

Have you tried the Sephora Nano Eyeliners? Any inexpensive liner favorites you'd like to share?