Just within two days, I’ve had 3 different strangers come up and ask me what eyeliner I was using. I’d be pretty skeptical at any eyeliner that claims to last 24-hours or even has something similar in it’s name. But eyeliner is probably one of the most used cosmetic item out there. For someone with epicanthic folds of the eye, also more commonly known as “Asian eyes” or “monolids”, eyeliner is absolutely crucial for its transformative ability. I lack the crease in the eyelids that many people of other ethnic backgrounds have. I generally do not particularly desire to have them cut or removed, but many other Asians do in the effort to appear more attractive in our culture. Eyelid tape and eyelid glue are temporary solutions, as is makeup in general and there is of course, the very popular surgical epicanthoplasty procedure to make the change permanent. I don’t care as much to achieve a temporary crease, but I do favor eyeliner to enhance the appearance of my “sleepy eyes”.
Khimera
Digital
March 2o12
Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner.
My all time favorite eyeliner I’ve used since 2009 or possibly even earlier is Clinique’s Brush-On Cream Liner. I absolutely adore this product and can’t count how many times I’ve repurchased this product and went through pots and pots of them. I continue to buy this product for a number of good reasons. One is that a single pot lasts me over a year and I use a lot almost everyday. You get a lot of product for the price (.17 ounces for $15 USD). Liquid eyeliner pens usually only give you .01 ounces. I mean what is that? I’m pretty sure a Sharpie marker probably has more ink than that. Not to mention those liner pens cost around $20 and can dry out pretty easily. Eyeliner pencils of any brand usually don’t contain that much product. In addition there are ones you need to sharpen constantly like a writing pencil. As you’re sharpening the point, you are also shaving off some of the product which I find wasteful. Even an automatic pencil liner doesn’t contain much product for the price and the point dulls quickly after the first use. But the thing I despise most about pencil liners is that they smudge. Forget it. It’s as if they were designed to smudge. I understand there a handful of truly good pencil liners out there such as ones by Urban Decay, however I still can’t justify the price for the amount of product I get and you still have to sharpen some of these. A lot of fashion shows may incorporate pencil liners on the models’ looks but you have to remember a fashion show lasts for about 15 minutes.
The Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner is very pigmented, lasts, claims to be waterproof, and it comes with a tiny brush with every purchase. Now some people don’t like the tiny brush but I find it works just fine and it helps to keep things a little more hygienic because I wipe the brush after each use and throw it away after I’ve used up the whole pot, but now I save and clean it to use it as a lip liner brush! Very handy. The texture of the eyeliner is dreamy. It’s creamy and glides over your lid. Unlike many other gel or cream liner pots, the Clinique one does not dry out as easily. It will overtime if you accidentally forget to close the cap for a day or two but it won’t necessarily mean the death of your eyeliner’s usability as others would be. I rave and recommend this product but its definitely not perfect. But for the amount of product and price, it’s well worth it. While this liner claims to be waterproof, it isn’t as waterproof as say… To last through a swimming beach session. It will however withstand light rain splattering in my face. And there have been instances where it was raining right before I got to class and was surprised my eyeliner wasn’t completely ruined. Not one smudge. I do however do things to make the eyeliner last.
Prep.
I apply a foundation on my eyelids first as a primer. It doesn’t matter what brand of foundation you use so long as its decent it will help the eyeliner stay. After I apply the cream liner and let it dry, I also apply translucent powder underneath my eyes so that IF the eyeliner does run or smudge a little, the powder will absorb it instead of my skin and therefor will be easier to wipe off with my fingers or a soft tissue. The Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner will last through my 12+ hour school days easily without flaking or smudging. But I’ve used this eyeliner so much to know its strengths and weaknesses. In addition to the foundation primer and powdering I mentioned above which I do only once by the way, I also don’t ever really need to reapply this eyeliner or layer it. I actually recommend to not layer this eyeliner, especially after it dries. I find that if when you’re applying fresh eyeliner, it is okay to make it thicker or rework the line you have on your eyes if the eyeliner is still moist. If it dries and you decide to put another wet layer on top, it may flake on you. That’s the only con. Also when you label an eyeliner as being “waterproof” it better withstand athletic swimming (but that’s an unbearably high standard). I think it’s a better description to say this eyeliner is “water-resistant” as I never really came across an eyeliner that was truly waterproof. But I suppose you have no other choice but to label it as “waterproof” as other poor-performing eyeliners who aren’t also honk their horns with that label.
Cons.
One of the major cons to Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner is that it has a very,very limited number of colors (think brown, black, and gray only). As many beauty and makeup fanatics know, Clinique is a rather calm, muted brand versus something like MAC, who are edgy and have really bright eyeliners, shadows, and lipsticks. Clinique is more of an ‘enhance your natural beauty’ type of makeup line. That doesn’t mean you can’t use Clinique makeup to look fierce, not at all. My signature eyeliner look in which I get compliments over and over from is the black cat-eye or the winged-eye look. The cat eye style has been worn and popularized by celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Dita Von Teese, Megan Fox, and a more extreme version by Amy Winehouse. Normally my Asian eyelids would make a single thin eyeliner line disappear as it folds underneath, versus another person with a crease in their eye, a line on their lash-line would show immediately. If I only drew on my lash-line and open my eyes, the line completely disappears and it looks like I have nothing on so I have to layer it on pretty high up on the lid. Regular dudes have come up to me not knowing a thing about makeup and saying that they liked my eyes. But you shouldn’t get beauty affirmation from a guy.
Ratings.
If only Clinique could use this formula and make brighter colors or at least be a little more risk-ay, I’d go buy more. For now though, I only use True Black. The farthest Clinique has gone with this liner is purple I believe. Even then it was a limited edition color and I’m pretty sure it’s nothing neon or magenta or fuchsia, but a dulled, muted purple. If you’re on the fence about trying this, you can always visit a Clinique counter and try it out for yourself and to make the deal sweeter, you can wait until Clinique has a bonus event in a store near you so you can get the eyeliner and some extra bonus gifts on top of it (but you need to buy more than just the eyeliner to qualify as they have a set price to purchase before you can get the bonus which I believe is $21.50 USD but may have increased by now). The Clinique eyeliner also has a high rating on Sephora (4.5/5) and Makeupalley (4.4/5).
If you have any recommendations for me, please let me know. I would love to try other brands for their colors, but for the higher price, I’d be a little more hesitant. I know this post was a little more girl-centric than previous posts as eyeliners are overwhelmingly marketed towards women but hey if you’re a guy that eyes eyeliner, try this. I would trust wearing this eyeliner on my wedding day is how much I trust and like it. Not like I’d get married anytime soon. Check in for tomorrow for our 7th post in this blog series. 
Love,
Alyn Tran, Novure Youth Headquarters
Mar. o6, 2o11, 11:11
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