Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Eyeliner: Review and Swatches!

Happy July everyone! I mentioned this eyeliner in my "everyday summer makeup look" post, and because I just love it so much, I figured it deserved some serious spotlight time. Last year, I made an order on Sephora.com and there was a code for Beauty Insiders for a free Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Eyeliner in 0L Matte Black. A Make Up For Ever product for free? I was all for it.

 I've never been a big eyeliner person. I never understood why it was the soul product some of my friends would wear. Plain black eyeliner over something exciting, like blush or lip gloss or even mascara? For a long time, I just skipped eyeliner all together. Eventually, I started smudging a dark eye shadow into my upper lash line, but I couldn't even stick with that for an every day look.

As you can see by the cap, this product is pretty well loved. When I got it with my Sephora order, I just threw it in my drawer after a quick test swatch. It was nice, but I knew I wouldn't get much use out of it because it was an eyeliner and I just didn't use them often. One day while going for a more dramatic look, I took it out and used it and was amazed at what I found.

It's creamy, pigmented, and just glides on effortlessly.  The swatch above is a quick one to show how easy application is. It's also easy to control, which is a major pro in my book. Because I went so long without wearing eyeliner at all, now that I do I prefer a really thin, natural line that is mainly for definition. This pencil makes it so easy to control the line thickness on the upper lash line and is also fantastic for the waterline. I also love that it's a pencil that needs to be sharpened. I like twist up pencils for lips or shadow bases, but for eyeliner I find a sharpened tip works the best for definition/precision.

The one thing about this is that it's supposed to be 100% waterproof. I have pretty normal-to-dry eyelids and creasing/smudging of eye makeup isn't really a problem for me, so the liner stays put all day long. From trying to wash the swatches off of my hand, I would say that this product is water resistant, but not waterproof. The difference is that while it does smudge a bit in a lot of water, it does put up more of a fight than a non-waterproof product. While I wouldn't go swimming with this on, I think it's safe to wear in terms of rain or perspiration.

If you're in the market for a new eyeliner pencil and want to look into something a bit more high end, I highly recommend this one! This line is available in a million different colors (well, not a million but you get the picture) including a really pretty nude that I'm lusting after (my Rimmel one will have to do for now though...sigh). These pencils retail for $19 each and are available wherever Make Up For Ever is sold.

What's your favorite eyeliner?
xoxo
Alyssa