Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock 36h gel liner

Have you noticed that drugstore products get launched without as much as a whisper going round about them? That is the case for the Maybelline gel liner pen I am reviewing for you today. I found this in a German drugstore. It is yet unreleased in The Netherlands and appears to be a dupe for none other than the Benefit They’re Real Push Up liner that most people seem to have a love-hate relationship with. I thought the concept, a gel eyeliner in a pen form, was a pretty neat idea and decided to try it out.

Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock 36h gel liner

The first thing you should know is that myself and liquid liner aren’t the best of friends. I use it, sometimes, but I don’t have time for it in the mornings as the chance of completely ruining a 5 minute eye look is adamant. Nonetheless, I like a bit of eyeliner from time to time and so I try out quite a few. My favorite type of eyeliner are the ones that come in a pen form. That this product comes in a gel formulation, was therefore something that caught my interest. I bought this in Germany and I believe it cost around 7 or 8 euros. It is available from Boots at 8.99 pounds.

Maybelline Lasting Drama Black Shock 36h gel liner

In 2014, the Benefit Push Up liner was everywhere and I nearly bought that to try out. But when I found out that it also required a special make up remover, I decided not to. So when I found the Maybelline one I was rather excited. I would get to try the gel eyeliner in a pen formula at at least half the price of the Benefit one. I thought this would be especially handy because gel eyeliner can be such a hassle as you need the pot (cue drying out of product) and a separate brush. If this really works, it would be a fabulous-throw-in-your-bag-and-take-it-anywhere type of product.

What Maybelline says:

All Day smudge-proof drama in a pen. In the mood for drama? With just one click, frame your eyes with smooth bold lines for an intense look that lasts.

And that’s where the drama starts. This was all the information I could find about this product and I had a hard time for this to pop up on a Google search as well. When it finally did, most of the reviews I found were German. What’s up with the lack of promotion? All the more interesting to write about it.

From the outside, the packaging is nothing special. It’s a pen shape that has a part at the bottom that you need to turn to click to dispense the product. The packaging states you need to use a waterproof make up remover to remove all the product because it is supposed to be very long lasting. And it is. Once this is on, it won’t bust unless you pull out all the stops on your make up removal process. It doesn’t smudge and stays on all day. It doesn’t even transfer to just above my crease, which many eyeliners do for me. So Maybelline come through on the promise of this being long lasting. Oh and it’s matte!

The product is dispensed through the little nib that comes with a seal when you first buy it. When you click the pen, I find that quite a bit of product comes out. The product feels quite dry and lumpy too. While swatching I had a hard time creating a thin and evenly covered line. I find that if you want to create a thin and opaque line you have to waste quite a bit of product. You first click up the product, then have to wipe off almost all of the product on a tissue or the back of your hand. If you don’t, you get a line like the one all the way on the left. The nib is also quite wide, which is inconvenient for thin lines and it is made out of rubber. I find that the rubber tugs at my eyelids when I apply it.

Applying this onto my lids went a lot more smoothly than I had anticipated from the swatches this created. After I had made sure to wipe away most of the product from the tip, I found it easy to line my upper lash line with it. The main reason for it is the fact that the tip is quite stiff and doesn’t have a lot of give: it gives a lot of control over the product which is a plus. However, I did have to go over the line several times to make sure it went on as black as possible. Because the nib is quite wide, it is difficult to get the product between the lash roots which makes for a rather uneven finish unless you also tight line your upper water line afterwards.

I didn’t attempt a winged eyeliner with this product as I hardly ever where my eyeliner that way. Not only that, I find that the slanted angle of the tip a bit unhandy when it comes to placing the tip against your skin in an accurate enough way to create a winged liner. To just line the upper lash line this worked okay, but I felt trying to do anything more advanced with it, would cause a right mess. Another reason is the fairly wide nib, which proved difficult to make an even thin line already. I found it hard to not create a line that would eat up the remainder of my eye look.

In short, this eyeliner is okay. The concept is okay, but the actual product is quite gimmicky. The only things I like about this eyeliner is the fact that it is matte, lasts long without smudging and allows for a very controlled application. However, the wide nib and excess amount of product, make this a product that is hard to work with.

What is your favorite eyeliner pen?