Essence Superfine eyeliner pen

I am not much of an eyeliner buff. I go through phases where I wear it from time to time and when I do I usually use gel liner. Liquid liner is definitely not my forte so when I found the felt tip pen liners I was hoping it would be a lot easier. And it is! But then the problem with most eyeliner pens is that they dry out suddenly. So even if it is easier to manage, you may have to replace the product every few months or so. Finding a good, budgetproof eyeliner pen is therefore very high on my wishlist.

So when my best friend told me about this eyeliner pen by Essence I was immediately intrigued. At only €2.99 it is by far the cheapest eyeliner pen that I have ever tried. I have tried other ones by Catrice, Maybelline and L’Oreal (reviews are still pending) but those are all more expensive than this.

The Essence Superfine Eyeliner Pen comes in simple black packaging. The pen is slim and lightweight. It is easy to hold and handle. It is shaped like a pen, so in theory all you have to do is take off the cap and draw it on. I store these upside down so the ink flows into the nib at all times.

What Essence says:

The all-rounder amongst eyeliners! The super fine eyeliner pen is riding on the trend-waves straight out of the USA and Asia! This extremely long-lasting precision eyeliner has a particularly slim felt-tip applicator ideal for creating fine, subtle eyeliner looks as well as extravagant and dramatic styles.

Long-lasting and precise that should create a fine line and is smudge proof. Sounds promising!

The nib is indeed slim and creates a slim line. The line is intensely black. And goes on opaque in one stroke.

The only problem this liner has is that it runs into the lines before it dries. The formula is quite wet at first but it dries to a matte finish. So you need to make sure you put a base underneath to prevent it from smudging after immediate application. It does stay put all day once it dries. Even with a full wing the eyeliner doesn’t smudge and stays in place all day. At the end of the day the eyeliner has not budged.

To show you what this looks like I decided to go all out. However, a winged liner isn’t something I usually do and it also isn’t something that is easy with my eye shape. I have to draw on quite a thick line in order for anything to be visible eyeliner and wing wise. But as you can see I did manage to taper off the line in the inner corner to a thinnish line and also drawing on the wing was easy enough.

This is by far one of the best eyeliners I have ever used. It is easy to use, stays put all day and it is one of the blackest black eyeliners I have ever tried. The best part? I have had this eyeliner for months. It’s been sitting in my make up collection for 6+ months and it has not yet dried out. I took these pictures last week and I had no problem using this product even after such a long time.

As cheap as this is, it is well worth a try. But of course the main question is: how does this compare to other eyeliners that are similar? I have some other reviews lined up and I am curious to hear which you’d like to see first. There’s Catrice, L’Oreal & Maybelline still waiting for you. So I’d like to know which review I should write first.