Perfect Eyeliner? You Better Believe It's Real!
If there’s one beauty look that I’ve come to know and love, it’s the retro cat-eye, which has surged in popularity over the past few years. However, as anyone who has tried their hand at this technique knows, the cat-eye can be a difficult trick to master. Even the slightest slip of the hand can turn your flick from fabulous to freaky. For me, I have the added handicap of pretty severe arthritis in my right -- and dominant -- hand, so the struggle is definitely real.
From the beginning of my makeup obsession, I tried nearly everything to aid in the delivery of the perfect cat-eye: the business card trick, the Scotch tape trick, using brush-end liquid liners (such as Urban Decay’s 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner) and felt-tip liquid liners (like Stila’s Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner), all of which delivered with varying degrees of success. Even the Stay All Day liner, which was the best out of all of the methods I tried, still couldn’t create matching flicks on both eyes most of the time.
However, I think I might have found the answer to all of my issues in Benefit’s new They’re Real! Push-Up Liner. This liner -- available for purchase online, at Ulta or Sephora for $24 -- is touted to simplify the technique. The They’re Real! liner uses a gel formula more commonly applied with a brush, but is, instead, delivered in a silicone-tipped pen called AccuFlex. This tip was specially designed to apply like a brush, but also get right up on the lash line. It’s also perfectly-shaped for creating the elusive cat-eye. Product is brought to the tip of the pen through a click-up system not unlike Stila Lip Glazes.
I was a little skeptical at first, as I had never used gel liner in any form before. As any makeup aficionado knows, gel is incredibly hard to remove once applied. Given my hand’s proclivity to stiffening up whenever it feels like it, I was always scared to try the pot and brush method of gel liner. However, this pen took my fear away, since it was a lot like the Stay All Day liner I had grown to love. Furthermore, Benefit was so kind to include instructions on how to use the pen for a few different looks including a simple line and the cat-eye. I went into my first try feeling confident in my abilities.
It’s important to note that a little definitely goes a long way when it comes to the They’re Real! Push-Up Liner. Benefit recommends that you only need one or two clicks of the pen to have enough product for both eyes, and I found that to be just the right amount to keep me going. The angled-tip pen was a life saver when it came down to applying the liner to my lash line, as my lashes are quite long and often get in the way. Additionally, the angled tip made it much easier to get an even-looking flick at my outer corner. You can just stamp the pen down where you want it on the outer corner, then fill in the space between the end of the newly-created flick and the bulk of the line.
For those who are new to the gel eyeliner family, like myself, please be mindful of how quickly gel liner dries compared to its liquid counterparts. Once it dries, it is there until you get to it with a good eye makeup remover, preferably a dual-phase one such as Philosophy’s Just Release Me Dual-Phase Oil-Free Makeup Remover. However, this lends itself to the formula’s most attractive feature: a matte, blackest black that I have yet to find with any other eyeliner. Liquid liners usually leave a little bit of a glossy sheen over the lined area; pencil eyeliners smudge far too easily for my liking and are never quite black enough. They’re Real! Push-Up Liner has -- literally -- persevered through sweat, tears and general anxiety: I wore it through a full shift at work immediately followed by the devastating United States vs. Belgium game without a smudge in sight.
Given the price point, some newbies to beauty might want to pass on They’re Real! Push-Up Liner until they get a better feel for what they like when it comes to eyeliner. However, if one is ready to make the transition from drugstore brands to higher-end brands of eyeliner -- not to discredit all of the quality products one can find in a drugstore -- this would be a great product to try. Benefit is known for their excellent formulas and this one is no different. For makeup junkies, the pen is a great way to explore a new method of tried-and-true eyeliner.
