Hello Lovelies,
I have struggled for what seems like the longest time to find a black eye liner to apply to my top and or bottom water line that will stay in place and not transfer or gather in the corners of my eyes, the struggle is real let me tell you and I know it's hardly a first world problem but it's a definite Zoe problem and it's been driving me mad over the last few months or so and no matter what eye liner I use, it transfers and gathers which drives me mad.
At the beginning of the year I saw a review of the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencil on the blog of one of the bloggers/you tuber/you tubers I trusted the opinion of, they said it was brilliant and fantastic to use on the lower water line as it didn't gather and stayed in place all day and they highly recommended it, so I decided I'd try the pencils out.
What Estee Lauder Say About The Double Wear Pencils
Wears for 12 hours. Sets in seconds.
This long-wearing, water-resistant eye pencil lines and defines with smooth, even colour that looks fresh all day.
The lightweight, creamy formula glides on effortlessly. Rich, stay-true colour won't feather or bleed.
Double-ended pencil has smudger on one end, colour on the other. Sharpens easily with the Estée Lauder Pencil Sharpener.
My First Impressions & Thoughts
My first thought when I opened the box and took the pencil out was "wow it's long" because it is quite a long pencil, I thought this would be a great advantage as the pencil would maybe last longer than others I have tried.
Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencil In Onyx £16.50
Without the lid
The pencil looked really black, that sounds strange I know because you'd think black would be black wouldn't you? But some blacks are deeper in pigmentation than others and I do always try to find an eye pencil that is a deeper black so I was pleased this looked so black.
The first time I used the pencil I used it to line my upper lash line using it above my top lashes and smudging it out with a small brush I have, it was ok for this purpose but I was disappointed in the pigmentation, considering it looked so black in the pencil it didn't transfer onto my lid the same and I had to apply 2 coats of the pencil, I have tried applying the pencil to the back of my hand and then to my upper lash line and it does come off a little darker but I still need to apply the pencil twice to get the look I want. I then used the pencil on my lower water line but found despite it's claims it did gather in the inner corners of my eye, I was disappointed in this as the review I trusted claimed it didn't do gather and Estee Lauder also claimed this, I have tried the pencil several times on my water line and it always gathers, maybe not as quickly as other brands I've tried but it still gathers and I couldn't wear the pencil and go out without constantly checking to see if it had gathered and who wants to do that every 5 minutes? Not me!
Another way I wanted to use the eye pencil was on my upper waterline and since Estee Lauder claimed the pencil doesn't transfer and "stays in place" I thought I'd be onto a winner although it gathered when I used it on my lower water line I thought I'd be ok on my upper one, how wrong could I be? I applied the pencil and so it would "set" I looked up for about 30 seconds as it claims to set in seconds, I continued to apply the rest of my make up and then noticed almost immediately in the mirror that the pencil had transferred onto my lower water line and underneath my lower lash line, completely ruining my eye make up, I was not a happy bunny at all!
Overall Thoughts & Would I Re Purchase?
I am so very disappointed in this pencil, it really does not do what it says on the tin in this case, it doesn't set at all, it gathers in the inner corners of my eyes, it goes all over the place and ruins my make up if I use it on my upper water line and it isn't very pigmented either and for £16.50 I expected more to be honest, I would not re purchase this is a million years it is awful. To be fair I usually love Estee Lauder products and a couple of their products are my holy grail items but this eye pencil is atrocious to be honest and I wouldn't waste your money. The only redeeming feature is the length of the pencil it is quite long and I think it would last a long time but that unfortunately is the only pro I can find about the pencil. There are 15 shades to choose from and some of them are very beautiful but in all honesty I have been put off by the black one, sorry Estee Lauder but this is a definite no no for me.
If you would like to try the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Eye Pencils you can find them on line at the Estee Lauder website, Boots and House Of Fraser for £16.50.
Have you had a bad experience with a product from a brand you usually love? Tell me in the comments section it will make me feel better that I'm not alone :)
Thank you for reading, much love as always,
Zoe x
