Empties: Eye Makeup

I thought this would be a quick and easy post until I counted just how many items there actually were. Everything is so little - eye makeup is sneaky! At least it’s all on theme this time, and I’ll do my best to keep things short and concise.

I think my love for the Shiseido Natural Eyebrow Pencil as well as my angst about it being discontinued is well documented. Here, I used up my usual colour BR704 as well as BR602, which I use for creating more dimension. It’s still my favourite eyebrow pencil and luckily, I have a few more backups. I also tried the Shiseido Full Lash Volume Mascara, and it was completely underwhelming. I’ve heard some people rave about it, but for me it was… just a mascara. Not particularly volumizing or lengthening, and it smeared on my oily lids. One try was enough.

There’s a dedicated post I wrote a while ago about the Kanebo Sensai Styling Eyebrow Pencils. I used up a few of these, but overall, I found it too soft, I’m still not a fan of retractable pencils and there are eyebrow pencils I like more. The Kanebo Sensai 38C Volumising Mascara is and will be a recurring member of my daily rotation. It’s a fantastic tubing mascara, it doesn’t smear on my lids, comes off with warm water, which is a pro and a con at times… So far, love it.

I mentioned previously that Chanel’s Inimitable Intense Mascara had done me dirty one too many times and that I wouldn’t be buying it anymore. I haven’t changed my mind – for me, this mascara dries out way too fast to justify the price. It will appear in empties for a while though, because of the backlog, so bear with me.

As for Chanel’s Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliner in 83 Cassis… Ehh… I had bought it after watching so many people wax lyrical about this pencil and how it never smeared and was the best pencil for the waterline etc… In my experience, it wasn’t much different from any other “waterproof” pencil liner I’d tried before. It smudged, irritated my eyes if I tried wearing it on the waterline, which it, by the way, didn’t stay on for long. I think this was actually the last pencil of the kind that I bought and I just decided that it wasn’t my product type, and that sadly having lined waterline wasn’t a look I could wear either. Sad, but also liberating.

I tried the Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express Mascara when I was still experimenting with all kinds of regular mascaras, for days when I don’t want to wear a tubing one. I’d still love to have one, and I’m not picky in terms of brand – if I find one that’s very affordable, fantastic! But sadly, nothing I’ve tried has met the bare minimum of a) improving the look of my lashes and b) not smudging, including this Maybelline one.

I have gone through a number of Maybelline’s Brow Satin eyebrow pencils. I quite like them, despite the retractable design. They really don’t last long for me – maybe two or three weeks with daily use, which is my main issue with them. If you can find them for a very affordable price, I think they’re worth it. I stopped buying them because they were out of stock for a while, maybe they’re discontinued, I’m not sure, but either way I just forgot about them.

Clinique’s Quickliner eyeliner pencil in 03 Intense Chocolate is again one of those cult favourites, like the Chanel Stylo. It didn’t work for me – same reasons as the others, smudging and smearing. I know, broken record here… but if one day I find a pencil liner that stays put on my lids, you know it’s going to be a super good one if none of these did the trick for me.

The Clinique Touch Tint For Eyes is one of the oldest makeup products I had! It took an absolute eternity to use this cream shadow up. It’s so old, I can barely find any reference to it online! It didn’t work for me as eyeshadow, but it did work well as a base and helped keep powder shadows in place. The day I used it up felt like the end of an era…

And last on the list – some Bobbi Brown mascara. Anticlimactic, but I honestly don’t even know what it was called. It was a mini size that I got with… something. I don’t recall even properly trying it – I kept saving it for “travel” and it eventually spoiled. I did use it a few times and it was completely forgettable.

Another round of empties – done. Still on a potential hunt for mascara and pencil liners, so if like me you’ve got oily lids that melt eye makeup and you’ve found something that works, let me know! Ciao for now 😘

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