BLOGMAS Day 16: Quick Review - Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black

This week has been mad! I started work way too early from Monday-Thursday and I only 15-20 minutes for lunch this week. We're really busy now that we have a huge client onboard and one of my researcher colleague was on vacation, hence it was a crazy factory lah. Churning out so many fixes and new features, handling so many projects (both Asian and European) and answering panicky phone calls. Fortunately, the week has come to an end and I can't wait for the weekend to start!

That also means I can continue on my BLOGMAS posts. I have been stuck on Day 15 and that's no bueno. So I'm determined to write 4 posts tonight! I'm going to adjust the posting date to suit the BLOGMAS day though, so that it seems like I posted once every day. :P

This post is all about my other favourite eyeliner - the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 01 Black. My all time favourite eyeliner is the Kiss Me Heroine Make Smooth Liquid Eyeliner. It's my go-to eyeliner for those days when I pressed the snooze button too many times because of how easily it applies. The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner is reserved for those days when I have more time doing my makeup (hence more brain cells allocated for concentration).

You can get the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner at Watsons easily or if you want to get them online, Luxola sells them for S$22.90.

Ingredients list

The brush that came bundled with the eyeliner is actually quite decent. I use it to apply the eyeliner and it's a well-designed brush, great for picking up the product and then applying it smoothly and consistently. The brush is also designed to allow drawing of a thicker line or a thinner line - whichever you fancy. Just turn the brush to the correct side - thinner line require the thinner side of the brush, thicker line means using the wider side of the brush. Nice!

The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner is packaged in a way that it's 60% packaging and 40% product. Look at how thick thick the glass part of the packaging is?!

But it's fine though - many high end brands also design their gel lines this way and they cost way, way more. Also, if you use gel liner often, you will realise that the more product you have does not mean you get more use out of it. Gel liners dry up very quickly, especially if you use it daily. You keep opening and closing the cover and you expose the product to the air more often, hence it dries up much quicker. Therefore, if you have more product, you have the tendency to waste more.

So yes, this is one of the few scenarios in which getting less product can have a positive outcome.

The Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner applies beautifully and one brush stroke can give you an uninterrupted line on your eyelids. Very impressive!

Every time I apply this gel liner, I don't have the problem of it drying too quickly and then flaking when I use apply a second line on top. Very irritating you know when that happens - you get strange black flakes on the upper cheeks and some may get inside your eyes. This one is awesome and none of that happened.

This gel liner lasts a long long long time without smudging or moving around from the oily lids. The longest I had this eyeliner on was perhaps for more than 20 hours?! I was staying over at a friend's house and we didn't sleep at all. I was shocked when this eyeliner stayed put the next morning. 

See how precise you can be with the brush in the photo below? I love this eyeliner a lot. The only downside will be that I need more time whenever I use the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner. Need to focus man, if not confirm look like a mess. 

Such a good eyeliner from a drug store brand. I have tried the Bobby Brown gel liner before and I can confirm that this one is as good! Great job, Maybelline!!

Review: SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit

If you are a regular reader, you will know my obsession with eyeliners (and mascaras...and concealers...and neutral eye palettes...and I have a problem I know). I was very excited about my Japan trip because Japanese cosmetic brands are supposedly really good at producing high-quality eyeliners at affordable prices! 

I saw this SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit at a random drugstore and I knew I had to get it because wah two for the price of one! Moreover, it's not two of the same eyeliner but two different types of eyeliners! I remembered that it was the first thing that I saw in the store and also the first thing that I put in my basket. Heh. 

I can't recall how much these were, but it's not very expensive, maybe at most 1200Yen (~S$15)? 

So did the SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit live up to expectation?

My final verdict is one did better than the other. Much better. Maybe that's why they were packed together - nobody wanted the not-so-good one. :( 

The SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit contains two eyeliners:

1. Cat Look Liquid Liner in BK999
2. Wink Gel Liner in BK999

When we talk about gel liners, the first thing that comes to mind usually is the circular pot of product. However, the Shiseido Integrate Wink Gel Liner comes in a pencil form. Dissonance is happening in my head, but I will try to open my horizon haha.

The slogan for this is "Rich and smooth!", which I agree wholeheartedly.

The Shiseido Integrate Cat Look Liquid Liner comes in the normal pen-like packaging, which I adore. The felt-tip brush really makes it much easier to apply and you get so much control out of it.

I'm guessing this is specially made for the sharp cat-eye look. Score for me because there's nothing I love more than a cat-eye eyeliner look. :D

So how did the SHISEIDO INTEGRATE Cat Wink Black Eyeliner Limited Kit fare?

Pigmentation: Both eyeliners are really intense in their pigmentation. No joking around here. You want the blackest of black, I will give you the blackest of black. Full marks for both eyeliners!

Application: The Cat Look Liquid Liner triumphs slightly in this department because it's hassle-free and very smooth. The Wink Gel Liner is okay but sometimes when you go back for a second application, the gel liner stick scrapes the first application away and you get ugly fallouts and an uneven application.

Swatches taken with camera flash

Swatches taken under normal lighting

Swatches after one normal swipe

Swatches after one normal swipe under running tap water

Smudgeproof? The Cat Look Liquid Liner definitely did better here than the Wink Gel Liner. I think part of the reason why the latter did worse is because it takes a longer time to dry and settle. The Cat Look Liquid Liner dried within seconds and a normal swipe didn't budge it at all. The Wink Gel Liner, on the other hand, failed after the first swiping attempt.

Waterproof? Both are not waterproof. If you want to really pinpoint a winner, then the Wink Gel Liner performed better. I'm a little bit saddened by the fact that they are not waterproof but ohwell this means I can only wear them for long days in an air-conditioned room.

Longevity: I have yet to try this on my eyelids, but I noticed that after around 5-6 hours, the Cat Look Liquid Liner that was swatched on my hand was still doing well, but the Wink Gel Liner started to look a little funky. Funky like I'm-going-to-disappear funky. I don't think that's due to housework/errands because I swatched them on a Saturday and I only lazed around on my bed (yikes), so why does the Wink Gel Liner fade? I guess it will be better to judge if I tried these on my eyelids. Time to whip these out for tomorrow!

Will I buy them again? As much as I love most of Japanese cosmetic products, these were a sad disappointment. The Cat Look Liquid Liner is decent but it's not waterproof! I think we have evolved into beauty users who demand waterproof eyeliners! Try living in Singapore (or other humid + hot countries) and wearing non-waterproof eyeliners - it is a NIGHTMARE.

I shall continue my journey in finding the most amazing liquid liners!

Hope this post has been insightful! Have a great week ahead guys! :D