Drugstore Liquid Eyeliner Review Showdown: L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner in Carbon Black vs. Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black

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I've recently tried two black liquid eyeliners in an attempt to replace the Stila liner (reviewed here) that ended up getting so frayed it's now unusable. Normally I don't like to have two products open at the same time that perform essentially the same function (much less three), but I disliked the first replacement liner I tried so much that I bought another. So here's a spoiler: the winner of the showdown is Liner #2, the absurdly named Physician's Formula Eye Booster 2-in-1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum in Ultra Black.  I'm going to review the drugstore eyeliner that I do not recommend first (L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Eyeliner in Carbon Black), and the much more impressive PF Lash Booster (hereafter) second.

First, let's look at swatches of both of them, with Stila's eyeliner as a comparison. On the left, I drew a single line to show the initial opacity and thinness of the point, and then I went back over the same swatch several time to show what happens when you add multiple layers.

Left to right: PF Lash Booster in Ultra Black, L'Oréal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black, and Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Intense Black.

The Stila liner is more completely black on the first swipe than either of the other two and also has more sheen. Because of its frayed tip, that's as fine a line as I can get (and it's impossible to use on my eyelid, because there are fibers pointing in all directions). The PF Lash Booster is a close second, but you can see in the sheerer areas at the edges of the swatches that it's a warmer black than the Stila. It's also more matte, which can make it look darker on the eyelid. When you swatch all three of these eyeliners next to one another, the L'Oréal swatch in the middle looks almost brown. It's also much sheerer, even on the right where I tried to build it up.

Cheap trick: Winged eyeliner for (fairly) hooded eyes

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I love a good cat-eye look, but hooded lids can make certain types of eye makeup trickier. By hooded, I mean that the part of the eyelid below the eyebrow comes down to cover up most of the part of the eyelid that is below the crease/immediately above the lashes. My lids are fairly hooded now, and I am sure they are only going to become more so as I age. There's nothing wrong with this shape - lots of gorgeous people have hooded eyes (not that I am including myself in that category, but I don't consider my eye type a flaw). But this shape can be frustrating if you are pining after elaborate eyeshadow looks, because you know that most of the color will just disappear into the your crease. On the upside, it means that I can wear pretty garish eyeshadow in professional settings and no one will really notice. It also means that winged eyeliner is tricky, because my crease extends below the outer corner of my eye, which can interfere with the wing. Here's a creepy closeup up my eye so that you can see what I'm talking about:

I've heard a lot of people with eyes similar to mine in one way or another say that they can't do a cat eye, but I use an easy technique that might work for you too. This may also be useful even if your eyes aren't hooded, but you have the low crease thing going on like I do.

[ETA: After reading Michelle's comment below (thanks!), it occurred to me that I'd chosen a photo here where I'm raising my eyebrows a little (believe it or not) to show my eyeshadow better. Usually I raise my eyebrows like this and tilt my head to apply eye makeup, so that I can see my eyelid better. I've added another, no makeup (ungroomed brows), straight on shot of my eye that might make help to illustrate the shape better. You can see that when I relax my eyebrows, the hooded part is lower. ]

Most winged eyeliner tutorials (like this one, for example) tell you to start by drawing a short line angled upward from the corner of your eye, and then to line above your lashes and connect the two at the outer corner. Usually you're not going to want to stretch your eyelid while doing this, because when you let go of it, you'll end up with a different shape from what you originally drew.

You can see from the way my eyelid is shaped that if I try to do it that way, the crease (or creases, to be more accurate) will get in the way. I can't just draw a line over the crease without making a huge mess.

So here is my modification.

Now that you've mastered winged eyeliner (?), try this trick

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So you've no doubt been spending the last 6 weeks perfecting your eyeliner game (as if you have anything better to do). How's it going? Here's something new for you to try! I call it: Using Eyeliner to Fuck with the Shape of Your Eye.