Review & Comparison: Jordana Liquid Eyeliner Pencil (Aqua Stone)

I have been on an obvious Jordana kick lately and it has been fun discovering and trying out various products from the uber affordable line. The quality of their products has really knocked my socks off in the past few weeks and I'm happy to report that their 12 HR Made to Last Liquid Eyeliner Pencil in Aqua Stone is no exception.

I was instantly drawn to the greyish metallic blue shade because it jumped out at me in the display, it seemed so unique and pigmented just from the packaging alone. Thankfully, the swatch turned out just as amazing as the packaging! It glides on so smoothly, applies easily and stays on for at least 10 hours (I know the claims are 12 but I took my makeup off before the 12HR mark). There was no budging during the wear time, even though I had rubbed my eyes and my eyes watered some.

Here's what the Jordana 12 HR Made to Last Liquid Eyeliner Pencil in Aqua Stone looked like after 2 hours of wear. Not too shabby, right? It has far exceeded my expectations and partially the opacity might come from the metallic and blue based nature of the shade (I have noticed blue eyeshadows and eye products in general last longer than other colors). Overall, this makes me want to pick up a few more shades from this line! 

The only negative point is that you have to sharpen the pencil yourself since it isn't mechanical (that's not a deal breaker in my opinion). 

I pulled out other blue eyeliners from my collection to compare the quality of them for you. Obviously this isn't so much a shade comparison as it is one of quality, wear and application.

You can tell from the swatches that the sparkle in the Jordana 12 HR Liquid Eyeliner Pencil was similar to that of the Makeon Waterproof Gel Pencil Liner in Aqua Deep Blue. I thought that the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils (in both Flipside and Mainline) applied much more patchy and broken up when layered compares to the Jordana pencil eyeliner. The MAC Softsparkle Eye Pencil (in Peacocked, this shade was Limited Edition) was much harder and less gel-like, making it more difficult to apply - the sparkle is also not recommended for waterline usage.

This Jordana 12 HR Liquid Eyeliner Pencil in Aqua Stone is going to become my go-to bright blue shade as it is the perfect bright medium metallic blue, with a consistency that is gel-like and very long lasting power (comparable to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils).

Have you tried this or similar products out? Let me know your recommendations in the comments below!

Product Review: L'Oreal Silkissime Eyeliner (in Highlighter)

L'Oreal Silkissime Waterproof Eyeliner (Shade: Highlighter)

Recently, I picked up a L'Oreal Paris Silkissime Waterproof Eyeliner in Highlighter from my local Walgreens since I have seen so many rave reviews for this product. I am happy to get to put this to the test myself, and after using it for a couple of days I have formulated my final thoughts on this. Now, this review cannot be for all of the different shades, as I have not tried them, but it will be for the shade Highlighter. I think the name is fitting because as I was purchasing this, I specifically wanted to use it to give my eyes a more "awaken" and refreshed look.

The shade is a neutral pink when swatched, you can see the opacity of the shade with just one swipe and above that, what it looks like when it is layered. These are not the type of liners to use for smudging because they set quickly. The formula of these eyeliners doesn't claim to be creamy, and I find that they are fairly middle-of-the-road in terms of how easily they apply. There doesn't seem to be much tugging when laying the color down, but it doesn't feel overly smooth or soft, either (this might be because the formula is waterproof).

This eyeliner is not a twist-up pencil, it is a traditional pencil and will require conventional sharpening (a sharpener is not included).

When applied, I had to layer the shade on about 5-6x in order to get a good amount of pigmentation on my lower lash line, and even though the formula is waterproof, it is not completely smudge-proof. If your eyes water, the liner may not have a chance to set in your waterline after application if it does not "cure" while your eyes are dry - this is what happened to me. I did apply the liner in the waterline AND lashline, and you can see here after about 30 minutes of wear, it had entirely disappeared from my waterline, but was holding up well on my lower lashline.

Overall, I don't think that this eyeliner is far superior to the Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude, specifically in the shade Highlighter, but I do recommend it if you like the color. I have tried gel-formula eyeliners by Makeon which are much more long-wearing in a similar rose color (shade name is Falling in Love), if you want a gentle, softer-applying formula. I would wait to pick up the L'Oreal Silkissime eyeliners on sale, as I do think that the retail price can be a little steep for the quality (regularly $8.99).

DIY Magnetic Eyeshadow Palette (Similar to MAC & Z palette)

Do you ever just want a travel-sized palette but don't feel like shelling out the big bucks for the tiny little ones from Z palette or MAC? To my knowledge the MAC palette is around $8 and can only fit a couple of shadows, and the smallest Z palette is still a whopping $14. I'd rather make one for free from stuff laying around my house. Makeup is all about creativity so why can't we be innovative with the way we store our pretties?

Let me show you what I did...

Tosowoong Makeon Waterproof Little Mermaid Gel Eyeliner Set (Season 2)

I had ordered this beautiful Korean gel eyeliner set Tosowoong MAKEON Waterproof Little Mermaid Gel Eyeliner Set (Season 2) and I had a beautiful leftover tin once I pulled out the little plastic insert where the pencils were held snug. It was just sitting around and I didn't have the heart to throw it out because it was just so adorable, so I had to re-purpose it into a miniature eyeshadow palette (ideal for travel).

I won't lie, I thought this would be a lot more difficult, and I looked into getting adhesive magnets to lay down as the foundation for my eyeshadow pans to magnetize to. But duh!!! Magnets just stick to tins! Halleleujah you don't have to do anything at all! You just put your round adhesive magnets onto your eyeshadow pans and they stick right to the tin. Such genius, much amaze, WoW. 

If you don't know how to achieve single eyeshadow pans, please refer to my depotting guide: Depotting Your Single Eyeshadows. You can take your eyeshadows out of their respective containers and thus allowing you to customize the way they are stored. I have depotted everything from MAC single eyeshadows to NYX single eyeshadows, to everything you see in my palette below and tons more. It's such an ideal way to save space... you don't realize how much space packaging takes up until you depot.

None of the shadows move at all, I actually think the magnet sticks more to the tin than it ever did to my Z palettes seeing as things are always floating around in my Z palette. This palette is so useful for travel since it closes securely and I have managed to put a good variety of shades in there for dozens of different eyeshadow looks.

The contents of my Mini Eyeshadow Palette:
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips - Fashionista (pink and purple tones with pop of neon green)
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips - Eye Candy, Enhance Blue Eyes (blue tones with pop of red)

Nars Eyeshadow Duo - Sugarland (sparkly apricot and pink)
Urban Decay Stardust Eyeshadow - Retrograde (deep purple w/ glitter)
ELF Eyeshadow Single - Saddle
4 small Estee Lauder travel singles (names/set unknown - depotted these forever ago)
Wet N Wild Single Eyeshadow - Brulee
Wet N Wild Single Eyeshadow - Nutty
NP set - Dublin (moss, emerald green, forest green eyeshadows)
Elizabeth Mott - Pop Goes the Shadow (champagne)