Friday, August 16, 2013

Crush With Eyeliner - Le Metier de Beaute Precision Eyeliner



I'm a huge fan of liquid eyeliner.  Let me just get that out of the way right now.  Especially black liquid eyeliner.
If i were stranded on an island and was actually dim enough to be worrying about makeup instead of - you know - surviving, i'd want my favourite liquid eyeliner with me.

Not all liquid eyeliners are the same - and this becomes more apparent/important when your lids begin to show the signs of ageing.  In point of fact, the main argument against them -  for Women of a Certain Age - is that they can tend to look too "harsh".  It's a simple reality that, as one no longer possesses bouncy, fresh, elastic lids, one must use "softer" eye-makeup to compensate or one runs the risk looking looking like Cruella DeVille.

My lids are in fairly good shape for an old bird - but i most emphatically do not have flawless skin in that area.  There's just the faintest signs of sagging - but they are there.
However, i am not about to give up my favourite makeup item - perish the thought!  So, for a while, i compensated by first laying down a pencil-liner for the softening effect, then drawing a thinner, less-obvious line, very close to the lash-line with whatever random liquid liner i had on-hand.  That way, i'd get the soft, blurring effect of the pencil liner without sacrificing the intensity of the liquid.

The problem is, i abhor effort.  Because i like to do a finished-eye/bare face kind of look a la Edie Sedgwick, Brigitte Bardot et al most days, i don't enjoy having to do two steps to achieve an effect in deference to not being 23 anymore.  It's...irritating and inelegant, ultimately.  Not only that, many liquid liners don't hold up well layered over pencil.  They can crack, flake and smudge.

Enter Le Metier de Beaute's Precision Liquid Eyeliner.


I'd read about this eyeliner for quite a while before purchasing it, because it is pricey.  But a few months ago i decided to go for it after a particularly good sales week in my perfume shop, and see what all the fuss was about.
And let me tell you, sometimes you really do get what you pay for in the cosmetics-world.
Not only is this eyeliner still going strong (there still seems to be plenty of product left),  it lasts ALL DAY on my eyes (and i have oily lids), it doesn't skip, pull, flake, leak or otherwise fail me in the many varied and myriad ways in which a felt-tip liquid liner pen can fail.  It dispenses the perfect amount of product, the tip is perfectly shaped and tapered to apply both a razor-thin and fashionably-thick line, and is buildable.
I don't know how they do it, but there is no annoying clicker on the end that you need to press in order to dispense the liquid - it just flows beautifully.

It is the perfect black shade - not too harsh, but opaque enough to give a dark line at first swipe.  And if you're an eyeliner afficionado like myself, you know the difference between a soft black and a harsh black.  This is a soft black, but most emphatically not thin, wimpy or transparent.  It gives a strong enough line in one go so that it looks gorgeous and rich, without screaming LIQUID EYELINER.  If you want a more intense effect, you can just go over the line again to increase intensity without it flaking or looking cakey.

I've used it to create a subtle, close-to-the-lashes look as well as a dramatic circa 1960 Edie Sedgwick eye.  It is perfect for my signature cat-eye.

Here are a few photos of different looks i've achieved using this fabulous eyeliner:


Subtle and pretty day-time eye





Perfect cat-eye

Super-thin, subtle lash-enhancing line

Perfect smokey Bardot-eye


Most stores only sell LMdB Precision Eyeliner in black, but one of my favourite stores to buy makeup - Neiman Marcus - sells it in three colours
 You can also find it in "Bark", a pretty deep brown, only as a GWP online at Nordstrom - but it can also be found on Ebay on occasion.
This is currently my Holy Grail of felt-tip liquid eyeliners - and one of the only ones on a very short list indeed of liners of this ilk that i will deign to use -  that's how in love with it i am. It never fails me.

I hope you enjoyed today's review - do stay tuned for a review of primers and matte foundations over the weekend!

xo

The Painted Lily





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