Beauty
Bobbi Brown's New Waterproof Eyeliner Sticks Can Take Anything You Throw At Them
Finally, a sweat- and cry-proof eyeliner for wedding season.
The latest launches from Bobbi Brown are their new Long-Wear Cream Eyeliner Sticks. Meant to be the next evolution of the brand’s beloved Long-Wear Cream Shadow Sticks, the sticks promise to deliver the same rub-proof, waterproof, 24-hour staying power of the original, in a new eyeliner form with additional versatility to create different looks ranging from precise to smoky.
In a world with many fresh-faced, “clean girl” beauty devotees who wear little more than bronzer on their eyelids and mascara, I have always been committed to the eyeliner life. This means that I am particularly qualified to identify a good long-lasting eyeliner when I see it — and I’m definitely going to need one heading into a sweaty spring and summer, packed with barbecues, festivals, and weddings. Leading up to the April 1 launch of the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Eyeliner Sticks, I had a chance to play with the products and see how they really wear. Here are my honest thoughts.
Fast Facts:
- Brand: Bobbi Brown
- What’s the product? Long-Wear Cream Eyeliner Sticks
- Price: $34
- Shades: 5 shades, including Panther (black), Rich Chocolate (brown), Fog (gray), Aubergine (dark purple), and Jungle (olive green)
- Where can you buy? bobbibrowncosmetics.com
The Product:
How To Use:
One of the best things about the new eyeliners is their versatility. They can be used as a standard gel eye pencil (although I would suggest the help of an angled eyeliner brush for drawing any super-sleek lines.) But I liked using them for a soft, smoky eyeliner look, an effect that was easily created by using my finger or a smudge brush to blend out the lines.
Impressions:
Applying these eyeliners requires a little forethought because you only have about 30 seconds of playtime before they set — but that’s a good thing. Once I had my strategy down and chose the right size smudge brush for creating the soft-but-intentional look I like, eyeliner became one of the fastest parts of my makeup routine. I’ve worn the liners for upwards of 16 hours straight and have not had the problem of discovering smudging and spreading eyeliner after a full day without looking in a mirror.
The range of colors are all shades I like to call “off-black” — they’re all effectively eye-defining and read as black or brown from a normal person-to-person standing distance. But I liked having the options of Aubergine and Fog as a substitute for black (Panther) when I wanted to create a less intense look. I’ve even used the Rich Chocolate shade in the back of a moving Uber for a successful wing without making a mess or poking my eye out.
Worth it?
The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Eyeliner Sticks are an eyeshadow-eyeliner hybrid so there aren’t so many directly comparable products. The most similar are probably the Nudestix Magnetic Eye Colors, which cost $27 and also tout 24-hour wear.
But as a cousin to the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Smudge Proof Gel Eyeliner (which costs $36), the stick format definitely comes out on top. This comes with a way smaller risk of me screwing the lid back on the pot incorrectly and accidentally drying out the liner overnight (a true story from 2009).
Final Verdict:
I love these eyeliners, and I know they’re coming with me in my makeup bag to a wedding next weekend. I can’t say I’m ditching my liquid eyeliner as an option for that really crisp look, but for anything a bit smudgier, these are my absolute go-to. If I have one request, it’s that I would like some more fun colors to play with for summer. Maybe a cobalt blue, perhaps?
