Eyeliner can be the saving grace of the time-strapped girl. A quick swipe or a flick of the wrist and you've got a statement makeup look that takes literally no time to create. Unfortunately, high summer humidity and creamy, dark liners do not necessarily make for a great match — all that moisture and heat causes sweating, slippage, and smearing. Suddenly, your perfectly defined gaze is looking more raccoon than ravishing.
Fortunately, there is a fix for this hot-weather primping problem: long-wear liner. These stay-put pens, pots, and pencils grab on tight to your lid and hold on for dear life. They're so good, you might find your only issue is how the hell to get them off your lids. (Hint: We love a good cleansing oil for this particular task.)
Ahead, the R29 beauty team's top picks for stay-in-place liners.
Makeup artists, editors, and bloggers alike have raved about this drugstore gel eyeliner for years. Once slicked onto the lids (just use the A+ brush that comes with it) the formula allows for some time to blend before it dries — and once it does, it's not going anywhere.
Maybelline, $9.99, available at Ulta BeautyPhoto: Courtesy of Maybelline.
Marc Jacobs Beauty has managed to fuse the precision of a gel and the ease a a pencil into one user-friendly product that doesn't budge once it sets. That's a long way of saying it's great for those of us who don't moonlight as makeup artists.
Marc Jacobs Beauty, $25.00, available at SephoraPhoto: Via Sephora.
This tried-and-true liquid eyeliner has a super-fine tip making it ideal for tracing cat eyes. Plus, the long-wearing formula doesn't get flaky, even if you head out straight after work. (And stay out past midnight.)
L'Oréal Lineur Intense Felt-Tip Liquid Eyeliner, $8.99, available at Ulta.
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Pick a shade, any shade. That's right: Not only does this new Aqua XL eyeliner from Make Up For Ever stay put through any summer activity, but it also comes in shades that go beyond the black-to-blacker range. Turquoise, cobalt, yellow, plum — once you swipe on these colorful liners, they aren't going anywhere.
Make Up For Ever, $21.00, available at Sephora
For those of you looking for a long-wearing no-tug liquid liner, this one will be right up your alley. It also has a high-satin, rich-girl finish we're mad about.
Chantecaille, $34.00, available at NordstromPhoto: Via Nordstrom.
Although we can't say we've worn this eyeliner-eyeshadow hybrid for 24 hours straight, we have counted on it to get us through two conferences calls, three appetizers, and um, a few aperitifs. We're happy to report the color held up the whole time.
Too Faced Bulletproof Liner 24 Hour Eyeliner, $24, available at Too Faced.
Photo: Via Sephora.
The long, felt-tipped nib of this liquid eyeliner makes it super easy to draw on graphic designs or itty bitty flicks. Plus, it's waterproof meaning it's designed to last — whether you stay in and stream Beaches and Titanic, or head out to brave the outdoor heat.
Napoleon Perdis, $22.00, available at NordstromPhoto: Via Nordstrom.
NYX's Retractable Eye Liners come in a host of fun colors (silver, teal, cobalt) that will see you through every picnic, festival, or pool party you go to this summer.
NYX, $4.49, available at Ulta BeautyPhoto: Courtesy of Nyx Cosmetics.
This fella will last through an hour-long gym sesh, dip in the pool, and even a light showering of rain. (We tested.)
Urban Decay, $20.00, available at SephoraPhoto: Courtesy of Urban Decay.
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