NYLON Team Picks: The Battle Of The Drugstore Eyeliners

The best eyeliners are found in the drugstore, for real!! Here’s a beauty rule you should live by: you never have to pay more than $25 to get yourself a solid liquid liner. Over time, we’ve tried plenty, and figured out which ones are better than the others.

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Clio Sharp, So Simple Waterproof Pen Liner
$22.90, available at selected Watsons

Clio’s Sharp, So Simple Waterproof Pen Liner is another of their sharp pen liner series that works really well for me. It sports a super slim sponge tip that creates fine lines as thin as 0.01 mm, which is even slimmer than the Kill Black series. Perfect for achieving a sharp and defined eyeline, and when it’s so slim, filling in between my lashes is so much more easier when I’m tight-lining, and I’ve more control over the thickness because it’s buildable.
Sometimes, when brands claim that their eyeliners are waterproof, it doesn’t translate into being smudge-proof. So when this was promoted as a non-smudging waterproof liner that’s water, sweat and oil-resistant, I immediately had to get my hands on it. Sadly, this is where it lost a point. While it does not fade at all and still appears very pigmented at the end of the day, the eyeliner does smudge a little on my eyes. Still, I’m mostly satisfied with it; plus the smudging only appears after 3 to 4 hours, and can be easily wiped off with a wet tissue. For the price you pay, I’d say it’s doing a fine job.
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– Phyllis Guo, Editorial Assistant
 
Maybelline Eyestudio Hypersharp 0.01mm Liner
$19.90, available at Watsons, Guardian, Sasa, and major department stores
 

 
Almost all my initial makeup products came from the drugstore, but very few carried on with me to adulthood. This liner still manages to keep me coming back. Though I tend to go without eyeliner as of late, this is my go-to product when I’m looking for a bold, black definition. The 0.01 tip along with its rich formula makes for easy application, and I was hooked from the first time I purchased this as a teen in my pseudo-goth phase. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out about the relaunch, which now includes two new liners for all your various winged needs. Perfecting that cat’s eye has never been easier – another reason to continue remaining faithful.
– Patrene Mathieu, Designer
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KATE Tokyo Quick Eyeliner
$17, available at selected Watsons and Sasa stores

I’ve heard good things about KATE’s liquid eyeliners, and this has been lying around my desk for a while, so I thought, why not? Well. On the plus side, the felt pen tip looks exactly like a marker pen, which made it very easy to handle (great for beginners!) and to draw a thick, consistent line. That, however, can be an issue when you want to achieve an ultra fine line. What I wasn’t on board with was how light the black liquid turned out – it’s not as pigmented as my other eyeliners, and I had to go over the same stroke repeatedly to get a nice, even black; this tends to fade out over time too. To be fair, it does its job fuss-free and reliably – and quickly. If you’re looking for finer lines though, you might want to opt for their Super Sharp Liner instead.
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– Amelia Tan, Associate Editor
 
K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Real Lasting Eyeliner 24H Waterproof
$19.90, available at Watsons, Sasa, Guardian, BHG, Robinsons, John Little, Zalora, and beautycarousel.com.

A few years ago, everyone saw this as the cult liquid eyeliner. It’s just like a day-long tattoo, like the name claims, said all the K-Palette believers. This was also around the time I was beginning to seriously rely on liquid liner, relying on it as my daily eye-enlarger so I wouldn’t constantly be asked why I was looking so tired. So did it live up to all the hype? What I can say about it is this: the brush applicator is ultra-thin, which is great for subtle lining, but not so great if you want more dramatic flicks. The pigment goes on evenly, but it’s far from the most pigmented – I would go so far to even call it dark grey, not black. Minus points for that, because I prefer my eyeliner to be super-black.
It really does last though, without any smudging. But something disturbs me a little when I remove it at the end of the day: despite a few wipes with a cotton pad soaked in micellar water, the eyeliner lives a faint bluish-green tinge on my lids. Yes, like a faded tattoo. Maybe K-Palette has taken this product name a bit too seriously. 🤔
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– Tami Lai, Associate Editor