tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner — Love the Applicator, Not Sold on the Shades

tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner ($16.00) is a felt-tip liquid liner pen. It comes in eight shades: Rondine Love (white), Donutella (medium pink), Ciao Ciao (periwinkle), Arlecchino (dark blue), Mostro (spring green), SANDy (dark green), Carina (eggplant), and Sabochan (black).

I bought two with my Sephora V.I.B. order, because I had a lot of readers request a review of these, so I figured now would be a good time to try I picked Mostro and Ciao Ciao as the two to try–I can never resist a green, and well, I’m always game to try anything periwinkle, too.

• Mostro is a muted, yellowed green. Sephora describes it as “spring green,” and I’d say that’s an accurate description. It’s muted and blah–I wore it in this look and you’ll notice it doesn’t pop at all.
• Ciao Ciao is a slightly brightened periwinkle blue. I’d say it’s a bluer periwinkle, but it’s still very much in the periwinkle family. Like Mostro, though, it seems a little muted.

Despite not loving either shade much, I love the applicator… like a TON. I am no pro at lining my upper lash line (because lining the area tends to cause my eyes to swell up or itch, so I don’t do it often!), but these made it a cinch. They’re stiff but not hard, and they deliver opaque color the entire time you’re lining. I can see that those who love really, really thin lining not loving the applicator, though. You can get a nice line that’s not ridiculously thick for sure, but you won’t be able to get a pencil-thin line.

It actually made me sad that I wasn’t into these colors at all but was totally crushing on the applicator. I might look out at the other shades to see if they are less muted. They’re supposed to be “bold shades,” but they just seem a little on the subtle/light side to me. It’s like they had so much more room to pop, but they didn’t go there.

The liner also lasts all day without fading, transferring, or smudging. I wore it on my lower lash line and across my lid (like a diagonal line across part of my lid and crease) to test, and I had no movement whatsoever. I’m really hoping to fall in love with one of the other shades (I’m thinking about trying the black one next), though, since it is such a great product.

Anyone else try these?

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• Product: 29/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: The product quality is fantastic on these–long-wearing, doesn’t budge or smudge, and stays true-to-color while you wear it. The color range might not be as fantastic, though, so you may want to swatch before you buy.

Availability: Sephora

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tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner: Mostro, Ciao Ciao

tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner: Mostro, Ciao Ciao

tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner: Mostro, Ciao Ciao

Long-wearing Liquid Liner with Milani Infinite

Milani Infinite Liquid Liner ($5.99 for 0.17 fl. oz.) is a long-wearing liquid liner that is available in five shades (and new for spring): Infinite (blue), Endless (purple), Eternal (green), Forever (brown), and Everlast (black). I test drove three of the five shades (but I’ll be reviewing the other two later down the line, not to worry!) over the past few weeks, and I gotta say, these hold up to their name!

• Eternal is a medium grassy-green with yellow undertones, gold sheen, and a metallic finish. It reminded me of MAC Lucky Green Eyeshadow, but in a liquid liner format. It’s just a smidgen greener than MAC Greenplay Liquidlast.
• Infinite is a bright medium blue with a slightly metallic finish/sheen. It’s a dead ringer for MAC Blue Herizon Liquidlast–total dupe.
• Everlast is a matte, flat black. It’ll apply quite glossy initially, but once it dries down, it will be a flat, but intense, black. I don’t own MAC Point Black Liquidlast, but from the swatches I’ve done of it in the past, the two should be incredibly interchangeable.

The good: These will wear and wear and wear. They won’t budge or smudge until you’re ready to take them off. They’re also water-resistant and crease-proof, so they’re perfect for summer days spent at the beach, ocean, or pool. The shade range has two more everyday/wearable shades (Forever and Everlast) and three “fun” shades (Endless, Eternal, and Infinite), so it’s a nice mix. I, of course, would love to see Milani expand the color range–I want to see some teals, pinks, duochrome kind of colors.

The bad: They can take awhile to dry if you apply too heavily. If you apply a thin layer, drying time is around twenty to thirty seconds, but if you go thicker, you’re looking at over a minute. I found they stayed wet a little long for my personal preference, but once I was aware of it, it wasn’t an actual issue when I used them. The brush itself is a little on the large side, which made it difficult to apply straight from the tube, so I did opt to use a thin, angled brush to apply it instead.

Taking them off can be a challenge if you’re not used to incredibly long-wearing makeup, but I found that a good oil-based remover like Lancome’s Bi-Facil or shu uemura’s cleansing oil did the trick. I like Bi-Facil on a cotton swab, because it allows me to get everything off in just one swipe.

These are very, very similar to MAC’s Liquidlast Liners–from the shades themselves to how well they wear. Liquidlast Liners run a bit thicker (but not actually thick) than Milani’s Infinite, which feels kind of thin, but the pigmentation is the same on both. Liquidlast Liners retail for $17.50 a pop for 0.085 fl. oz. while Infinites retail for $5.99 a pop for 0.17 fl. oz. (That’s a third of the cost for twice the product!)

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• Product: 28/30
• Value: 10/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 3/5

Recommendation: If you love liquid liner and want one that keeps on going long after the sun goes down, Milani offers a truly long-wearing product. Oh, and if you love MAC Liquidlast Liners, then I think you’d love these, too!

Availability: Milani

See more photos & swatches!

Glossy when wet! Eternal, Infinite, Everlast

Dried down & dupes! Milani Eternal / MAC Greenplay, Milani Infinite / MAC Blue Herizon, Milani Everlast

Easy Liquid Lining with Liner Pens:  Version Smashbox

Smashbox Heartbreaker Jet Black Liquid Liner Pen ($24.00) is a felt-tipped pen that’s designed to look and feel like liquid liner, but with the control and precision that a pen can deliver. The pen is new and limited edition from Smashbox’s Heartbreaker Collection for the spring.

It’s actually kind of funny, because it seems like pen liners are the new thing to do, as several brands have put one out for the spring. I remember the first one I ever used was MAC’s Penultimate, which I still use on occasion. I like pen liners because they are easier to use than traditional liquid liners. I think I do personally prefer gel eyeliners for the upper lash line over liquid liners, but I do prefer pen liners over traditional liquid liners. You have a lot more control, and it is nice that the tip is always rich in color–you don’t have to worry about running out or product drying on you mid-lining.

Smashbox’s Liquid Liner Pen comes in just one shade, Jet Black, which is a rich black. It’s pretty intense and does go on as a slightly shiny black. I’ve noticed that a lot of black liquid liners seem to reflect more brown-black when swatched, but they really do appear quite black in real life–the same thing happened here. I urge you to check it out where I wore it in this look (on the right eye–your right, not mine–the left eye was done with Stila’s Pen Liner!)

If you like extremely tight/thin lines, I don’t think this is your best bet. It can give you a relatively thin line, but I had trouble getting and keeping it ultra thin. The tip is long enough to give you a nice, broad stroke, but it’s not so long that you lose control over the shape and direction of your line (nor does it kind of bend too much). This does have a very “liquid” feel when you use it, so don’t go over the line too much — once or twice should be plenty. This liquid liner does last a solid eight hours or longer on me (I avoid wearing my makeup for longer than eight hours a day!) and doesn’t fade, smudge, or migrate whatsoever while I’ve worn it.

It’s housed in a simple pen-shaped tube with a removeable cap that clicks back on. It’s very minimalist, but it’s slim and functional. The price tag seems a little higher than I’d have expected (Jet Set and Cream Eye Liner by Smashbox are both $22), but it’s not too out of the price range for Smashbox liners. The other downside is that this is a product that could become a staple in your routine, but it’s limited edition!

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• Product: 27/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: If you’ve always wanted to try black liquid liner but don’t have the steadiest hand, a pen liner might be a good option!

Availability: Beauty.com, Nordstrom, Sephora

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Urban Decay Liquid Liner ($18.00) is available in a slew of shades in a cute inkwell-like pot. There are fourteen shades to choose from, from purple to black to red.

• Roach is a reddish-toned dark brown with a metallic finish.
• Gash is a deep red with just a touch of brown.
• Lucky is a coppery medium-dark brown.
• Shattered is a medium-dark grassy green with some antique gold thrown in.
• Acid Rain is a bright pop of chartreuse green.

Urban Decay’s Liquid Liners are incredibly long-wearing, smudge-proof, budge-proof, and nearly waterproof. Once dry (takes a few seconds, but it doesn’t take long), the liner doesn’t budge at all. You can move it around before it dries, but once it sets, good luck with that! All of the ones I have give off a bit of a metallic sheen even when dry, which is something I personally like. The formula is really great for those who need their liner to stay in place without a lot of fuss. I love that these don’t fade even a little bit after twelve hours of wear. I also love the shade variety — you can’t always find red or bright green liquid liners!

The packaging is so-so; the inkwell design is cute, but it’s not space-saving. It also doesn’t make these as portable as they could be if they were in the more traditional liquid liner tube packaging (I heard that it used to be, actually!). The brush included could probably be a little finer, a little tighter, but it gets the job done with some practice. If you’re not planning to take these on-the-go, a separate eyeliner brush is a better bet. I like either 208 or 209 by MAC myself for these. I will say that the included brush does feel quite comfortable in my hand, even if the brush itself could be improved upon.

• Product: 9/10
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 7/10
• Packaging: 7/10

Recommendation: If you’re looking for richly pigmented liquid liners, Urban Decay has you covered!

Availability: Sephora

See swatches…

Roach, Gash, Lucky, Shattered, Acid Rain