Navy Blue Eyeliners: Your Guide

I think navy blue might be the color I have the most shades for!

1. Bobbi Brown Black Navy is a deep, dark navy that almost looks purple.
2. Make Up For Ever #8K is a deep navy blue. It is a touch darker than Dolce & Gabbana #8.
3. bareMinerals Noon is a blackened navy blue. (LE)
4. Dolce & Gabbana #8 is a deep navy blue with a sheen. It is a bit lighter than MUFE #8K.
5. Estee Lauder Blackened Sapphire is a rich, blackened navy blue with a matte finish. (LE)
6. MAC Marine Ultra is a lighter, but a darker blue with more brightness than other shades here.
7. MAC Prussian is a navy blue with a purple tinge and a soft sheen.
8. MAC Blooz is a blackened navy blue with a hint of purple. It is very similar to Givenchy #14.
9. Givenchy #14 is a blackened navy blue with a hint of purple. It is very similar to MAC Blooz.
10. NARS Rue Saint-Honore is a dark navy blue with a soft sheen. It is a touch more intense compared to Dolce & Gabbana #8 and MUFE #8K.
11. YSL Oriental Blue #3 is a rich, navy blue with a matte finish. It is a touch lighter than La Prairie Midnight Blue.
12. Korres #9 is a teal-ish blue (looked navy blue in the pencil!). (DC)
13. La Prairie Midnight Blue is a rich, navy blue with a matte finish. It is a bit darker than YSL Oriental Blue.
14. Chanel Marine is a shimmering navy blue.
15. Make Up For Ever #3L is a blackened navy blue with soft sparkle.
16. MAC Fly-By-Blu is a lightened blue over a blackened navy base. (LE)
17. MAC Petrol Blue is a dark navy blue with sparkle over a blackened blue base. This shade is similar to MUFE #8K and D&G #8.
18. MAC Blue Stripe is a blackened navy blue with a subtle sheen. It is darker and less sparkly compared to MAC Petrol Blue, and a touch darker than MUFE #3L.
19. Urban Decay Binge is a lightened navy blue with a hint of purple; it is a bit lighter than the other navy blues here.
20. Tarina Tarantino Cute Robot is a rich navy blue over a blackened navy base. It is comparable to NARS Rue Saint-Honore and MAC Petrol Blue.
21. MAC Sense of Style is a darkened, teal-blue with a black base. (LE)
22. MAC Navy Stain is a navy blue with subtle sheen.
23. MAC Hyacinth is a medium-dark blue with a matte finish. (LE)
24. MAC Industrial is a lightened, medium blue with a brownish-black base. It is similar to MAC Fly-By-Blu, but it has a lighter base.
25. Urban Decay LSD is medium blue sparkle over a blackened navy base. It is a bit like MAC Fly-By-Blu. (LE)
26. Make Up For Ever #15L is a darkened cornflower blue with a barely-there sheen.

TEMPTALIA PICKS:  #5 (pigmentation, texture), #17 (intensity), #20 (pigmentation, longevity), #26 (uniqueness, longevity)

Behind-the-Series:  It was my intention to provide heavy, opaque swatches to provide an accurate color comparison.  Some eyeliners required one pass, some required five, and a few even more.  When possible, the shade name (above) is linked to the original review so you can read more about the quality, wear, etc. of a particular eyeliner.  If we’ve never done a review, there will be no link.  Shades that were limited edition will be marked with “(LE)” and shades that were discontinued will be marked with “(DC)” after the color description.  You can also find all comparisons on The Dupe List.

What’s your favorite navy blue Eyeliner? How do you like to use it?

See more swatches & comparisons!

Navy Blue Eyeliners: BB Black Navy, MUFE #8K, bareMinerals Noon,
D&G 8, EL Blackened Sapphire, MAC Marine Ultra, MAC Prussian, MAC Blooz,
Givenchy #14, NARS Rue Saint-Honore, YSL #3, Korres #9, La Prairie Midnight
Blue, Chanel Marine, MUFE #3L, MAC Fly-By-Blue, MAC Petrol Blue,
MAC Blue Stripe, UD Binge, TT Cute Robot, MAC Sense of Style,
MAC Navy Stain, MAC Hyacinth, MAC Industrial, UD LSD, MUFE #15L

Navy Blue Eyeliners: BB Black Navy, MUFE #8K, bareMinerals Noon,
D&G 8, EL Blackened Sapphire, MAC Marine Ultra, MAC Prussian, MAC Blooz,
Givenchy #14, NARS Rue Saint-Honore, YSL #3

Navy Blue Eyeliners: MAC Marine Ultra, MAC Prussian, MAC Blooz,
Givenchy #14, NARS Rue Saint-Honore, YSL #3, Korres #9, La Prairie Midnight
Blue, Chanel Marine, MUFE #3L, MAC Fly-By-Blue, MAC Petrol Blue,
MAC Blue Stripe, UD Binge

Navy Blue Eyeliners: MAC Fly-By-Blue, MAC Petrol Blue, MAC Blue Stripe,
UD Binge, TT Cute Robot, MAC Sense of Style, MAC Navy Stain, MAC Hyacinth,
MAC Industrial, UD LSD, MUFE #15L

Navy Blue Eyeliners: BB Black Navy, MUFE #8K, bareMinerals Noon,
D&G 8, EL Blackened Sapphire, MAC Marine Ultra, MAC Prussian, MAC Blooz

Navy Blue Eyeliners: MAC Prussian, MAC Blooz, Givenchy #14,
NARS Rue Saint-Honore, YSL #3, Korres #9, La Prairie Midnight Blue

Navy Blue Eyeliners: YSL #3, Korres #9, La Prairie Midnight Blue, Chanel
Marine, MUFE #3L, MAC Fly-By-Blue, MAC Petrol Blue, MAC Blue Stripe

Navy Blue Eyeliners: MAC Blue Stripe, UD Binge, TT Cute Robot,
MAC Sense of Style, MAC Navy Stain, MAC Hyacinth, MAC Industrial,
UD LSD, MUFE #15L

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner ($23.00 for 0.02 oz.) is a new (and permanent) long-wearing pencil eyeliner that is available in nine shades (though two have not yet been made available online). They’re touted to have 12-hour wear with no smearing or caking. Each eyeliner twists up and also has a built-in sharpener.

I posted sneak peek swatches a couple of days ago, and I’ve spent the time since then testing different shades out to see how they wear. I had high hopes for this product, especially because the initial wear test (which had only been four hours or so) made it seem promising. First, these are infinitely better than NARS Eyeliner Pencils. When I had these on the back of my hand, I can’t smudge them after they set–really vigorous rubbing will cause them to flake a bit, though.

• Santa Monica Blvd. is a pure white a matte finish. This one applied a bit unevenly, and it seemed less opaque than the other shades. It seems similar to MAC Pure White.
• Rue Bonaparte is a soft beige with a matte finish. This works well to give eyes a more awake appearance when used on the waterline–the problem is getting it to stay there, though. It seems a touch lighter than MAC NC15/NW20.
• Abbey Road is a blue-teal with soft blue shimmer. It seems similar to Urban Decay’s Covet.
• Rue Saint-Honore is a royal purple with strong blue pull–it’s described as a deep royal blue but looks more purple than blue on me.
• Via Appia is a dark, copper-shimmered brown. It’s not as dark (or as warm) as Urban Decay Corrupt.
• Madison Ave. is a medium-dark gray with a matte finish.
• Via Veneto is a deep, dark black with a matte finish. It reminded me of Urban Decay’s Perversion and MAC Black Black.

I’m not sure if these are waterline-safe or not–the press release nor the website indicate that they are–but typically, matte shades are usually suitable for the waterline while shimmery/glittery shades may not be. I wore Via Veneto (which is a deep, dark black) on my lower waterline and lash line, and I get about an hour of wear on the waterline before the majority has faded away.

The eyeliner on the lash line lasts much longer, and what I noticed is when I wore foundation, the eyeliner wore better and had no smudging eight hours later.  By 12-hours (the claimed wear time), there was very, very faint smudging underneath the lash line, and the eyeliner wasn’t as intense or as thick as it was originally.  When I wore no foundation, by the sixth hour, there seemed to be a faint, but noticeable, darkness beneath the line–a subtle smudging.  I don’t have oily eyelids, and when it’s not allergy season (and it is not), I don’t have very watery eyes.

The built-in sharpener is best used when you twist-up the pencil a good amount, because you really need to get a good portion of it into the sharpener to get it to work.  You do lose some pencil in the process in order to achieve the slanted, pointed tip.  It seems a bit less than a traditional pencil eyeliner per sharpening, but I’m not sure it’s significant enough that one would be persuaded solely by that–after all, most pencil eyeliners are 0.04 oz. and this is half the size at 0.02 oz. and you do still waste some when sharpening.  It is more than most mechanical eyeliners (which are around 0.01 on average), though.

They’re creamy and deposit mostly even color when applied (except Santa Monica Blvd., which is sheerer overall). They glide across the skin and lash lines with ease, so there is no tugging or pulling. The texture of these–overall–is really nice and easy enough to apply. The wear is good, and of course, when it comes to eyeliner, wear is the defining factor.

The Glossover

	NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner Review, Photos, Swatches B+
	They're shy of the 12-hour mark that NARS' claims, but they do wear fairly well for eight hours. The pencils glide on easily and deposit a good amount of color in one stroke.
	Product 8.5/10 Pigmentation 9/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 4/5
	Where to Buy
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See photos & swatches! 

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore

Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Santa Monica Blvd. Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Bonaparte Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Abbey Road Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Saint-Honore Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Appia Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Madison Ave.Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner (Initially vs. 12-hours Later)

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner Swatches Sneak Peek

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner ($23.00 for 0.02 oz.) is a new (and permanent) long-wearing pencil eyeliner that is available in nine shades (though two have not yet been made available online). They’re touted to have 12-hour wear with no smearing or caking. Each eyeliner twists up and also has a built-in sharpener. I’m not ready to write-up a full review quite yet (one trial does not a review make!), but so far, my experience has been positive–and I was worried, because I had a terrible experience with NARS Eyeliner Pencils previously.

Available shades:

• Abbey Road Iridescent turquoise
• Bourbon Street Purple
• Madison Ave. Slate grey
• Rue Bonaparte Light almond
• Rue de Rivoli Metallic forest green
• Rue Saint-Honore Deep royal blue
• Santa Monica Blvd. White
• Via Appia Copper brown
• Via Veneto Black

See swatches!

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

Santa Monica Blvd., Rue Bonaparte, Abbey Road, Rue Saint-Honore, Via Appia, Madison Ave., Via Veneto

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Santa Monica Blvd. Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Bonaparte Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Abbey Road Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Rue Saint-Honore Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Appia Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Madison Ave.Larger Than Life Eyeliner

NARS Via Veneto Larger Than Life Eyeliner