Gold Eyeliners: Swatches, Dupes, and Comparisons

Christine — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:00:39 +0000

Gold Eyeliners: GA #04, D&G , MUFE #9L, Guerlain Gold, Korres #6S,
UD Eldorado, Chanel Vegas Gold, MAC Handforged, MAC Going for the Gold,
NARS Campo de’ Fiori, UD Honey, Stila Koi, L’Oreal HIP Gold Chrome, Milani Gold

Gold Eyeliners: Your Guide

I say I love this color and that color, but it’s more apparent that I love all colors, really. More gold eyeliner than you could fill a treasure chest with…

Giorgio Armani #04 is a muted yellow gold with bronze-brown tones, so it appears a little brighter than true antique gold but not extremely brassy either. (LE)
Dolce & Gabbana Candied is a pale, yellow gold. It’s lighter than all of the other gold eyeliners I have.
Make Up For Ever #9L is a medium yellow gold. It is similar to Korres #6S.
Guerlain Gold (01) is a warm, gold-shimmered orange. (LE)
Korres #6S is a yellowed gold with a shimmered finish. (DC)
Urban Decay Eldorado is a warm, orange-toned molten gold. It is similar to Chanel Vegas Gold.
Chanel Vegas Gold is a warm-toned, orange-based gold with a metallic finish. It is similar to Urban Decay Eldorado. (LE)
MAC Handforged is warm, coppery bronze with a metallic sheen. It is similar to MAC Going for the Gold and NARS Campo de’ Fiori.
MAC Going for the Gold is a golden bronze with a metallic finish. It is similar to NARS Campo de’ Fiori and MAC Handforged. (LE)
NARS Campo de’ Fiori is a gold-shimmered bronze with a soft sheen. It is similar to MAC Going for the Gold and MAC Handforged.
Urban Decay Honey is a molten, yellow gold with a metallic sheen. It is duped by Stila Koi, L’Oreal HIP Gold Chrome, and Milani Gold. (DC)
Stila Koi is a molten, yellow gold with a metallic sheen. It is duped by Urban Decay Honey, L’Oreal HIP Gold Chrome, and Milani Gold.
L’Oreal HIP Gold Chrome is a molten, yellow gold with a metallic sheen. It is duped by Urban Decay Honey, Stila Koi, and Milani Gold.
Milani Gold is a molten, yellow gold with a metallic sheen. It is duped by Urban Decay Honey, Stila Koi, and L’Oreal HIP Gold Chrome.

TEMPTALIA PICKS: #9L (true gold, quality), #11 (texture, pigmentation), #14 (budget-friendly, pigmentation, quality)

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 Gold Eyeliner? How do you like to use it?

See more swatches & comparisons!

Gold Eyeliners: GA #04, D&G , MUFE #9L, Guerlain Gold, Korres #6S

Gold Eyeliners: MUFE #9L, Guerlain Gold, Korres #6S, UD Eldorado,
Chanel Vegas Gold, MAC Handforged

Gold Eyeliners: UD Eldorado, Chanel Vegas Gold, MAC Handforged,
MAC Going for the Gold, NARS Campo de’ Fiori

Gold Eyeliners: NARS Campo de’ Fiori, UD Honey, Stila Koi, L’Oreal
HIP Gold Chrome, Milani Gold

Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:00:06 +0000

Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi

When Quality Beats Quantity: Stila Smudge Sticks

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner Lionfish ($20.00 for 0.01 oz.) is a twist-up waterproof eyeliner available in eight shades: Blue Ribbon (slate blue sheen), Lionfish (deep bronze sheen), Moray (golden olive sheen), Purple Tang (dark purple sheen), Silver Dollar (metallic silver), Stingray (jet black), Peacock (vibrant teal sheen), and Koi (metallic gold).

Ever since learning that twist-up eyeliners give you such a TINY amount of product (the average is about 0.01 oz., can you believe it?), it’s been painful to find myself gravitating towards any of them. Stila’s Smudge Sticks are incredibly creamy, rich in color, and apply like butter on the water line or lash line. Their vibrancy is what really makes them worth checking out, because it doesn’t take much product to get an opaque line. It’s also soft enough to apply gently to the lash line without tugging, but it’s not so soft that it just melts onto the lash line.

Stingray is a deep, dark black with a little sheen.
Peacock is a aqua-blue with a slight metallic sheen; it’s not really the teal I imagined of the shade–much bluer.
Koi is a metallic medium gold–very high sheen.

My experience wearing these has been fairly positive; they really stay put on my lash line, even after twelve hours. They’re budgeproof, smudgeproof, and waterproof, but I find if I apply it to my water line, I do get some irritation (which may just be my sensitivity) and it does seem to slide off after two or three hours. I don’t really feel the irritation, but when I look in the mirror, my eyes are redder than usual. So I’ll probably stick to wearing it just on the lower lash line rather than the water line (even though it lasts so well in comparison to most eyeliners), because red-tinged eyes are way un-sexy.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 28/30
Value: 7/10
Ease of Use: 4/5
Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: If you’ve had trouble with eyeliner staying put and feel as if you’ve exhausted all of your options, Stila’s Smudge Sticks just might do the trick.

AVAILABILITY: Sephora, Stila

See more photos & swatches!