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Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out), (Plum)age, (Wave)length Highliner Gel Crayons Reviews, Photos, Swatches

Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Here are the last three of the seven new Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayons ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.). If you’re unfamiliar with the formula, it’s a pencil eyeliner that is supposed to be “waterproof, long-wearing, [and have] color-intense payoff.” In general, I find the long-wearing and waterproof claims to be the most accurate with the color payoff depending on the shade.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.) is described as a “golden brown.” It’s a medium-dark brown with subtle, golden sparkle and shimmer over a neutral-to-warm base. It had excellent color payoff in a single stroke, and it was creamy, easy to apply, and lasted for nine hours on my lower lash line. Buxom Come Over (P, $17.00) is a touch lighter. MAC Deliciously Rich (LE, $16.00) is more sparkly. Urban Decay Corrupt (P, $19.00) is darker, less shimmery. MAC Lord It Up (P, $15.00) is slightly darker. MAC Orpheus (LE, $16.00) is darker, less sparkly. Burberry Midnight Brown (P, $27.00) is less shimmery. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.) is described as a “vivid purple.” It’s a slightly brightened, medium-dark violet purple with subtle, warm undertones and purple sparkle. This seemed like one of the more sparkly shades in the range–not just pearl/shimmer but a larger-sized sparkle. The consistency was still creamy and it glided on fairly easily, but it didn’t apply as evenly as I’d like. It takes some back-and-forth motions to get more opaque color coverage. The upside is that it still wears for a solid nine hours before starting to thin, but I noticed a few stray sparkles over time. Sephora Collection Eccentric Diva (P, $9.00) is cooler-toned. Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister (P, $19.00) is slightly warmer, less sparkly. Milani Perfect Purple (P, $6.99) is a touch darker. MAC Designer Purple (P, $15.00) is darker. See comparison swatches / view dupes.

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.) is described as a “midnight blue.” It’s a medium-dark, brightened navy blue with a pearly sheen. It had pretty sad, sheer color payoff in a single stroke, and it wasn’t as buildable as I’d like–it gets to semi-opaque color but doesn’t become fully opaque no matter how many layers I tried. The texture of the pencil was lightly creamy, and it didn’t skip or tug at the lash line. It wore well for eight hours on me. Stila Ultramarine (P, $20.00) Buxom Pick Me Up (P, $17.00) MAC Blue Stripe (LE, $16.00) MAC Petrol Blue (P, $15.00) Make Up For Ever #3L (P, $19.00) See comparison swatches / view dupes.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty Brown(out) (54) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Plum)age (60) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
Marc Jacobs Beauty (Wave)length (68) Highliner Gel Eye Crayon

39 Comments

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Divya Avatar

I have MAC Lord it up and don’t use it too often.. think its time to dig it out! This brand is out of bounds for now.. I am not a big fan of sophisticated packaging which one is scared of ruining.. it should be colorful, identifiable and fun! Tarte does it well! 🙂

Andrew Avatar

I’m so glad Brown(Out) got an A+! I’m super picky about liners and have wanted to get one from Marc Jacobs since it launched last year. None have been just right until now; I’m so excited. I hardly buy anything anymore without your input. Thanks again, Christine!

Dawn Avatar

Christine, would you say that Plum(age) is as glittery, or ‘illuminating’, or whatever you want to call it as Luna(tic) eyeliner is? I bought Luna(tic) after I saw your review because it was so beautiful but sadly the glitter in it irritates my eyes terribly. 🙁 I’m trying everything I can think of to make it work but if I can’t then unfortunately I will have to return it. Plum(age) is gorgeous but if its like Luna(tic) with the glitter sadly I will have to pass. Thanks for the lovely swatches and reviews! I have the darker brown liner on its way to me. 🙂

Lotus Avatar

ATTENTION: Please don’t think these are automatically bad from one review. There are many out there having ideal results EVERY TIME, myself included, and if you get a dry one, the company fixes it. I see many here, because certain Marc Jacobs highliners they were eyeing seemed to disappoint, turning away, but that was one person it disappointed! I highly, and others do as well, recommend you to try these for yourself and return them if you don’t think you got what it’s worth. If they bothered your contacts, return! If your skin is not IDENTICAL to Christine’s as well as her texture & tone, the swatches will be different & sparkle differently as well! If you have eye irritation problems, call the company for specifics! They wouldn’t want your eyes stinging! Please just enjoy, everyone, don’t get down over a color, and find ways to see for yourself, first! Thanks for reading.

Valerie C. Avatar

I had high hopes for the blue for my lower lash line….I’ll stick with my MUFE blue for now. I love the brown though 🙂

Diane Avatar

I was so disappointed with the review of Wavelength. I have scads of Urban Decay eyeliners to use on my waterline and after a few hours the line always migrates into the corners of my eyes and I have to clean it up and reline. However, when Marc Jacobs Gel liners were introduced I was very excited and bought Overt, Ody(sea) and Wavelength. I have tried all of them and LOVE them because they stay where I put them for hours and don’t migrate into the corners of my eyes. Three swipes and it was opaque. I’m sorry you didn’t have the same experience with Wavelength.

Christine Avatar

Hi Diane,

I look at opacity in a single stroke – you’ll see two swatches: a single line, which is just one pass of product, and then a larger, more rectangular swatch, which is the swatch “built up.” On the lash line, if you’re looking too closely, semi-opaque looks fairly opaque, but I’m definitely looking at products with a very critical eye. I had much better luck with O(vert) and Oyd(sea) 🙂 You can see in this review, which kind of sums up my experience with the formula, that they can be really, really top notch with rich pigment in a single stroke or require lots of layering. I think I mentioned that all of these were long-wearing for me, though, but pigmentation level was the primary issue for (Wave)length, not wear 🙂

beka Avatar

the purple is pretty…i just wish there was a way to get the same look without having sparkles, because i usually only wear colored liner in the water line.

Liz Avatar

I tested (Plum)age in Sephora the other day, just on my hand. It looked GORGEOUS but when I tried to take it off with their in-store stuff, it took a good bit of scrubbing and I still had a noticeable line of glitter/shimmer on my hand several hours later that I just couldn’t get rid of! There’s no way I’m putting that on my eyes. Which is too bad, because it’s beautiful.

Christine Avatar

I use shu’s cleansing oil, and that takes care of these for me! When I swatch, MAC’s Makeup Remover Wipes removed for me as well. They’re long-wearing, but I haven’t had issues removing them surprisingly! If your eyes are sensitive to sparkle, though, I would stay away from that particular shade!

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