Rant & Rave: Gel/Cream Eyeliner

Tell us what you love and hate about...

Gel/Cream Eyeliner

I like eyeliners in pots, since they can be quite pigmented and easier to control than liquid eyeliner, though I tend to reach for pencil eyeliners as they’re the easiest to use!

— Christine

17 Comments

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A Avatar

I like colourful gel/cream eyeliners that can double as eyeshadows or vice versa, but generally I gravitate towards a particular kind of liquid liner that I find easy to control for the upper lashline, and then pencil eyeliner on the waterline, so they don’t get much use from me.

Jujubes Avatar

I am the same…my pot liners end up drying up before I use them because I get lazy washing the brush lol. I use a gel liner which goes on without tugging so it’s kind of a compromise between the pot liner and a pencil liner. Liquid liners often sting my lids for some reason.

Seraphine Avatar

I’ve been struggling with eyeliner for so long. For me, it’s about specific eyeliners rather than general likes and dislikes about types of eyeliner. There are just two that work for me: Marc Jacobs Highliner and KVD Tattoo Liner. I really only use them when I do makeup to go out at night. Most of the time, eyeliner and I don’t get along very well…Lol!

AB Avatar

Rave: What I like about pot eyeliner is how precise I can be. I have only one — MAC Rich Ground — and I love it for staying power, richness and precision (and it’s a great color)
Rant: Pot and liquid liners require more control than I like to have to manage. So I use pencil liners most of the time.

xamyx Avatar

I’m strictly liquid or powder/cake. I don’t know what it is, perhaps it’s because I’ve only tried a handful of brands, but I haven’t found a potted liner that goes on as smoothly as liquids… It could also be the fact that my very first experience with winged liner was with liquid, and I spent a solid year and a half mastering that skill on myself, so I’m just accustomed to a fluid formula for the techniques I use for my eye shape. That said, I do love the longevity of a gel, but I add a bit of INGLOT Duraline & use a “regular” liner brush. I also use pencil, but only on my water line, or as a base for eyeshadow.

Christina D. Avatar

I think gel or cream eyeliner gives the nicest, richest color payoff and lasts longest; I always love the way it looks when I use it. The downside is the pots tend to have a shorter shelf life and “go bad” faster. More often than not, I grab a pencil and liquid liner combo because it is simplest.

Lesley Avatar

My makeup application skills are not good enough for crram eyeliner and keeping the brush clean is a pain. I have had so so luck with gel eyeliner. I had a Marc Jacobs one that would not hold a point and now I have one from ColorPop with a case that keeps falling apart. I do best with felt tips even though they dry out too quickly.

Nancy T Avatar

Rant: That some can be too quick to dry out. But that can be fixed somewhat by adding in some Inglot Duraline drops.

Rave: After literally DECADES of struggles with using liquid liner for my cat-eyes, what with the having to cast my eyes downward with brows raised until each side dried in order to avoid transference because I have such hooded eyes; gel liner has been a miracle worker for me! No more sitting there waiting for my liner to dry!

Nicole D Avatar

The only eyeliner in pot I had was the Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner that came with a brush as well. I loved the colour so much (a dark plum) and the brush; however, It didn’t last more than 4h on me and I don’t have oily lids. Plus it dried up pretty quickly. So I gave up on the eyeliner in pots in favor of pencil eyeliners.

Deborah S. Avatar

I don’t wear eye liner often enough to keep any skill at applying. My eyes are very hooded and my lash line in very uneven so even when I do attempt to wear it the line has to be thick enough to disguise the uneven lash line and that means it covers my entire mobile lid. I do use Marc Jacobs Highline Blaquer for my tightline and water line. I purchased a couple of gel eye liners last week from Sedona Lace but haven’t had a chance to try them yet. In general, I prefer pencil liners.

Susan Nevling Avatar

I have been unable to master any liners other than pencils. I have a couple of pot liners and tried others in the past. I’ve tried multiple brand and multiple brands of brushes. I just can’t get there.

Zee Avatar

I am just wayyyy too lazy to wash another brush… and eyeliner brush is one that you really have to clean every other day or it gets gross really fast. I have two of those liners, still haven’t opened them yet.

Logan Avatar

I have elf Cream Eyeliner in Black and it’s the only cream eyeliner I would ever consider buying! It’s $3 and absolutely perfect. It takes more time to apply, but I think it’s prettier than liquid or pencil.

Genevieve Avatar

I am starting to like eye pencils, as I find them easy to use. I only have a couple, as I mostly prefer eyeshadows.
Liquid eye liners I don’t use at all because, without my glasses on, it would be too tricky to apply and I don’t think it suits my hooded eyes at all.
Pot eyeliners tend to dry up quickly too.

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