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Rant & Rave: Eyeshadow Pencils

This Week’s Topic: EYESHADOW PENCILS!

Your Mission: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about eyeshadow pencils.  Do you use them all the time?  What are your favorites (or least favorites)?

22 Comments

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Ashley Avatar

I definitely don’t like that some of them crease, although I have not had a problem with those because I avoid them! I really like the NYX jumbo pencils though, specifically Milk and Slate, they really punch up my eyeshadow color as a base.

Sarah Avatar

I love the NYX pencils, and I have a PIXI one that I got as a freebie in a bright blue colour that I quite like. I don’t like that they can crease if you don’t put a primer under them. My goal is to get all of the NYX pencils, because I love all of them and I think there are some really pretty colours.

Dusty Avatar

i love pencils! love love love just about any kind of pencil: drawing, makeup, etc. lol! i have several aveda ones from a couple years ago that they stopped making – one of them looks almost identical to mac’s silverring eyeshadow (swoon!) it’s my favorite. the bronze goddess duo’s from this year i just filmed a review on yesterday and they are quite nice as well 🙂

heidi Avatar

I like them as bases. The only ones I have are nyx ones but they’re so good I can’t imagine buying any others. I’ve had no trouble with creasing but my lids aren’t very oily. I do always set them with powder partially because. They slip off and partially because its harder to blend for me. But I will definitely continue to purchase more because they just make my shadows so vivid!

Becky H Avatar

I just bought one of the new Urban Decay 24/7 shadow pencils (in Narc). It is beautiful. The color is very saturated, it applies and blends really nicely, and it stays on without creasing and without bleeding onto my upper lid (a huge problem for me). I definitely plan to purchase more, I just wish that this collection had more interesting non-neutral colors that do not have the silver glitter in them. I love the purple color but don’t want the glitter with it. Overall, I’d definitely recommend these.

Mariella Avatar

If you want more of these shadow pencils and like brown shades, try Wasteland. It’s a dark brown and has a bit of sheen but less than most of the other colours. I’ve also got Narc and really like it. I’ve got Rehab as well – gorgeous but it’s more shimmery.

Lily Avatar

I love them. I don’t have a problem with creasing because I have dry eyelids. They’re really convenient and they make for great bases too.

Mariella Avatar

NYX pencils, for all their great qualities of colour, price and blendability, crease like the dickens on me. I do seriously like both MAC Greasepaint sticks and UD’s new 24/7 shadow pencils. My only gripes are that the MAC ones are LE and the UD ones need sharpening and both set just a wee bit too fast. But once they set, whoa mama, your shadow ain’t goin’ nowhere!

Miss Silver Avatar

Trying to sharpen the really brittle ones; the product breaks off and clogs up your sharpener. RAGE! But I do like using it as a highlight on my brows when I’m in a hurry.

Lee Avatar

I don’t like them because they’re so imprecise, I can’t get the same line I can get with gel. And my UD ones are so soft, I can’t get a good point (tho’ they do wear well).

Jill Avatar

I have the Urban Decay shadow pencil in Sin, and the color is beautiful and it stays on well. However, when I first opened it, the point was so soft it snapped right off. I was mad because they’re not cheap, and that was probably several applications’ worth of product that had to be thrown out.

IceFluffPenguin Avatar

I like the Urban Decay 24/7 shadow pencils, I have them in Midnight Cowboy and Morphine. They stay on really well but match many powder shadow colors they already have.

marcy Avatar

NYX JUMBO EYE PENCILS! the best colored base for alot of BAM POW WOW color! just be sure to use an eyeshadow PRIMER (either UPDD or TooFaced Shadow Insurance) so you won’t have creasing problems. works like a charm!

Elizabeth B Avatar

I’m wearing Morphine by UD today. I tried the NYX version (Oyster) and it creased up badly on me. The NYX formula seems a bit greasy compared to the UD formula which is more pigmented and dries to an almost powdery finish. I’m going to try Oyster with some UDPP but I am skeptical.

Dezi Avatar

I use primer first like UD Primer Potion or MAC Paint Pot in Painterly. Then I apply the pencil, and blend with my fingers or with a synthetic flat brush. Then, I put the powder shadow on top, and I’m done! 🙂 It intensifies the color and adds to the duration it will stay on!

Ru Avatar

The only ones I’ve tried are the UD ones, and they are great. Although I still have to wear a primer because I have oily lids, I like that I can just swipe on the color and blend with my finger- it really shortens my time in the morning.

Sass Avatar

Eyshadow pencils tend to have nice textures conducive to blending and high concentrations of pigment, however in my experience, they have tended to wear off too quickly and require frequent touch ups to keep things looking perfect.

Niki Avatar

I don’t like them for most of them are comprised of ingredients of which I am allergic, so I can’t use eyeshadow pencils for the most part.

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