I'll come clean and tell you that eyeliners are probably my least favorite beauty products – shock, horror I know. I do love the cat eye and various other effects eyeliners create and I'm often thinking that they were worth the extra effort in the end but I simply find them to be a bit fussy. It's great if you're able to do your own cat eye flick with your eye closed in under a minute – seriously, kudos girl! But for the rest of us mere mortals, applying eyeliner is a huge pain in the behind. I'm frequently put off whenever I just think how much time, swear words and how many q-tips drenched in micellar water I'll spend with each single attempt. Smudgy eyeshadow is so much easier and low-maintenance and if it's a druochrome offering – you've got a beautiful eye make-up ready in a jiffy. I'm a practical type of person and that's why I always lean towards eyeshadow but there are days when I want to unleash my inner Brigitte Bardot (the young version, at least) so you can imagine that I do actually own several eyeliners. I'm most happy with my L'Oreal So Couture eyeliner – those thin nibs which are in fact fine brushes do it best for me. I've road-tested two budget-friendly eyeliners and even though they haven't kicked my L'Oreal pet of its pedestal – they're most certainly best affordable eyeliners from the drugstore aisles. Essence Liquid Ink eyeliners are simple products which do perform remarkably well so they're quite straightforward in the sense that what you see is what you get. They're both slim, cheap (apporox $3,5), feature slim brushes, very black, have great longevity and they only differ in the effect they leave on your eyes.
Biti cu u potpunosti iskrena i reci cu vam da mi tus za oci predstavlja vjerovatno najmanje drag kozmeticki proizvod – znam, sok i nevjerica. Nemojte me pogresno shvatiti, zaista mi je cat eye prekrasan i gotovo svi look-ovi koji se mogu kreirati sa tusem izazivaju odusevljenje. Veoma cesto, nakon sto se potrudim oko njegovog nanosenja, pomislim kako je vrijedan truda ali u globalu mi se cine previse napornim i zahtjevnim za nanosenje. Odlicno je ako spadate u super zene koje zatvorenih ociju u roku minute mogu iscrtati najprecizniju liniju tusem – zaista, svaka cast! Ali za ostatak nas obicnih smrtnika, nanosenje tusa je velika gnjavaza i izvor frustracija. Nekada me odbije sama pomisao koliko cu vremena, truda uloziti i koliko cu potrositi stapica za usi natopljenih u micelarnoj dok brisem greske u nanosenju. Razmazana sjena za oci mi je mnogo zgodnija, ne zahtijeva mnogo truda ni vremena a pogotovo impresivno izgleda ako je duokromna pa djeluje da ste se posebno potrudili – a ustvari je presmijesno koliko je lagana za koristenje. Ja sam dosta praktican tip osobe i zbog toga uvijek vise naginjem ka sjenama no ipak naidje dan kada bas iz hira zelim ukrasiti okice tusem u stilu Brigitte Bardot (mislim na mladu verziju glumice, da ne bude greske). Naprosto je neizbjezno sastaviti barem osnovnu kolekciju tuseva za oci, sto ni kod mene nije izuzetak. Ipak, od svih je moj cvrsti favorit L'Oreal So Couture ajlajner – vrh koji izgleda kao tanki flomaster je ustvari izuzetno fina cetkica tankih vlasi koja je savrsena i sa njom se najbolje slazem. Medju ostalim komadima iz moje kolekcije, isprobala sam i dva Essence tusa koja nece ostetiti budzet a mislim da su mozda najbolji tusevi pristupacnijeg drogerijskog ranga. Naravno, nisu ugrozili mog L'Oreal ljubimca sa prve pozicije no doista su me impresionirali. Essence Liquid Ink ajlajneri su jednostavni proizvodi koji odlicno rade svoj posao i sa njima tacno dobijete ono sto vidite i ocekujete. Oba tusa su malih dimenzija, pristupacne cu cijene (5,85KM), oba imaju tanke cetkice za nanosenje, izrazito su crni, odlicne su trajnosti a jedino po cemu se razlikuju je efekat koji kreiraju na ocima.
Essence Liquid Ink Matt Eyeliner (3ml) is what I thought would be my fave since it leaves a matte effect. From the start I've imagined pairing it with my Urban Decay Naked Basics and Basics 2 palettes in order of achieving smouldering, Pinterest-worth matte eyes (throw in a fisthail braid, stack of gentle rings and a nude lip and you're a Pinterest goddess!). Packaging is black, slim and the only way you can tell it apart from the glossy version is the ‘matt’ sticker on the lid and a slightly cooler lilac font. Matte effect is true to name and it does look rather fetching. However, I do have one small complaint – when this eyeliner dries to a matte finish, it loses a bit on the blackness front. It's blackout black in the beginning but after the drying time is over, it acquires a slightly gray-ish quality. On the other hand, Essence Liquid Ink High Shine Eyeliner (3ml) remains completely black and the glossy finish actually makes it even more appealing than the matte counterpart. I'm wearing the matte version on the photos below but would recommend the glossy version wholeheartedly as I also feel it's more comfortable to wear. Matte eyeliner has a tightening feeling on my lids, it feels a bit crusty and hard while the glossy one isn't. Brush on both is pretty precise and even though it isn't my fave, I can make it work. They both say ‘waterproof’ but they're actually aren't – this, however, doesn't compromise the longevity which really is outstanding. Matte version is a bit harder to remove, though. I'm glad to report that there'e no flaking and Essence has actually made the entire Brigitte Bardot experience a bit less stressful thus more enjoyable. Have you tried these budget eyeliners and if you have, are you happy with them?
Za Essence Liquid Ink Matt tus za oci (3ml) sam mislila da ce biti moj ljubimac posto ostavlja matiran trag. Od samog pocetka sam ga zamislila u kombinaciji sa svojim Urban Decay Naked Basics i Basics 2 paleticama. Zar ne bi u tandemu stvarali poeziju na ocima u stilu krasnih fotki sa Pinteresta (samo je kombinaciji potrebna pletenica u obliku riblje kosti, par tankih prstencica, nudasti ruz i doslovno ste preslikana Pinterest bozica!). Pakovanje je crne boje, elegantno i kompaktno a jedini nacin po kojem mozete razlikovati mat i sjajnu verziju tusa su naljepnice na poklopcima te detalj u hladno lila nijansi slova kod mat verzije. Kao sto ocekujemo, mat tus je zaista – mat. I stvarno izgleda prekrasno na ocima. Ipak, imam jednu zamjerku – kada se ovaj tus u potpunosti osusi na ocima malo gubi na intenzitetu crnog pigmenta i poprimi blago sivkasti odsjaj. Na samom nanosenju (dok je tekstura tusa jos ‘mokra’) on je impresivne crne boje no kasnije se primjeti ta suptilna razlika. Sa druge strane, Essence Liquid Ink High Shine tus za oci (3ml) zadrzava taj impresivni crni pigment i po susenju a sjajni, glossy finish cini efekat ovog tusa nesto privlacnijim od rezultata koji pruza mat varijanta. Na fotografijama ispod nosim mat tus no iskreno bih preporucila radije glossy verziju posto smatram da (osim pigmenatcije) na svojoj strani ima i formulaciju koju je prijatnije nositi na ocima. Mat tus nakon susenja ostavlja pomalo ‘zategnut’ osjecaj na kapcima, osjetim kada je suh jer blago zateze kozu kada trepcem dok se to ne desava sa glossy varijantom. Kistic kod oba tusa je jako uzak i precizan no nije meni najdrazi tip kista iako mi ne cini nanosenje tusa uopsteno tezim ni zahtjevnijim nego sto je slucaj sa mojim L'Oreal mezimcem. Na pakovanju oba tusa je navedeno da su vodootporne formulacije no mislim da doslovno to nisu – ovo ne znaci da im je trajnost i otpornost kompromitirana, naprotiv – zaista su fantasticni. Mat verziju je malo teze ukloniti no drago mi je sto se niti jedan tus ne rasipa nakon sati i sati nosenja. Mogu reci kako je Essence ucinio moje Brigitte Bardot momente mnogo podnosljivijim i cak prijatnim. Da li ste mozda imale priliku isprobati ove tuseve i ukoliko jeste, rado bih citala vasa iskustva sa njima.
*Some of these products may have been sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclaimer.
