The Brown Liner Showdown!

I received a massive, amazing makeup care package from a friend fairly recently (though, as usual, I will still be 100% honest in my opinions) and, since then, have been feverishly trying out products to review.  In this particular package, there were A LOT of brown solid liners!  I figured that instead of reviewing them one-by-one, why not take some of them that had the most similar shades and pit them up against one another to see which one has the nicest quality and is the easiest to work with.  So cue up some old Western gunslinger soundtracks and let's get on with it!

I chose these four:
Estee Lauder Automatic Eye Pencil Duo in Walnut (which actually I found the title to be misleading as it has a sharpener and smudgey-thing on the other end instead of another color)
Maybelline Unstoppable in Espresso
Estee Lauder Eye Defining Pencil in Deep Brown
Ulta in Chocolate (nothing special on this packaging, really, so I assume it is sort of their standard, and this was a twist-up).

In order to easily tell them apart since the colors are so similar and also to test the control and consistency, I just used them to label themselves on my inner forearm.

This Estee Lauder Duo walnut one was the lightest of the bunch, but I threw it in there anyway.  As you can see in the photo, it straight-up flakes off and leaves glitter-sized chunks of itself all over.  The control wasn't too bad, but no one wants to have to go back over their liner with a brush or q-tip to get rid of the gobby and/or dark parts.  I'll give this one a pass on that, though, because since it comes with the smdugey thing, it is likely that it is SUPPOSED to be as soft and move-able as it is, so I don't think this one is actually designed for a clear, concise line.  Once you factor that in, it is quite nice (and it does smudge and blend well).

The Maybelline Unstoppable in Espresso was extremely similar in quality to the Estee Lauder.  Chunks aside, had it been a blind test, I'd have assumed it was same brand, different shades.  The color, however, I wasn't too stoked with, but that's just personal preference.

This Estee Lauder Eye Defining Pencil in Deep Brown was surprisingly great.  I just sort of scrawled the name, so that's my fault, not the liners, but even with my quick scrawling, the control and the color is quite nice and the color just glided right on.  The liner was soft and manageable, yet didn't leave weird clumps, I didn't have to go over anywhere twice, and I was pretty happy with this one!

This was my least favorite of the bunch.  I was pretty surprised with the shoddy quality of this one since other Ulta products I've tried are pretty rockin'.  This, however, was extremely hard to control and was so dry that the color just didn't transfer well.  You can see how it took me a few tries to actually press hard enough for it to really transfer clearly.  Definitely not the winner.

So what's my verdict?

Oddly enough, the Estee Lauder Eye Defining Pencil was, in my opinion, the best of the bunch.  I didn't expect this as, of the four, it was the most plain-jane and the only one that wasn't a twist-up.  History has proven that I will choose a twist-up 9 times out of 10.  I'd say that Estee Lauder has nailed the art of a standard, oldschool pencil liner.  Honestly, my money was on the Ulta for being the best of the bunch and we see how *that* worked out, so I guess that just goes to show that you shouldn't necessarily rely on the brand!

<3WW

Listening to:  "Monster Party" - Kasstrick Bacteria

Ulta - Last one, promise!

I think this about wraps it up for the things that were in the box o' awesome that I'd planned to review.  Except for the Sephora lashes, which there are no pictures of on, but they rocked!

This color is quite beautiful, actually, no matter how you apply it.  This is ULTA eyeshadow in Peacock.

It is sort of a gunmetal grey with a blue sheen and is VERY metallic.  Also, for a dark color, it has surprisingly little fallout.

Definitely a great one to have tried!

Since that gets me caught up on beauty reviews, I suppose that means its time to do some makeup shopping, MUAHAHAHA!  Seriously, though, I have to soon, I'm almost out of concealer and...no.  Just, no.

<3
WW

ULTA Girls' Night Out Palette Review

This was a gift from a friend, but opinions are 100% my own.

This is the ULTA girls' Night Out Palette and it has a light silver, a dark metallic grey, a light, shimmery pink, and a light, shimmery lilac color.

These aren't super pigmented, but they are buildable, very pretty, and go on easily.

These do come out a bit better dry than the other palette does, and that bottom lilac-type color is just gorgeous!  They also blend well.  The Ulta shadows, so far, seem a good quality for the price, and though these palettes aren't available anymore, check this one out!  WAAANT!

<3
WW

Ulta Girl Next Door Palette Review

*This was a gift from a friend, but in no way is my opinion swayed by that.  :)

This one's getting some mileage...

This is the Ulta Girl Next Door palette.  Or quad?  Does it have to have more than 5 to be considered a palette?   Meh.

Either way, I love it.  Especially the top two colors.  The first and third color get used quite a lot as they go with almost any color, any look.

Dry, these aren't impressive and don't have much pigment to them, but wet and over primer, they are very nice.

The second color down, when wet, goes on this gorgeous metallic pastel green.  I've never really seen another color quite like it and this will be one of those colors I'll miss when its gone!

Problem?  I see nowhere to buy this online.  I did get this quite a while back, though, so that could be the issue...Will make me miss the pretty light green even more!!

<3
WW