Review: Cover Girl Liquiline Blast Eyeliner Pencils

I know a lot of you have been waiting for this review but I really wanted to take my time with these pencils and give them a thorough testing before I shared them with you, so that's why it took me so long. So let's not waste anymore time, right? Here we go:

Cover Girl Liquiline Blast Eyeliner Pencils in Green Glow and Silver Spark (retail: around $8.99 each)

I picked up both of these shades when they were on BOGO1/2OFF at Rite Aid, plus I had some coupons so it brought my total down to about $6 for BOTH of them (I know I'm a broken record but ya gotta wait for sales and use coupons to get things for a steal, folks!).

The first thing I noticed about these pencils (aside from the obvious fact that they're very similar to Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners and all of the other drugstore versions out there) is the unique smudge tip:

It was hard to capture this in photos, but the sponge on this smudge tip is different than any other pencil I've ever seen. It's a triangular wedge-shaped tip with rounded corners. I LOVE it because you can really get down into your lashline and smudge to your heart's content.

And the pencils themselves:

Just like UD 24/7 liners, Prestige Total Intensity liners, Milani Liquifeyes liners, etc., the "lead" in these pencils is encased in that easy-to-sharpen black plasticky material (just what IS it, anyway??).

Let's take a look at some swatches for comparison:

(CORRECTION: I have no idea why I labeled the third swatch "Hard Candy" when it's obviously URBAN DECAY Mildew. Sorry about that!)

The first thing you might notice in these swatches is something I immediately noticed when I first tried these: they're not as deeply pigmented as UD or even Prestige Total Intensity liners. In fact, when I first applied these CG liners to my eyes, they almost seemed, for lack of a better word, translucent. I had to go over my line a few times to really get the same intensity that I'm able to get with just one swipe of my UD and Prestige liners.

Now let's take a look at how they passed my smudge test (I ran my index finger back and forth against all of the swatches for about 10 seconds):

Not bad at all! The CG liners held up just as nicely as the UD and Prestige liners! In fact, while actually wearing the Liquiline liners, I was PLEASANTLY surprised to discover that the staying power on my LOWER lash line (something that isn't too great with both UD and Prestige, due to my very oily skin) was MUCH better than I anticipated. I will go so far as to say that, in general, I found the Liquiline liners to have better staying power in general (when compared to UD and Prestige). I think this might be due to the slightly "sticky" consistency of the Liquiline pencils after they dry or "set". They have a very slight gummy feel to them when they're on your lids, but it's not anything that bothered me at all. I mean, how often do you actually touch your liner after you apply it, right?

So are these as smooth and silky to apply as the UD and Prestige liners? Well, they DO glide on the eyes easier than traditional eye pencils, but for me, they're not quite as smooth as UD or Prestige. But they're close. Very close. Only a trained expert could probably tell the difference. LOL! (Yes, that was a joke.)

Something else I noticed was that Silver Spark has the EXACT same sparkly effect as the new Avon Glimmerstick Diamonds liners that I reviewed a while back (click here to compare). Interesting!

So before I show you some pics of me wearing both shades, I want to warn you that I applied my makeup in a serious hurry before I took these pics. My allergies are really acting up this week and my eyes are a watery mess. So I tried to do my brows, liner and mascara very quickly before my eyes started to water again, and the result is these very sloppy pics. Sorry, but I hope you get the idea of what these colors look like on! Also, in all pics I am not wearing any eyeshadow so that the true shade of the liners can be seen:

Silver Spark (can you see the silver sparkle?)

Green Glow (with black liner on my waterline)

In person, Green Glow is a crazy-bright lime green that almost borders on neon. It was actually shocking to see this color in full sunlight on my eyes and, for me, it's a bit too light to wear on its own without washing me out, thus the black liner on my waterline.

My final verdict on Cover Girl Liquiline Eyeliner Pencils: Due to the sheer color of the two colors I purchased, I cannot say that these are spot-on dupes of Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners. The pigmentation is not there are on the first swipe, like with UD liners, BUT, you can successfully build for more intensity. CG Liquiline Eyeliners glide across the lids easily, but not exactly as smoothly as UD liners. So do you need CG Liquiline Eyeliners in your life? If you like to smudge your liner out for a smokey look, then YES. You've got to experience this smudge tip for yourself. Also, if UD/Prestige/Milani liners have smudged or smeared for you, then you definitely should give Liquilines a try. These liners lasted much longer on my lower lash line than any of the other liners (especially if you blend them out a bit with that smudge tip).

So, what do you think? Are you interested in the newest Cover Girl Blast product? Do you already own any of these? I'd love to hear your thoughts!