When life gets hectic, it’s easy for me to eat the same blueberry English muffins every morning, drink out of the same coffee cup and pack the same Uncrustables sandwich for lunch. When it comes to doing my makeup, I’m no different. A little concealer, blush and mascara, and I’m good to go.
I used to think makeup was one of the best ways to express myself, but as I got older, it became just another step in my morning routine. This week, I decided it was time for me to put some more color into my daily routine. Literally. With the help of some colored eyeliner, I played up my makeup look for five days.
While I’m not a stranger to colored eyeliner, it’s been years since I owned any. Back in my freshman year of high school, I would rock a metallic green cat-eye from time to time, but that was before I became addicted to coffee. I might as well be a whole new person now.
I figured that the Ulta Beauty store would be my best bet for finding a wide array of eyeliner. When I got there, I went straight to the NYX Professional Makeup section; this was the brand that had sold the metallic green eyeliner I had loved years ago. Unfortunately, NYX no longer produced the metallic line I used in high school, but they still had two lines I could choose from. I ended up purchasing one “Vivid Sapphire” eyeliner and one “Vivid escape” eyeliner from the Vivid Brights Eyeliner line. The other line of colored eyeliner was Vivid Brights’ sparkly cousin: Glitter Goals Eyeliner. I chose the color “Crystal Ball.”
In total, I bought three different colored eyeliners to wear over a span of five days. The Vivid Brights line costs $7, and the Glitter Goals line costs $8. If you check Ulta’s website, they usually have a coupon out for $3.50 off of a purchase of $15 or more.
Day One
For my first colored eyeliner look, I decided to start slow. I went with my sparkly pink “Crystal Ball” eyeliner first. I often use pink hues in my makeup anyway, so it wasn’t too far of a jump from what I’m used to. On my eyelids, I put on some shimmery, pink eyeshadow and blended it out with a neutral beige color. Then, I swiped on the sparkly, pink eyeliner, and I had my first look. It glided on smoothly, and the brush application was small, so I felt like I had a good handle on how I was putting the eyeliner on.
That day, the only thing on my agenda was going to work. During my quick meeting with the head manager, she stopped the conversation to tell me how much she loved my eye makeup. Later that shift, a second manager also told me how pretty it was and said it was giving her some “serious Euphoria vibes.” My favorite compliment of the day was when I was helping a customer who had a baby. The little boy just kept looking at me with big eyes and smiling. He couldn’t speak yet, but his attention was compliment enough.
Throughout the day, the eyeliner held up well. Eventually, it did start to feel a little flakey, but nothing fell off my eyes. I had to scrub a little harder with the makeup remover at the end of the night, but it was worth the little bit of extra attention during the day.
Day Two
On day two, I was up at 6 a.m. to watch my friends skydive in Palatka. Because it was also game day, I decided that my blue “Vivid Sapphire” eyeliner would be the top contender for the day. While I did my best to apply the makeup skillfully, at 6 a.m., the idea of eyeliner seemed pretty useless. I trooped through though and completed a (poorly attempted) cat-eye.
While we were at the skydiving facility, I got a compliment from my friend’s boyfriend who was also there to watch. There were also two dogs at the facility who continually came to me for attention. That was a better compliment than I could ever receive from a person.
My only complaint about the eyeliner on day two is that bits of the pigmentation came off on the top of my eyelid, giving me an unintentional crease look. I have a hunch that wearing eyeshadow would have hidden the color rub-off, but I didn’t have time for that at 6 a.m. Sadly, I also never made it to the game. So, my blue eyeliner supported the team from afar.
Day Three
With another workday ahead of me on day three, I whipped out the only color eyeliner I had yet to use. The eye look I did with the green “Vivid Escape” eyeliner ended up being one of my favorites. I used a sparkly, orange-hued eyeshadow on my eyelids and blended that out. I only used the eyeliner on my bottom waterline, a technique I hadn’t tried yet.
Although I didn’t get any comments on this look, it was still one of my favorites. I felt that the green on my waterline helped to bring out the color in my eyes. It was also a nice contrast with the orange-tinted eyeshadow. When I first bought the “Vivid Escape” color, I was hesitant about the hue of the green. However, I think it ended up looking good with my eye and skin color.
The eyeliner stayed well on my waterline throughout the day—there was no running or peeling off. The only issue was it was harder to remove from my waterline at the end of the night. It was difficult getting makeup remover on my waterline without consequently poking my eye out.
Day Four
By day four, I had used all of the colors I bought. So, I decided to combine two and create a different look. I put the blue “Vivid Sapphire” eyeliner above my lashes, and I rimmed my waterline with the green “Vivid Escape” again. I think this was a little too much color for me at one time, but it was fun to experiment with the different looks.
I didn’t get any comments about the eyeliner that day. While it was not one of my favorite looks, it pushed me outside of my comfort zone in terms of makeup.
Once again, I had an issue with the blue eyeliner depositing color in my crease. This lead to me constantly looking at my phone to see if I needed to rub off any color from my eyelid. While the rub off wasn’t disastrous, it was still too noticeable for my taste.
Day Five
On the last day of my flirtation with colored eyeliner, I decided to go back to the tried and true glittery “Crystal Ball” pink from day one. This time I went for a slightly darker eyeshadow look to go along with the liner. I also put it on both my upper and lower lashes this time.
While sending out my usual Snapchat streaks in the morning, I received several compliments on the eye look. One friend even asked where I got the eyeliner so she could buy some for herself. Overall, the shimmery pink looks seemed to do best.
I did notice the eyeliner showed up less when wearing darker shadows. However, I think putting it on both the upper and lower lash lines draws enough attention to the fact that it’s there. Even if it isn’t the stand-out of the look, I think it adds an extra sparkle to the presentation.
Throughout the week, the colored eyeliner was a fun way to start my mornings. I enjoyed the challenge of creating a makeup look around the colors and incorporating it into my everyday routine. This served as a good reminder that it’s important to break out of our own cycles sometimes and try something new.
Makeup is a way of being creative and risky without having to sacrifice too much time or money. So, next time you feel like you’ve had one too many Uncrustable sandwiches or you’re tired of drinking out of the same coffee cup, break out your colored eyeliner and get a little wild.