Vanity Essentials: Eyeliners As Bases

This is my first post that I'm featuring on my blog called "Vanity Essentials." If you missed my post earlier about this series, click here to read what it's about.

There's been a lot of buzz in the beauty community about NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils. They're great to use as a base, as liner, or to highlight with. Two of the most popular colours are Milk (a matte white) and Black Bean (black).

Now, I personally do not own any of these NYX jumbo eye pencils, mostly because based on reviews online, and seeing them used in tutorials and what not - they're a very creamy product, which I know wouldn't work for me and my oily eyelids.

Many beauty junkies have these two cult products at the top of their wishlists, but I wanted to share a product that you probably already have in your collection that would work exactly the same, if not better.

Bonne Bell Eye Definer eyeliners in Black Ink (top) and Glow (bottom)

Almost every brand has a matte white and black eyeliner. I like to use Bonne Bell Eye Definer eyeliner, because I like that they're opaque and they have a "drynesss" to them that makes it great to use as a base under eyeshadows without having to worry about creasing. Also, they're cheap! I don't remember how much I payed for them, but it must of been under $3.

If you wanted to use an eyeliner pencil as a base for your eyeshadows, I would reccomend a "drier" regular pencil, if that makes sense. If you use a regular eyeliner pencil on your lid, there will be a bit of pulling and tugging, but it would be dry enough so that it wouldn't crease. Where as if you used something like Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners they would be more prone to creasing. So it all depends on the texture of the pencil.

Here's a tip to help prevent the tugging and pulling that a drier pencil would have on your lid: what I like to do is swatch the pencil back and forth on my hand to warm it up a bit so that it applies smoother on my lid.

Here are a few swatches using the above pencils as a base:

Left to right (with flash): Blank Ink, Glow.

Left to right (without flash): Blank Ink, Glow.

The two eyeshadows I used are Urban Decay's Fishnet (the duochrome pink) and Stars Makeup Haven Call a Treuse (a matte lime green).

Using the black eyeliner under an eyeshadow with a duochrome finish (UD's Fishnet) really helps bring it out and change the colour a bit. Also as you can see using the white eyeliner as a base under the matte lime green (SMH's Call a Treuse) really brightens the colour.

Why do I deem a matte black and white eyeliner essential in your makeup collection?

a) They're a great inexpensive base.
b) Black & white are universal colours.
c) For those who don't have access to NYX products, or have oily lids, using a regular eyeliner pencil is a great alternative.
d) You can find a variety of colours in eyeliner pencils - so most likely you'd be able to find a colour to use under any look.

For those of you who've wanted to try NYX Jumbo Pencils, loot around your collection and try using a regular old eyeliner pencil.