Review: Maybelline Gel Eyeliner in Brown

I bought Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24H recently (or Maybelline Gel Eyeliner for short!) after discovering Maybelline had launched it in brown. I’m pretty pleased about this as I had considered purchasing Bobbi Brown’s gel eyeliner in one of their brown shades, which is over half the price and doesn’t include a brush! Maybelline Gel Eyeliner is only £7.99 and comes with a brush. This is a great price, especially if you’re trying gel eyeliner for the first time like me. My signature night time look is black liquid eyeliner, so I was keen to try brown for daytime. I’d also heard that gel eyeliner was easy peasy to use. 

The pot is quite plain but at the same time quite expensive looking I think. The brush also seems of a very good quality.

The colour is quite an intense, rich brown, which I really like. I tested out the brush first on my hand, just to get a feel for the application really, I’m not always the most steady handed!! As you can see the brush is so precise that it’s very easy to achieve a thin line and build up the colour gradually into a thicker line.

I was surprised how easy it was to apply the eyeliner on my eyes, even for a novice like me! As mentioned before the thin brush is very precise and it’s just generally easy to handle. I found it much easier to achieve a straight, even line than with liquid eyeliner. However if you do muck up it’s more difficult to correct the mistake as it dries really quickly. Once on, I also noticed the colour has a hint of bronze sparkle, which glints subtly in the light. Lovely!

Now what about Maybelline’s claim that it lasts 24 hours and is non transfer? Well I can’t say that I’ve worn it for 24 hours, but I wore it for about 12 hours and I’m pretty impressed with its staying power. However, the only downside for me is that some of the eyeliner on my right eye did transfer onto the upper section of my eye. This eye is slightly hooded and I’ve had this problem with kohl eyeliner before, it’s such a shame that it has happened with this. I’m not put off the eyeliner but for this reason I don’t think I’d wear it on a night out- I want to enjoy myself rather than keep checking whether my eyeliner has budged or not!

In summary, I am a gel eyeliner convert! I love the formula, the colour and ease of application. There is a small issue for me with transfer on one eye, but I think I can put up with this for daytime wear.

Have you tried gel eyeliner? What’s your experience with using/wearing it?

Beauty Bird xx