I wear a black eyeliner every day and for a couple of years my choice for that has been Catrice's Liquid Eyeliner. Essence launched a cheaper waterproof version which I promptly compared to my favourite. It's a nice eyeliner, but doesn't really come close to Catrice's for me and it has some faults.
Formula: this has a matte finish just like Catrice, but it dries even faster. Both formulas are very black, yet Essence's doesn't hold quite as much pigment, as at times I get some sheer patches that I have to go over again. But overall once properly applied, this looks very black and matte.
Applicator: This is where I have most problems with and it ruins this liner for me. It's much shorter, which I could live with, but it's also thicker and not as pointed. Drawing a thin line is hard with this one, it always ends up thick with an equally thick wing. It's also hard to fix mini mistakes, like smoothing the edges. The nib is made from felt, just like Catrice, yet it doesn't feel as soft.
Staying power: It lasts great for a drugstore liner, at least 10h on my normal, non-oily lids (no base), but it doesn't last as intact after that as Catrice's. It can look a bit cracked by the end, but it's not that bad. The promise of it being waterproof is close, but I wouldn't go swimming with it. I get no smudging with it and it doesn't get messed up badly if you touch it. I'm sorry, but I can't say how well this would last on oily eyelids.
Price and availability: It costs 2.78 € and is available in drugstores.
For a cheap drugstore product it's not bad. Formula is really good and if you can get over the slightly clumsy applicator, meaning plan to go for thicker lines, this is a nice one to try. However, I'll rather stick to the more slightly more expensive Catrice one that tick all the boxes for me. For a euro more, you get a much more useful applicator and that's important to me. I went back to Catrice quite quickly and when it ran out, I picked this one again and I just couldn't handle the clumsy nib.
Have a great day!
*PR product
