In my earlier liquid eyeliner post, I talked about replacing L’Oreal Pro felt tip liquid liner with Zuzu Luxe liquid liner. While this Zuzu Luxe liner is OK, and definitely contains fewer toxic ingredients than my original L’Oreal liner, there were a few things about it I didn’t like.
I noticed that the Zuzu liner is a bit more difficult to control in application, although both liners have a “felt tip” style applicator. The Zuzu liner is also more smudge prone for me—especially if I accidentally rub my face sitting at the computer, or get sweaty in the gym.
It’s a little more difficult to apply and doesn’t hold as well for me. However, I’ve seen lots of reviews online from ladies who love the applicator and have no problems with smudging, so I think this just reflects personal preference.
Since I wasn’t totally satisfied with the Zuzu liner, I decided to purchase and try a few more brands.
{Even More} Natural, Less Toxic Liquid Liners
The Brands
- L’Oreal Pro felt tip liquid liner
- Zuzu Luxe liquid liner
- Mineral Fusion long-wearing liquid liner
- Beauty Without Cruelty ink liner
My Review
While the Zuzu Luxe liquid eyeliner worked OK for me, I wanted to find something with a better applicator, more similar to the L’Oreal Pro felt tip liner I was used to. Because I’ve had good luck replacing other makeup items with Mineral Fusion, I tried their liquid eyeliner first.
Mineral Fusion long-wearing liquid liner
This liner was disappointing for me. Although I liked their primer a lot and their mascara was decent, this liquid liner just did not work well for me. The applicator was stiff and uncomfortable against my eyelids, and the liner itself was watery and low pigment.
Even though I tried the ‘ebony’ color, it looked like a dark grey on my lids. The good news: this liquid liner is EWG verified to avoid many concerning ingredients, so if you want to give it a try, its toxicity concerns are low-to-nonexistent.
Beauty Without Cruelty ink liner
This BWC ink liner is great! The applicator is exactly what I was looking for: a flexible felt tip that carries a lot of liner and provides a clean, smooth line. It does not dry out easily—in fact, the name “ink liner” is not an exaggeration. This is like using an actual pot of ink for eye liner.
The hold is great: no smudging, smearing, or unintentional smoky eye. In fact, the hold is so strong that this liner is a little tough to remove at the end of the day. It’s not waterproof, but it does take me more than one pass with my makeup remover to get it all.
The only downside of this liner so far is opening the product. There is a very tight seal at the opening, which creates some suction when you remove the applicator wand from the pot of liner. Several times, I’ve pulled too hard and ended up splattering the inky liner all over my hands and the bathroom counter. This aspect of the packaging could be improved, but I’ve found that by opening it very carefully I can avoid making a mess.
I was unable to find this liner in the EWG’s Skin Deep database, but other eyeliner products from Beauty Without Cruelty had low ratings of 1-2. Depending on how long one bottle lasts and what additional information I’m able to find about their ingredients, I may continue my eyeliner search. For now, I think this is a good replacement.
This is a follow-up post to a 6-post series about replacing my drugstore makeup brands with less toxic products, as rated by the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database, which is an awesome free resource for researching your own beauty products and common ingredients.
Other Posts in this Series
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Less Toxic Life 