Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil review

A few weeks ago, Ulta was offering a free gift with a $30 Urban Decay purchase. Yeah, I'm a sucker for free gifts. Don't judge. I bought the Super-Saturated Lip Color in "Lovechild" (which I reviewed here) and the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in "Zero" (matte black).


I've read a lot of good things about the 24/7 eye pencil, but I've never tried it. Until now. I've never had much luck with eye liner - with most, after 6-8 hours, I look like a back alley hooker or a raccoon - take your pick.

I don't understand why I have this problem. I don't touch my eyes during the day. I don't rub my eyes at all. I don't touch my makeup. I don't use greasy eye creams or moisturizers. It starts out looking pretty good (or as good as it can be, applied using old eyes and no glasses) - but it only stays that way for a few hours. I've tried setting the liner with powder eyeshadow - and I've tried "water-proof" liner. Even MAC liners smear all over the place. I have the best luck with gel liners, but even they smear at the outer corners of my eyes.

So I had high hopes for the UD! Everyone says they're wonderful - water-proof and long-lasting. Well, we'll see, won't we??

Here's a shot of my eye, right after the UD eye pencil was applied. The only adjustments I made to the pictures was to lighting (I took them all in the same room, with the same camera - just at different times of the day. I'm amazed at how different the colors look!) - so anyway, you're going to see all my lines and wrinkles. *cringe* Please be kind. I am 51, after all, my heart can't take too much criticism.


Now, here's a "before" and "8 hours after". The liner on the upper lashline looks pretty much the same. But you can see the outer corner is smeared a bit.


In another "before" and "after", you can see that the upper lashline is pretty much the same (the lighting made it look lighter, but you can see it's not smeared) - but the lower lashline and outer corner are significantly smeared/removed. Please be sure to note my short, stubby, faulty eyelashes have also lost most of the mascara. Sigh. Please do not note the lines and wrinkles.


Another "before" and "after" where you can see the upper lashline. It really is unchanged. But then, that never was my problem area.


And here's an "after" shot of the outer corner. Check out that smear!!! I should also note that I spend the entire day at home, working on the blog. I didn't do anything that would cause the makeup to smear.


I decided to also test the liner (on my hand) to see just how smear-proof and water-proof it really is...I applied a good amount of the liner to my clean, freshly-washed hand and let it "set" for 10 minutes.


Then I took my finger and gently swiped it across the liner - just once, in one direction. There was significant smearing!


Then I ran water over my hand. It didn't budge the liner that was left. So it is water-resistant.


Then I gently blotted it dry with a towel - no rubbing. Some of it was definitely removed - so it's not water-proof.


The verdict: Honestly, I don't think it's any better or any worse than other liners. On me, it's comparable to the MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil (which also claim to be long-wearing and water-proof - but isn't on me). The MAC pencil is $16, the UD is $19. I definitely don't think it was worth $19. I am the first to admit that this happens to me with every. liner. I. try. But that doesn't explain the smearing when I tested it on my hand - even after giving it time to "set". Not impressed. But because I also want to note the good things, I will tell you that it's a very creamy pencil that is easy to apply. And the color payoff is great. So if you don't normally have issues with smearing, you may find you like this pencil a lot.

(Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Ulta, Urban Decay, or MAC. I purchased this product with my own money and did not receive any sort of compensation for my review. As always, my opinions are strictly my own.)