Urban Decay came out with Ink for Eyes Cream Eyeliner ($22.00) back in Fall 2009, and I haven’t tried them out until now. I have the purple eyeliner called “Empire”, so I wanted to recreate the cat eye from the Urban Decay advertisement for these eyeliners (the rightmost picture).
Here’s how mine turned out and the steps on how to do it:
- (Optional) To achieve a nice clean look, apply a primer similar in color to your skin tone. Then apply a neutral eyeshadow as a wash on your entire lid (click here to read my how-to on eyeshadow washes). Here I used MAC Paint Pot in “Soft Ochre” as a base and MAC E/S in “Brulé” as a wash.
- Using an angled brush, line upper lash line with a purple color (or whatever color you want). I used Urban Decay Ink For Eyes Cream Eyeliner in “Empire”. Start by creating a thin line from your inner upper lash line, and work your way towards your outer upper lash line.
- Extend the line (create a wing) by following the natural curve/angle of your lower lash line.
- Now go back to your middle upper lash line, and build on the existing line to make it gradually thicker towards the outer upper lash line.
- Keeping your eyes open, create a line following the downward angle of your inner upper lash line.
- Line your entire lower lash line, connecting the outer and inner corners of your eye and blending into each extended line (the wing and the line near your inner corner).
- Curl your lashes and apply mascara to both your upper and lower lashes.
I like that the Urban Decay Ink for Eyes is really smooth and easy to apply, blend, and smudge. However, it doesn’t set very well on its own. I tested out a line on my hand, and after 15 minutes I was able to smudge it off very easily. For that reason, I’m going to pass on this product, since Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliners are still my favorite — these dry in about a minute (allowing me to build my lines and blend out my wings) and once dry they don’t budge! If you do try out any of these Ink For Eyes, I recommend putting a similar colored eye shadow or powder on top of it to help prevent it from smearing.
Have you used Coastal Scents gel liners? I honestly was not impressed with them – a couple of the ones I purchased were dry…sigh. Too bad we don’t have Bobbi Brown readily available in Canada.
Hi Kate! Yes, I have the Coastal Scents gel liner in white. I wasn’t impressed with them either, so I only used it twice. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner is my favorite, but MAC Fluidlines are good too.