You guys, I haven’t been this excited about makeup since the release of Urban Decay Naked 6 years ago, but I’ve found my holy-grail-smudge-proof-oil-proof-water-proof-super-pigmented-easy to use-unicorn eyeliner. Yes it actually exists. Meet the Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon.
- What is it
- A gel eyeliner in a crayon that delivers intense color and 12-hour waterproof wear and amazing glide in shimmer and matte finishes.
- Best suited for
- Anyone, from noobs to pros, who likes their eye makeup to stay put
- Shades
- 12 mattes and 25 shimmers
- Texture
- buttery soft
- What I love
- Its incredible staying power, wide range of shades, amazing pigmentation, ease of use, and built-in sharpener at the bottom!
- What I dislike
- It’s almost too soft, so if you need sharp precise lines, you’ll need to sharpen the tip each time or better yet, go with a liquid liner
- Size & Price
- $25 for 0.01 oz/ 0.5 g
- Where to buy
- Sephora, Neiman Marcus
This isn’t my first Marc Jacobs makeup, and I’ve always had a positive impression of the brand – sleek packaging, good quality, and reasonable prices. Solid, but nothing to scream for joy about, until Influenster kindly sent me the newest MJ product – the Highliner Matte Gel Eye Crayon in Earthquake (dark brown) and Pink of Me (baby pink).
The eyeliner has a brushed silver packaging, giving it the same sleek look I’ve come to appreciate from the brand. At first glance they look like any other pencil liner, except that they’re actually gel in a pencil format, giving you the pigmentation and staying power of gel plus the easy application of a pencil. This was clear as soon as I swatched them – they glided like butter on my skin (because the last thing we need are eyeliners tugging our delicate eye area and creating wrinkles) and were super pigmented.
What really blows me away and made this my holy grail is its incredible staying power. Like holy crap this does NOT budge once you apply it (you have 15 seconds to smudge or blend before it sets). Usually my eyeliner smudges or fades a bit by the end of the day, even if I prime my lids, but not this. It stayed in place all day, as pigmented and beautiful as the moment it was applied – a medal-worthy feat considering that this has never happened before!!
See how the MJ Highliner doesn’t budge, but the Smashbox eyeliner (in black) smudges easily
Keep in mind this is a gel formula, so if you’re all about sharp precise lines, that ain’t gonna happen. The softness of this liner means that you’ll always end up with a blunt tip and thicker lines, a small trade-off considering all things. They do include a built-in sharpener at the base of the liner, just in case.
#MakeupTip: For a winged look, use a liquid liner at the ends to draw the tips. You can also layer liquid liner over the Marc Jacobs Highliner for extra definition.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Marc Jacobs for including the beautiful dark brown shade (earthquake) in their Highliner range. It strikes the perfect balance of natural while still giving your eyes definition. The baby pink shade I found is wonderful for highlighting my aegyo sal, though I might check out one of their shimmer shades in the future for this. I seriously regret stocking up on my old favorite Smashbox liners now, because these Marc Jacobs Highliners are the only eyeliners I’ll be using from now on.
For comparison’s sake
Much like ex-boyfriends, I have few fond memories and much regret when it comes to the following eyeliners:
- Stila Smudge Pot – My first love (and eyeliner). Great staying power and pigmentation, but the pot would always dry out before I could even make a dent in it. Sad. Wasn’t thrilled about having to use a separate brush to apply, such a hassle.
- Wet & Wild MegaEyes Creme Eyeliner – The rebound. More affordable and less smudge-proof than Stila’s Smudge Pot, so I didn’t feel as bad when it dried out (and it did, fast).
- Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner – The upgrade. Great at first, but I feel like it got less pigmented with each use, probably due to the ink drying out. While it didn’t smudge, it did fade significantly by the end of the night.
- Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner – The one night stand (I’ve never had one, but I’d imagine this would be the eyeliner equivalent, considering that I used it once on a whim). Very thin tip and very pigmented, which makes it super obvious when the lines are crooked or uneven. Plus it smudged like crazy. Good if you’re into the I-just-got-punched-in-eye look.
- Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil – The blind date. Everyone was recommending this, but I didn’t get the hype. Am I rubbing chalk on my eyes? Why is this so dry? And it’s 2017, why am I still manually sharpening eyeliners? Decent staying power and pigmentation though.
- Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eye Pen – The drunken one night stand. This was a liquid liner with a weird ball-point felt tip – it was like using marker on my eyes! The pigmentation was so poor I couldn’t even gauge its staying power. Definitely avoid at all cost (both eyeliner and drunken one night stands).
- Smash box Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Liner – The long-term relationship. My old favorite, auto sharpened each time you capped the lid, and had the best staying power out thus far (still smudged a bit after a day). The eyeliner itself didn’t last long and I had to repurchase after a few months.
- Makeup Forever Aqua XL Eye Pencil Waterproof Eyeliner – The side piece (I used this for my aeryo sal + highlighting while I used the Smashbox as my regular liner). Very waxy, which makes applying along the lower lash line a pain in the ass. Good staying power once you got it on though. Pigmentation is meh, only because you really have to press hard to get the colors on the skin.
Let’s just give this a 10/10?
Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
- Packaging8.5/10
- Pigmentation10/10
- Application9.5/10
- Staying Power10/10
- Price8/10
In my heart this deserves a 10/10 because it's so perfect, but I tried to be as objective as possible and factored in the price, hence a 9.5. If you're still searching for a pigmented eyeliner that stays put all night, you need to give these a try. I kid you not, they are absolutely fantastic and god-sent for oily lids like mind.
This has been a good week thanks to this amazing discovery. Hope you guys have a great rest of the week as well, and let me know if you’ve ever tried the Marc Jacobs Highliner!
I die laughing. Hahahaha! I love how you described each eye liner that came through your makeup life with real world relationships. Hahaha! I adore MUFE Aqua XL eye liners and yes, Marc Jacobs eye liners are also winners! And take comfort that you’re not the only one who don’t understand the hype of Urban Decay eye liners, I had Perversion which everyone raved about and threw it away as it’s so dry.
Haha, glad you enjoyed the comparison :P Maybe I need to give the MUFE eyeliner a try on my lids, I’ve only used it on my lower lashline before. Good to know I’m not the only one who didn’t like UD eyeliners! I tried Perversion as well and yeah, didn’t get it ┑(￣Д ￣)┍
Why are Marc Jacobs products not available in my country, WHY?!
Aww, sorry Ela :( There are a few buying services that will allow you to shop US stores and ship the orders to your country, that might be an option.
The ex-boyfriend eyeliners though ???? I love Marc Jacobs packaging, and these definitely look and sound like my cup of tea! I never use pencil liners because they usually smudge on me after a few hours, but the staying power of these two look amazing. I wonder if they reformulated these? I remember receiving a black mini version as a Sephora birthday gift a year ago and that one seemed to smudge easily. Either way, I’ll have to give these a try again sometime- thanks for the entertaining and informative review!
Lol, the analogy seemed fitting, though I don’t think I’ve actually dated that many boys in real life (thank God?). For the longest time I avoided pencil liners as well due to the smudging factor, but then my laziness got the better of me, haha. Luckily this eyeliner has the best of all worlds! I’m wondering if there’s a difference in formula between the matte and shimmer versions, because the ones I tried were both matte and I’ll wave them in people’s faces all day because they’re that good :P Glad you enjoyed the post!
Wowowowow!!! Unicorn-eyeliner – Jenny you have a way with words :P And yay for GIFs in blog posts to add some excitement!
I got a couple samples of this – the brown and black but found it to be fairly average for the price! Maybe I’m just not used to a pencil format (I use liquid eyeliner 90% of the time) and it also kept breaking up on me! The formula sounds incredible – I think I’ll give this a second chance!
Hehe, thank you! I just wished the camera focused better when I made the video (I’m still such a video noob). Aww, sorry to hear that these weren’t amazing for you. I wonder if I feel this strongly about it because I use pencil liners regularly, as this is very different from liquid liner, so comparing the 2 would be like apple and oranges. I think they’ll be good if you want a softer and more smokey eye look? The soft tip does make it difficult to create the defined look you get with liquid liner.
i was about to ask whether or not you have tried the tom ford eyeliner but then i realized this is a gel crayon eyeliner while the tom ford one is a liquid so that’d be an unfair comparison. still, out of curiosity, have you tried the tom ford’s liquid liner? i heard so many beauty youtubers rave about it and says that it makes doing cat liner super easy and fast!
my holy grail gel pot eyeliner is still the maybelline one because it’s so black and rich and pigmented (also because marc jacobs is expensive and i’d rather shop from the drugstore section) the only downside to gel pot liner is that they dry quite fast. for crayon gel liner though, i haven’t found one that i love. ( i might try one from Nyx next)
anyway, back to the topic. i love how the packaging of this marc jacobs liner looks. it’s probably nothing special because well…it’s a crayon so what do you expect but i really like how sleek it looks! the colors you got are really cute too. gotta love the baby pink one even though i don’t see myself wearing colored eyeliners (i mainly go for brown on daily basis). i also love how you described your relationship with all your eyeliners and compare them to boyfriends HAHAHA that’s hilariously entertaining! the dollywink liquid liner is my favorite liquid liner though. i tried it and i fell in love with it and have always relied on it ever since.
omg your description for the revlon liquid liner :)) i LOL-ed so hard at the metaphor. i never think revlon would do good when it comes to eyeliners though. they’re good with lip products but liners? don’t think so. i’ve never tried their liquid liner but i tried their gel one and it’s not as smooth as maybelline’s or loreal’s.
I honestly want the entire Tom Ford makeup collection but goodness they’re expensive D: I’m not that great with liquid liners myself so I have a feeling I won’t like it as much either :/ I actually bought a new dolly wink liner during my Tokyo trip last summer just so I have a liquid liner on hand in case, but it’s definitely my least reached for eyeliner.
I’ve kind of given up on gel liner in pots because they’re such a hassle and they always dry up before I finish them -_- Didn’t know NYX had crayon gel liners, but I’m curious how they’ll compare with the MJ ones now!
Glad you found the comparison entertaining! Yeah, the Revlon one was so bad I tossed that in the trash after my first use (thank goodness it was a PR sample). Like why can’t they just make a normal liquid liner instead of trying to reinvent the wheel?
i have mixed feelings for revlon! on one hand, they’re so good with lip products and it’s definitely one of my fav drugstore brands for lip colors. their colorstay foundation is also pretty good even though i prefer maybelline’s fit me matte and poreless but when it comes to other things, revlon is just… awkward :)) i feel like l’oreal has more good products when it comes to…range; like their gel eyeliner is good, their mascara works while revlon just excels in..well, lip products :P
Yeah, I don’t think there’s a makeup brand that makes amazing everything, but that also makes it fun for us the buyers! Who wants their entire collection to be from a single brand anyways? :P
Hey Jenny! You write such funny and informative reviews, totally in love with your blog. And the little GIF action? Superb! :-D I am really curious to try these new eyeliners now that you have recommended them!
Hehe, glad you enjoyed it Naya! （＾∇＾）I just need to make sure the video actually focuses next time!
The shade Earthquake is stunning indeed and the gel formulation sounds right up my street: smudges and harsh applications are the two reasons why I practically never wear eye pencils/eyeliners! Lovely review!
http://fannyanddailybeauty.com
So glad you liked it! This is definitely not your typical pencil eyeliner (in a good way)!
Haha, so funny! Love how you described each liner. I absolutely love anything MJ. I have two of the black shade and it is actually the only pencil liner I currently have in my stash and currently using. It is a holy grail for me as well. Excellent review. xx
Ann-Marie | http://facetocurls.com
Hehe, glad you liked it! I definitely want the black color, and maybe a few lighter shades for highlighting – I can’t get enough of the gorgeous formula!
I looooove this eyeliner too!! And really, really want to try some of the more bright and colorful options! I only have black and brown… boring lol. Thanks for this review!!
Haha, I’m actually glad I got the brown option because I’d have no idea how to use the colorful shades ???? They do look gorgeous though, and the pigmentation is incredible!