Four-leaf clovers, true love, pink diamonds and double rainbows all seem commonplace compared to eyeliners in dark, true black. The landscape is littered with supposedly black liners that, once they’re applied to skin, turn out to have undertones like green, brown and gray.
To put it mildly…that’s annoying, but it’s not a problem for L’Oreal’s new Extra-Intense Carbon Black Liquid Pencil Eyeliner ($9), an honest-to-goodness true black.
This enchanting ebony eyeliner doesn’t just skip on the funky undertones; it also skims across my lash and water lines with ease, where it lasts 10 straight hours, even through a few tears.
But its claim to fame color may also be its minor Achilles’ heel. It’s so intensely pigmented and soft that it sometimes smears along my lower lash line (when I don’t want it to). Girls just getting into makeup might unintentionally end up with panda eyes and liner all over the place, eek!
When I have enough time to apply it carefully and can wait for it to set, Extra-Intense Carbon Black is a great lil’ liner, especially for smudgy looks. It should also work well as a base for powder eyeshadows and produce some killer smokey eyes. 🙂
PRICE: $9
AVAILABILITY: Available now at drugstores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
i love this liner. i have it in black, gray and brown. its comparable to a ud24x7 (my fave!) … and that’s saying a lot!
I love this liner, like you said it doesn’t have those funky off color tones to it so it’s a nice long lasting true black! Nice price too!
I want to try this! I have a million liners in tons of colors, but I’m always searching for the perfect black. Now that I have UD’s Perversion you would think I’d stop, but I’m compelled to keep searching! Do these come in any funky colors or just the standards brown, black, and maybe navy?
I’m liking the “extra intense” claim! YAY! 🙂
Khal Drogo would so rock this liner.
Mmph! Loving how black this looks : )
I don’t know how I feel about the smudging, though – I’m always on the fence about that one. On one hand, whoo soft eyeliner looks; on the other, panda bear eyes are never a good thing 😛
Sigh. If only Loreal were cruelty free. I heard they had some plans on going cruelty free, but I’m not sure by when.
It kinda reminds me of the MAC pearlglides but how do they compare?
And i wonder when these will hit the Canadian market?
Looks great! Your written swatch photo made me LOL. 🙂
Thanks for reviewing these! I’ve been glancing at them longingly in recent drugstore tours, glad to hear they passed your test! 🙂
Thanks for reviewing drugstore products! I’d been wondering about trying one of these, but you’ve helped me decide not to since I’m allergic to something in it. Saved me some time, lovely reviewer lady Karen! 🙂
This looks good but I think I’ll stick with HG black-black-black eyeliner…. Milani liquif’eye! They’re smooth like butter and last and last and last.
Ooh I have this! I don’t like wearing it on my waterline though because it doesn’t last. What I do is I take an angled eyeliner brush, rub it on the pencil to get the product on (it’s a pretty soft pencil..) and then I use it as a gel eyeliner! It works perfectly and using it with a brush just gives me a lot more control and it lasts all day without smudging 🙂
Karen-
Have you tried this brand but in the liquid liner? If so, what do you think of it?
I’m more interested in your top than the liner! Love to see a pic of it!
I’m more interested in your top than the liner !! Please show a pic of it!
How black is this compared to perversion?
I’m always on the hunt for an intense black pencil liner. Will have to check this out. Thanks for the review and swatch!
Wow! I love love this eyeliner. I find it perfect for my lower lash line and waterline. I’ve been using the Milani eyeliner and find this to be a better alternative for me.