Review: Rimmel London ScandalEyes Thick & Thin Eyeliner

It's not all that often I'm moved to write a beauty post, but, if there's one beauty product close to my heart, it's liquid liner... When my trusty Rimmel Glam'Eyes Liquid Eye Liner finally dried out recently, I decided to try out one of those enticing felt-tip types... Although, after many years of practise, I felt pretty much at home with traditional liquid liner brushes, I couldn't resist finding out whether these lived up to the hype. With the additional promise of fingertip control over line thickness (apparently even changeable mid-flick, if so desired), this one sounded too good to be true...

So, was it?

The Good

I'll start with one thing I loved - I found it fantastic for lining my lower lids. This is something I've never managed satisfactorily with a standard liquid liner applicator - my lower eyelashes tend to cause "splatter", and I have trouble getting underneath them to apply close enough to the lashline. With this product, I experienced no splatter, and easily managed to get right up to the lashline, and even between lashes. So, instead of having to rely on pencil for under-eye definition, I can finally manage a perimetric graphic liquid outline if I so desire - hurrah!

The Not So Good

However, I didn't find it so useful for lining my upper lids. Weirdly, I found it more difficult to get close to my upper lashline than I do with a standard brush! I'm also having trouble getting the hang of the "thick & thin" thing, and even figuring out which end is meant to be which, to be honest... I find that the line tends to "feather" (only on my upper lids, though!), making it hard to get a good result in one sweep.

The Ugly

The worst thing about this product, though? When I opened it, the liquid dispersed easily, and had a strong, opaque quality... but from the fourth application on, application has taken significantly more effort, with intermittent shaking needed, skin drag becoming noticeable, and a translucent, patchy quality to the final result! I've since noticed other reviewers complaining about how quickly the product dries up. For around the last year, I have alternated between Rimmel Glam'Eyes Liquid Eye Liner in Black and Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Liner in Brown. Neither showed any sign of drying until more than 9 months had passed (or the equivalent of 4.5 months of daily use), and I am, in fact, still happily using the Brown liner! In comparison, a lifetime of 4.5 days seems downright ridiculous!

Would I Buy it Again?

I would have repurchased this product for under-eye use, had it had a longer shelf-life. However, taking this into account, I will almost definitely be returning to Glam'Eyes and/or Exaggerate instead. I have no wish to tar all "felt tip" type applicators with the same brush, as it were, but I will be checking out existing reviews more carefully if/when I consider trying another!

Have you tried any of the new breed of eyeliner pens? What did you think?

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