on eyeliner sealants...

i've always been fond of wearing eyeliners...most especially those colorful ones. it gives the eyes more drama and if you are not into wearing eyeshadows, bright-colored eyeliners will surely make your eyes pop. i don't wear eyeshadows before, but i buy a lot of colored eyeliners available out there so i can add colors to my eyes. i have black, brown, blue, violet, white, green, pink, etc...but somehow, i still wished to have the same number of available colors for eyeliners as much as eyeshadow shades we have out there.

and then i got introduced to mineral makeup. i got a few eyeshadows from my first mmu brand, Bare Escentuals. but i had no idea on how to apply them...well, i did. but believe me, i always end up with creasing eyeshadows, if not poorly blended colors on my eyelids. i wished to use them as eyeliners...and then i found out that i can do that with mmu e/s!

at first, i tried it with water. but it doesnt really make my liner stick well. and then i read something about using Visine. so i got myself a mixing bowl (pot caps work too!), put some mmu e/s on it and a drop of visine. i mixed it and using my eyeliner brush, i lined my upper lash lines with it. and voila! instant eyeliner! and back then, i have like 15 mmu e/s shades...so it was like having 15 different colors of eyeliners. and i wasn't stuck with the usual colors...i was so happy.

then i came across this in Sephora:

Designed to help your long wearing bareMinerals Liner Shadows last through wind, rain, snow, or swimming, Weather Everything is simply the best way for your eyes to endure the day as flawlessly as they started.

and of course, i gotta have one of this...aside from other stuffs hahahha. So when my friend gave me this, i was so excited to try it out. the effect was a lot different from using visine. it really makes the color vibrant. and it really stays put. but what i didn't like about it is it makes the liner flake. after sometime, you'd see the liner flaking to bits. yay!

oh well...

so i tried another eyeliner sealant. i got one from Milan, called Gelle Drops. Consistency is a lot thicker than that of BE's. and it's sticky. i find it hard to mix my mineral eyeshadow using this one. but like BE, it does help your liner in giving out a vibrant color. staying power is good too. no flaking though...but i just didn't like the difficulty of mixing the mmu with it.

then, i came across the homemade mixing medium, which can also be used as a liner sealant. but the first few times i've used this to foil my eyeshadows, i had an allergy, my lids became sore and so damn itchy. and i don't think i would want to try it for my liners. no way.

so i had no other choice but to go back with BE liner sealant. but what about the flaking issue? well, thanks to Phoebe, she gave me a tip about topping it off with Visine. So first you apply your liner with BE sealant, then wet the same liner brush (or get another brush) with Visine, line your colored eyeliner again. lo and behold, flaking issue resolved!

and now i (and you too!) can enjoy the vibrancy of your mmu e/s as eyeliners, with excellent staying power without flaking.

weeeeeehh!