Tarte EmphasEYES High Definition Eye Pencil

Quick review on the Tarte EmphasEYES High Definition Eye Pencil today. You can purchase this at Sephora, TarteCosmetics.com, or Beauty.com. It is $18.00 and contains 0.028 g / 0.001 oz of product. It comes in 5 different shades: black, chocolate, green, plum, and charcoal.

I received the Black color as part of the Sephora Natural promotion last month. Believe it or not, this is my first "high end" pencil eyeliner. When I was younger I always used drugstore pencil eyeliners, which tugged at my eyes and had little color payoff, or smudged terribly. Pencil eyeliners and I don't get along--my eyes lubricate themselves a little too well, I think.

The EmphasEYES liner comes in a thin plastic twist pencil. The packaging actually feels quite flimsy. When I opened it for the first time, the product was so hard to twist out, I was scared I might break it before even using it. However, I finally got the cap off and twisted some eyeliner out to see that the point is extremely fine, which I really liked. Sadly, nearly after each use, I have to twist the pencil out to maintain that sharp point. And seeing as how the pencil contains so little product, this eyeliner seems like it'd be finished really quickly, and is completely overpriced. Tarte says that this 100% natural eyeliner also contains a lot of beneficial ingredients, which I find rather gimmicky--aloe vera, mineral pigments, palm oil, and vitamin A & E? Since when do we look for nutrients in our eyeliner? Hmm.

This eyeliner has received a lot of mixed reviews. Some people love it and say it lasts forever on them, and others say it smears off completely. It's possible some people who are disappointed with this liner were probably using it incorrectly. If you read the guidelines carefully, it says:

"This ultra fine liner easily fills gaps in the lashline and glides perfectly on the inner rims of eyes. Our patented silicone system creates a super creamy, long wearing formula specifically designed for the sensitive inner rim so it won't fade or run...and it's dermatologist tested, so it won't irritate the sensitive eye area like traditional wood pencils."

Because of the fine point and meager product content, you're not supposed to actually use it to line your entire eye--it is only meant to provide the finishing touches on your eye after you have already used your regular eyeliner. I actually didn't like using this eyeliner to fill in the spaces between my eyelashes--I prefer to do that via tightlining with cream eyeliner, and the fine point actually made it harder to tightline into the upper lashes. Also, this liner did not work on my upper or lower waterlines--although it glided on very smoothly and nicely, it smeared very quickly and disappeared. The only place this liner semi-worked was on my lower lashline--it provided some definition, but even after using Urban Decay Primer Potion, it still smeared under my eye.

In the end, I don't like this liner and do not recommend it. People who might want to try it regardless are those with drier skin who don't need eyelid primer--the thin point is a great concept, but for the majority of us with oilier lids, Tarte EmphasEYES eyeliner is a huge bust.