Illamasqua Precision Ink Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

Waterproof liquid liners seem to be the big 'thing' right now. Nearly every brand has them, including Illamasqua. I've been testing out Illamasqua's Precision Inks for quite some time now and I can honestly say that out of all the waterproof liquid liners I've tried to date, these are my favorite.


They come in a sleek, skinny, glossy black tube with the Illamasqua logo on one side and the shade name on the other. No color indication other than the shade name.

(Top to bottom: Glister, Alchemy, Abyss.)

The applicator is a small, firm and very pointed felt tip. You might want to view this picture full size because the blue and purple shimmer in Glister shows pretty well here.


Left to right: Abyss (pure, shimmer-free black), Alchemy (bright, shiny gold sparkle) and Glister (mauve-nude base with purple, pink and blue shimmer).


I've posted lots of looks with me wearing Abyss as it's become my favorite black liquid liner, but I don't believe I've ever posted a look with Glister:

Glister looks much darker against my pale skin, but lighter against dark shadow as you can see here. It is an unusual color, but it looks gorgeous on the eye. It has this eye-widening, brightening, 'awake' effect that I really like.

The colors are amazing. Abyss is the darkest, smoothest, most velvety black. Alchemy is the most amazing gold eyeliner I've ever seen. It's intensely sparkly, but not chunky glitter type sparkly. It's like a gold glass fleck polish in shadow form. It's bright and shiny and just so incredibly pretty that you have to see it to believe it. I haven't seen it in person, but I think the new Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid liner in El Dorado might be similar. And Glister? Awesome. I want to say that MAC did a similar Liquidlast color a few years ago, but the formula of Illamasqua Precision Ink is way better. The color is both weird and wonderful and the pink and purple sparkles are lovely.

Here's a quick rundown of my thoughts:

What I liked about Illamasqua Precision Ink:

• Firm, durable precision applicators allow me to make a thin line if I want one, something you can't always get with softer, less pointed felt tip liners.
• The applicator is also firm enough to create a sharp, defined point on winged liner.
  
• The formula isn't runny or watery so it doesn't bleed, though you must shake them to be sure the consistency is right.
• The liners are waterproof and smudgeproof, won't come off until you take them off.
• Gorgeous colors.
  
• Can be used for nail art.
• Dries quickly.
• Very easy application.
  

What I didn't like:

• Excess liner can collect around the neck of the tube and cause the inner ring of the tube to come out when the wand is unscrewed.
  
• The price is the highest of all the waterproof liners at £17.00 / $27.50 for 0.06 fluid ounces.
  
• There is nothing on the outside of the tube that indicates the color of the liner which can be confusing if you have lots of liners. However, the packages do look upscale and uniform because of this.
• You must shake them before use to ensure proper mixing of the pigments.

Illamasqua originally suggested that I use these to create some freehand nail art, but that didn't work out so well. Not because of the liners, which were really cool when I used them on my nails, but because I'm apparently not blessed with natural artistic ability. At least not when it comes to imagining nail art designs. Who knew that drawing a straight line could be so hard? What I was able to do successfully was use these to fill in areas in already stamped Konad patterns to create multicolored designs. So, if you have these, try them on your nails! The fine point and quick drying formula are way easier to use for me than those squeezy nail polish pens.

These are definitely my favorite of all the waterproof liquid liners, but I really wish that they were priced similarly to the other brands.

Anyway, for US shoppers, Sephora carries two of the three shades of Precision Ink. Illamasqua's website has all three shades but Alchemy is currently waiting list only.


(These were sent to me for review.)