Rose Bud or Thorn: Benefit’s They’re Real Push-Up Liner
If you’ve been part of the make up community in the past several months, then you know Benefit’s They’re Real! Push-up Liner has been the talk of the town. Social media has been on fire and blogs have been anxiously anticipating the cousin of Benefit’s They’re Real! mascara.
Thanks to Birchbox, I was able to get my hands on the Push-up Liner and I have a lot to say about the gel-based eyeliner that is looking to revolutionize the way we make out cat eyes.
If you’re interested in knowing whether Benefit’s new liner is a rose bud or thorn, read on!
What does Benefit say?
Benefit boasts that their line is the “first ever lash-hugging gel liner pen” with an AccuFlex tip. What does this AccuFlex tip do, exactly? We all know the dreaded moment we leave the house and get into the car only to look in the mirror to see that there’s an annoying strip of skin between your eyelashes and when you’ve placed your eyeliner. This tip hugs your lashline to prevent that problem, which in turn creates a larger-looking eye. 91% of users of a consumer panel survey said it was long wearing, and 81% said it was waterproof. In the same study, 86% said it hugged the lashline and 84% said their eyes looked visibly bigger. For .004 oz and a $24 price point, I’ve put the eyeliner to the test to see if it really hits those four requirements.
Out of the Box
As always, the packaging for Benefit’s liner is cute as can be and follows the trend of the They’re Real product line with their black and orange color palette. There are two main parts to the eyeliner itself: a twist off cap (worded on the cap itself for those unsure on how to remove) and another twister at the portion that moves the product through the pen to the tip.
The first thing I noticed was that when twisting the bottom portion, I had to twist A LOT. The recommended “one twist” to push product to the top is an underestimation during application. It’s more like 2-3. I twisted maybe 12 times before any gel ended up at the tip during first application, and another friend twisted only to have product burst out onto her clothes during the first application.
The AccuFlex tip is the buzz word of the new eyeliner, and it’s something that intrigued me when I first heard about the product. One of my least favorite things about felt tip liners like Stila Stay All Day is that eventually the felt tip loses its density. What you’re left with is a felt tip without a fine point but more of a soggy, flimsy point that will not create a wing. This silicone tip seems sturdy and didn’t move around too much when I applied it to my eye. I’ll say more about this in a bit, but if you’re looking to make a wing then this tip may be tricky.
Application
Once the liner is pushed to the top, what you find is a thick, matte formula that is easy to glide onto the lids. The AccuFlex tip makes it easy to hug the lash line and a little bit of product goes a long way. I found that the inner corner of the eye was the most difficult portion of my lid to handle, and it took several attempts to get a smooth line that was thinner than the rest.
What I noticed during application is that I sometimes wanted to go over the line to either smooth where they were bumps or darken a certain area. If I went in the same direction as the original application (for instance, inner corner to outer third) then the eye liner would apply smoothly. If I applied differently from the first application (inner corner to outer third during original application and then outer third to inner corner during clean up) then the liner itself would roll itself up into balls and flake off.
The next portion was the wing, and if you’ve ready any number of my posts, then you know I typically like a pretty thin wing. If you’re looking for a super thin wing, you aren’t going to get it with the AccuFlex tip – at least not without the assistance of a cotton swab and your friend eye makeup remover. It wasn’t difficult to get the initial line of the wing shaped, but I did notice that when I connected the triangle to finish the wing that most of the pigment when toward the middle of the wing which left the tip with less of a opaque line as I would’ve liked. Overall, I liked the way it looked and let me tell you: IT WAS BLACK. I have never had such a black liner before.
Longevity & Resistance
I don’t know about you, but one of the most important aspects to an eyeliner (an eyeliner over $20 in particular) is how long it will last me AND will it be able to deal with whatever sweat I accumulate through the day. I am happy to say that this eyeliner BY FAR passed the longevity test. After a long 9 hour day, I snapped a picture of my make up. Be aware that I work in a building with tons of florescent lighting that has anywhere between 40-60 people packed in a small space at once time. There’s little air conditioning and the room often feels Florida humid.
Where the rest of my make up has either faded (hello, lips) or is beginning to fade away, the eyeliner has stood the test of time. It’s still as black as it was upon first application, and aside from a tiny bit of transfer in the corner of my eye from when I had a sneezing attack, nothing has smudged.
I took the opportunity to draw several lines of the top of my hand so you could see the true color, as well as the pigmentation and kinds of lines you can create with the AccuFlex tip.
Then, I let the eyeliner set to my hand for about five minutes. I decided to test out how waterproof the eyeliner truly was, and after vigorously rubbing the top of my hand for about 20 seconds, here is what the eyeliner looks like:
As you can see, it didn’t really budge at all. It completely passed my test.
Rosebud or Thorn?
Although the Benefit They’re Real! Push-Up Liner is on the higher end of high end eyeliners, it’s worth it if your main concern is longevity and pigmentation. This gel-based liner stays put over nine hours in less-than-great conditions, and it’s difficult to remove. That makes this the most powerful of liners I’ve used in some time, blowing both Stila and Kat Von D out of the water. Out of all the statistics given by Benefit on the box (long-wearing, waterproof, hugged the lash line, and made the eye look bigger) I agree with all but the last. I didn’t notice my eye visibly bigger than if I use other eyeliner, but it did hug the lashline better than other liners.
You may struggle with the wing, but if you’re looking for a smaller and thicker wing then this will make application easy and pain free. Remember that if you’re looking to clean up any portion of your line to move in the same direction as you did under first application, otherwise you risk flaking.
In the end, this eyeliner is a true rosebud and may be replacing my Kat Von D Tattoo Liner as my holy grail. Now I need to get all of this black liner off my hand.
