The Sample: NEW Paul & Joe Eye Liner WP & Eye Crayon Duo in 002 Fiji, Review & Swatches

««Press Sample»»

I’ve been feeling the itch lately–the itch to get away and head to a sunny locale where I can just laze about on a hammock all day drinking fresh coconut water and sunning myself. Of course that ain’t happening any time soon, especially since I just barely make enough at my new job to cover driving expenses, alone. :/ (The experience will be good though and hopefully I’ll find something a little better soon!). Still, I can’t complain too much because I do live in beautiful, sunny So-Cal where the weather is nice and temperate year-round So while I’d like to get away to someplace faraway and exotic like Fiji, I’ll settle for sipping drinks on the beach here in California while wearing Paul & Joe’s new Eye Liner WP & Eye Crayon in Fiji.

This duo is another item from Paul & Joe’s Beach Baby Summer Creation 2013 collection (which I went into more detail about here). It’s a limited edition double-ended pencil featuring a water-resistant eyeliner on one side and an eyeshadow crayon that also doubles as a liner on the other. There are 5 duos in all: 001 Saint-Tropez, 002 Fiji, 003 Cypress, 004 Las Palmas, and 005 Santorini.

Fiji is described as a “sandy beige and delicate lavender”. The sandy beige is the liner in this case and the lavender shade is the eye crayon. The liner is actually more a mid-tone warm brown with subtle plummy tones. The shadow crayon is a light-medium, brightened lavender-pink with a beautiful pearly glow.

You can see that like the Eye Gloss & Lip Gloss Duos, each side is clearly labeled as “Eye Liner” or “Eye Shadow” so you don’t get confused. There is not much else to say about the packaging–it’s double-ended with soft orangey-apricot plastic caps and Paul & Joe’s beautiful logo etched onto the beautiful bronzy label.

Let’s talk about the Eye Liner first. The liner has a very smooth, creamy consistency. It’s not too hard but it’s not very soft like some of the new-age waterproof liners are (think Giorgio Armani or, to a much lesser extent, Make Up For Ever). The hardness of the pencil makes it really easy to apply the liner quickly (ever notice that with softer pencils, you have to go slower and be more careful otherwise you could accidentally apply too much and have it look too heavy and thick?) and get very close to the lashes without having to pull the lid upwards or having the product get caught up in/clumped in my lashes (anyone else experience that with the softer pencils? Drives me crazy!). The liner is not dry or brittle and glides across the eyes easily without tugging or crumbling, distributing an even line of product.

The Eye Crayon feels much more like the liners that I was talking about above. It’s very soft and pigmented and applies smoothly. However, be careful not to press too hard when you’re applying it–it’s borderline too soft. The first time I used it, I broke the whole tip off because I pressed it too hard. Then when I re-sharpened it, the sharpener made it too thin and pointy and it broke again :/ I suggest just barely keeping it sharpened so it’s kinda short and stubby–it’ll work much better that way.

Still the color is really lovely and the formula blends out beautifully. However, I would not call this Eye Crayon waterproof or even smudge-resistant. It’s not the worst cream shadow I’ve tried but it definitely does not last for very long. At least not on my oily lids. Even though the Eye Crayon wasn’t specified with a “WP” in the name like the Eye Liner was (which I’m assuming means “waterproof”), Paul & Joe did state that both products were waterproof in the description :/

Over primer, the Eye Crayon lasted about 2 1/2 hours before creasing along the inner corner. Without it, it creased in about a half an hour. As for the liner, it held up much better, clocking in at about 3 1/2 hours without a primer, 6 hours with.

I definitely see this duo working best for those with dry to normal lids. I so wish it were longer wearing on my oily lids because the shades are just beautiful and work so well together and for summertime! Ah well…can’t win ‘em all, I suppose. All in all: like the shades, concept, texture, pigmentation, packaging, everything except the wear-time–especially for the Eye Crayon. It’s definitely still worth checking out though–I can never resist Paul & Joe, anyway

»»Pricing: $31/Eye Liner WP=0.02 oz. (0.7 g.) -and-Eye Crayon=0.02 oz. (0.7 g.)

»»Availability: b-glowing.com, Dermstore.com, BeautyBay.com

»»Recommended for: those with dry/normal lids; anyone looking for a simple, effortlessly pretty 2-in-1 eye product

»»Overall Rating: B Eye Liner/B Eye Crayon

Disclaimer: the product(s) featured in this post were provided to The Beauty Sample free of charge by the manufacturer/PR for review purposes only. Regardless of how the product was obtained, my priority is to you, my readers, and I will always give you my honest opinion.