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Don’t Just Wing It: Kat von D Tattoo Liner Review
QUICK FACTS:
Product Type: Waterproof liquid liner
Brand: Kat von D
Shade: Trooper (satin black)
Price: $25
For years now, my go-to look, especially for going out, has involved some variation of a cat-eye. There's just something about it I really like on my face! Especially, since I'm always wearing my glasses, it's a look I feel like really goes with all my hipster pairs of glasses without being visually overwhelming! I switch between using eye shadow for a softer look, and different types of eyeliner when I'm looking for something bolder. Liquid eyeliner is pretty much the holy grail of the perfect cat eye but it can be a struggle to find a liquid eyeliner that is easy to apply, stays in place and has some pigment to it. I've experimented with potted gel liner and brushes, wet eyeshadow, all those alternative beauty hacks but in the end nothing quite compares! I’ve tried a bunch of liquid liners, mainly drugstore finds but even the ones that are supposed to check all the boxes fall short: it’s super watery pigment or it starts to crumble off partway through the day, or the applicator dries out in the first use… or it’s just plain tricky to apply and I find myself spending way too long correcting or having to start over drawing my wings because something’s gone awry. So, I gave up on liquid eyeliner for a while because I was starting to drive myself crazy!
But I started to miss it a few months ago, so when I started seeing stuff on social media about Kat von D’s Tattoo Liner and how it’s basically indestructible: I don’t know if any of you babes saw the viral posts of people posting pictures of their eyeliner intact after car accidents etc but it gave me hope! And at a similar price to the frustrating L’Oréal one I kept trying to make work, it was worth the trip to Sephora to pick one up to see if it lived up to the hype.
Spoiler alert: it absolutely does! It makes a lot of claims: 24hr waterproof, fade-, melt-, crack-, and run-proof to name a few, and so far it’s made good on every single one of them! I’ve been caught in torrential rain, had dogs lick my entire face, worked six hours in a 34 degree store, put it on early in the morning and not needed to touch it up to go out the same night, slept on it... and this stuff seriously doesn't budge! The only time it seemed to give up a little bit is when I sleep on it: I'd lose the crispness of the wing but could still run to Tim Hortons for morning-after-drinking-food without feeling like I looked like I was doing the Canadian walk of shame! (I don't actually think that's a thing, but I feel like if there was, it would involve Tim Hortons, so we can pretend babes)
Because I'm boring, I tend to stick to darker shades when it comes to my eyeliner, and I gravitate towards black for liquid eyeliners. I've found with other brands, their black liner tends to dry to more of a charcoal grey, which can be pretty but if I'm expecting my liner to be a true black, that's disappointing! With the Tattoo Liner, I have yet to be disappointed in how pigmented the black of the Trooper shade is: it goes on fully pigmented without you having to do a thousand layers to get it to that perfect black line!
Now I know I've already mentioned that I basically gave up on liquid liner because it was getting to tricky to apply, so even though in all the reviews people talked about how simple it was to apply, I was skeptical. Man, was I proved wrong! Sure, there are still days where I have to start my wings over from scratch but that feels more like my own fault rather than the applicator! It's designed to be similar to a felt-tip liner but with significantly more control over the thickness of the line, so it gives you the ability to make your liner as thin or thick as your heart desires! That's a major bonus for me, because there are days when I just want a very restrained cat eye, and then other days I want it to be the focal point of my look, so being able to get both looks with one product? Genius. It also goes over eyeshadow beautifully!
You can really tell that this product was designed by someone who is passionate about their liquid liner looks, and they've taken every step possible to make the application experience as quick, easy and frustration-free as possible - I mean, it isn't magic so you may still need to practice with it til you get it nailed, but I found that overall it has been the best liquid liner experience I've had in the eight or so years of rocking the cat-eye! Holy grail status.
If liquid liner is your thing and you're looking to invest in a new product, or even if you're wanting to give liquid liner a shot, this is the one that I would recommend hands down every time! At the very least, you're getting bang for your buck - I've been using mine at least three days a week for a month now and it's showing no signs that it's starting to run out! And when it does finally give up, I'll be heading out to my closest Sephora to pick up a new one (and possibly the other shade!).
Happy lining babes!