$2 DAISO EYELINER - Does it work?!

Daiso's Princess Liquid Eyeliner

I'm sorry, I shall not clickbait you, it does work and is in fact one of my favourite eyeliners of all time! HAHA. Honestly I think the fact that a S$2 eyeliner works fabulously is even more intriguing than the fact that there is a eyeliner that costs only S$2.

Packaging

The small size is great for throwing it into any purse and having it on the go for touchups. While it would be more comfortable if the handle was actually longer, it doesn't really affect it's functionality that much as you would usually hold an eyeliner close to the tip for more control. Unless you have hands the size of your dad's, it isn't too bad.

I don't really have any bad things to say about it's packaging except that the words on it get scratched off easily over time (not that I'm complaining, it's $2!).

The eyeliner's tip

How the tip looks like when it's new. 

It's...kinda weird. It's hard like a pen's nib, but not 100% hard. When you scrape off the liquid on the sides of the bottle, you can see tiny hairs on the tip that seems to try to mimic a felt tip. Key word: mimic, because it is still way too hard to feel like a felt tip. That in itself may throw some people off at first, giving off the feel that it is indeed a very cheap eyeliner. Also, after a few months of usage, the hairs start to fray out a little - you can still use the eyeliner perfectly fine, but it won't be as good or defined for drawing a good flick for a wing.

This is the tip of my older bottle, see how it starts to "fray" a little near the tip? It gets a little softer too, making it harder to draw a clean line, but still possible if done with care.

Another bad point - you really have to scrape off most of the liquid on the sides of the bottle before you use it, because otherwise you would be getting out way too much product. And if you don't let it dry enough, it will get onto your eyelids when you open your eyes too much.

• Quick tip: If you really need very little liquid to draw a very thin line on the lash line, you can always draw a little on your hand after scraping off the bottle to get excess product off. However, if you usually draw a thicker line, scraping off 2-3 times on the side is sufficient; you can spread the rest over into a moderately thick winged eyeliner look.

Okay, now on to the good points!

• Quick tip: You should always fill in the lash line (the spots between your lashes), so you don't have the weird gap of skin that people can see when you look up. It also makes your lashes look much fuller.

Precisely because the tip is hard, it makes it SO EASY to just run this eyeliner back and forth between your lashes in a few strokes. The problem with brush tips or those 0.01mm kind of tips is that they're too flimsy, such that your lashes can easily block the pen's tip when you try to run it across. What you have to do then, is slowly dot your eyeliner in, and no one has time for that every morning!

Also, while you can still easily draw a wing, this won't be the most precise. However, I always recommend having 2 types of eyeliners on hand. A thicker one so you can fill in the bulk of your eyeliner as efficiently/fast as possible and a thin on to draw a precise wing. This daiso eyeliner is perfect for the former. 

The formula 

The Princess eyeliner comes in 2 colours, dark brown and black. The black is really black, and I recently picked up the dark brown and absolutely love the colour! It's not too light such that it looks weird if you want to put on eyeshadow (because there is less contrast). It's dark enough to pair with a natural smoky eye, yet the slight brown in it brings down the harshness a little so that it looks more natural! Try it if you think black is a bit too intense for you.

• Quick tip: For a defined yet natural eye, use a black eyeliner to line your lash line, and then dark brown to fill in the rest of your eyeliner. This will make you look like you have really full/dark lashes!

This is the black eyeliner on my left eye. While my wing may look sharp from far, notice that it doesn't have the cleanest line. You'll need to use another thin eyeliner for your wing if you're particular about this.

This is the dark brown. It's not that brown in real life or on camera; the difference is really subtle. Get this colour if you think black is too harsh! P.S Sorry if it's difficult to see, I have hooded eyes and it's hard to photograph my eyeliner properly (on my own anyway).

It's also smudge proof!!! Really, that's all I need. If I do anticipate getting wet or crying, I would pick a waterproof eyeliner to wear for that day, but this is good enough for everyday use. 

It lasts the entire day, and by entire I mean like 10-12 hour days. Even your usual drugstore eyeliner can't match up to this unless it specifically states that it's waterproof, and even then you can't be 100% sure (*rolls eyes* LIES). 

However, you MUST do these steps: Bake right under your eyes, just a finger width's distance. As in, take your finger, press it into your loose powder OR swipe it all around your pressed powder such that you pick up a lot of product, then pack it on right under your eyes. Blend it all in with your finger or lightly sweep off the excess. Don't forget the ends of your eye or right below the flick of your wing! At the end of this, when you touch under your eyes it should be smooth as a baby's butt, there shouldn't be any tackiness to your skin. If it's tacky the eyeliner is likely to transfer. This takes just 3 seconds. Easy to touch up with a powder puff in the middle of the day too.

Step 1: Get a whole bunch of powder on your finger

Step 2: Swipe it under your eye and gently buff it in with your finger before getting rid of excess. Make sure your skin is super smooth to the touch after.

• Quick tip: If you have oily lids, putting on eyeshadow primer (optional, but highly recommended if you have extremely oily lids) and eyeshadow can help prevent your eyeliner from transferring up. Swap the eyeshadow for loose translucent powder if you can't put eyeshadow. Same thing, pack it on, then gently sweep off the excess. 
• For additional insurance for any eyeliner, take an angled brush and put black/brown eyeshadow on top of your eyeliner for it to last all day. If it still doesn't last, please just throw out your eyeliner.

Another plus point, because it's not waterproof, it's so easy to wash off. If you desperately want to take off your makeup (maybe long day at work and you're still stuck in office at 10pm, my condolences), just go to your sink, wet your hands and gently rub the eyeliner off. It will just flake off and wash off! I really hate those eyeliners that smear all over the place when you wash it off. I mean, for everyday use, do you want to spend extra money on heavy duty remover oils or eye makeup remover? I don't! 

It is also super pigmented. just one swipe and it's opaque. It's not 100% matte though, so take note if you are concerned about that. There's just a very slight shine to it. There's also a slight chemical smell, but it goes away almost immediately after applying and I never notice it except when opening the bottle. After a week or 2 the smell goes away.

Should you get it?

This is my finished eye look! I used my contour powder and buffed it into the crease and used it as a transition shade. I used Gunmetal (silvery blue) from the Naked 1 palette all over the eye, and Creep (glittery black grey) over the eyeliner. That's why my eyeliner is less noticeable now, but this gives me a really natural smoky look! I cut a pair of falsies into half and stuck them on to the outer half of my eye to elongate it.

If you're a beginner and want to try out liquid eyeliners, or if you need a fuss-free eyeliner that is easy to put on and wash off for everyday use, YES!

If you only need to fill in your lash line and extend it out only a little (the korean look), yes, try it! Especially the dark brown.

If you require a waterproof eyeliner, only want one eyeliner to draw your entire cat eye and a super precise long flick, then nope.

If you like drawing very thin lines, this may not be the best for you either.

Okay, that's it! I can't believe I had so much to say just about one eyeliner, hahha. It's really not bad to pick up and try the next time you're at Daiso, it's only $2, no harm! It's not the best nor my holy grail, but it lasts forever, dries really quick and is super easy to remove. Mistakes can be easily rubbed off with a Q-tip! 

Let me know if you have any questions about it, or drop me a comment if there's something you'd like me to write about :)

Till next time,

Val <3