Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Eye Liner; Review & Swatches of Shades

Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Eyeliners

Price: $20 each* 

CRUELTY FREE!!

Smashbox Always Sharp Eye Liners really changed the way we think of eye liner maintenance. When the Always Sharp Liners were released we no longer had to chose between a pencil that required sharpening after every use or automatic pencils that couldn't produce an ultra-fine line.

The concept behind the Always Sharp Liner is really ingenious in its simplicity. Inside the cap is a tapered indent. The indent sharpens the product each time you replace the cap. 

Because there's really no way to sharpen the eye liner without a twisting motion, the cap is a twist on cap. 

It takes about a half a second longer to get open and close but the good news is you don't have to worry about the cap popping off in your makeup bag and ruining everything inside. (If you're a fraction as messy as I am then you totally know what I'm talking about.)

The liner itself is a great formula. There are a total of eight shades which range from a very nice flesh shade (Bare) to a deep black.

I particularly love the fact that the shades are all a creamy sort of matte and many of them lack sparkle or shimmer of any kind. Cabana (a turquoise) and Penny Lane (a bronze) both have a standard amount of shimmer but those aren't shades that would normally have a matte finish anyways.

Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Eye Liner
Swatches of Shades
Violetta, French Navy, Cabana, Storm,
Raven, Sumatra, Penny Lane, Bare

All of the shades apply very well. Violetta gave me a tad more trouble than some of the other colors but it's still worth looking at and builds very well.

(If you like sparkle and shimmer in your eye liners you should take a took at Smashbox Always Sharp 3D Liners which are the same formula but with some glitz.)

As for wear time, Always Sharp Waterproof is a great contender. It is indeed a waterproof formula and is easy to smudge before it sets to a long wearing finish and it does perform pretty well on the waterline as well which makes it a fabulously low maintenance, easy to use, Cruelty Free eye liner!

*If you're looking for a cheaper way to increase your eyeliner collection, check out the Smashbox On The Rocks Eye Liner Set. It's a 5 piece set that's a limited edition for the 2014 holiday season and includes a few Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Eye Liners with some Always Sharp 3D Eyeliners. You get 5 full sized eyeliners for only $39!