I have medium dark skin (MAC NC42 Foundation). These are the eyeliners I am reviewing today. From right to left:

• MAC Technakohl Eyeliner in GraphBlack,
• MAC Eye Pencil in Black Funk,
• Rimmel Extreme Definition Two-tone Eye Definer in 003 (Trend Settler),
• Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in 061 (Jet Black),
• Urban decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Zero,
• Makeup For Ever Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil,
• Almay Amazing Lasting 16 Hour Eye Pencil in Precise Black,
• NYX Eye/eyebrow pencil in 901 Black
• Elizabeth Arden Eye Pencil in Smoky Black
• Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner in Onyx
• Maybelline Expert Eyes in Velvel Black

Black Pencil Eyeliners applied on Medium Dark Skin (MAC42 Foundation)

After I rubbed and tried to mess them up, lol!

Best pencil eyeliner for Top or bottom lash line (on skin):

MAC Technakohl Eyeliner in GraphBlack is the best for top or bottom lash line. It’s true black. It is creamy – easily glides on skin. It is long lasting. It’s mechanical and the packaging is sleek – easy to travel with. GraphBlack is my absolute favourite.

Almay Amazing Lasting 16 Hour Eye Pencil in Precise Black. Very long lasting for top and bottom lash lines. It’s less creamy than MAC Technakohl, but still easily applied. It comes with a sharpener at the back.

Maybelline Unstoppable Eyeliner in Onyx. Easily applied and long lasting. It’s mechanical, but not as good as MAC Technakohl and Almay pencils

Makeup For Ever Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil. It is long lasting – not too long. It’s also not very creamy.

Best Pencil Eyeliner for waterline:

First of all, have I found an eye pencil yet that stays on waterline for more than 2 hours? NO, I always have to touch up my waterline eyeliner. One trick is to powder waterline with a black eyeshadow – but my eyes are too sensitive for that.

MAC Eye Pencil in Black Funk. It is SUPER creamy. It glides on waterline. It’s true black. It’s discontinued –an alternative would be MAC Ebony eye pencil. However, since it’s so creamy and almost wet – it’s not long lasting.

Elizabeth Arden Eye Pencil in Smoky Black. It’s creamy enough for waterline. Again – not long lasting.

Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in 061 (Jet Black). It’s creamy – so easily applied on waterline. But it’s not half as creamy as MAC Black Funk.

Rimmel Extreme Definition Two-tone Eye Definer in 003 (Trend Settler). It has a black eye pencil in one end and a white one in another end. It gives the same result as Rimmel Soft Kohl.

TIP: To make your eyes look bigger, line your waterline with a white eye pencil. If you are dark, then use a peach colour.

Okay eye Pencil for Both Water line and Top and bottom Lashlines:

Urban decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Zero. Lots of people love this – but it didn’t work for me. It stays put on skin okay (top and bottom lash line). It glides on waterline – but you have to touch up. What bothers me is that I medium dark skin tone and this eyeliner is not Black enough for me. If you have fair skin, this eyeliner may work great for you. But I only use for natural looks – not black enough for dramatic looks (for dark skin tones). For the price- I say it’s not worth it.

NYX Eye/eyebrow pencil in 901 Black. It’s not long lasting on skin and not very creamy either for waterline.

BAD eye pencil:

Maybelline Expert Eyes in Velvel Black. It’s not black – it’s grey. It is SO hard; I struggled to put it on my top lash line. I can’t imagine someone trying to put this on their waterline – it’s going to poke the eyes out. Stay away from it.

[phpbay] MAC eye pencil, 1, “, ” [/phpbay]

[phpbay] Rimmel eyeliner, 1, “, ” [/phpbay]

[phpbay] Almay 16 hour pencil eyeliner, 1, “, ” [/phpbay]

Blemish covering concealer:

Select Cover-up by MAC is the best for blemishes. If you are having break outs, or have acne spots, scar, redness, dark circles and you can only afford one concealer- this is what I recommend. It is a liquid and comes in a small tube- very easy to use and convenient to travel with.

Studio Finish Concealer by MAC is the second best. It does everything that Select Cover-up does, but it has SPF 35, which is a good thing. However, SPF has an ingredient called Titanium Dioxide in it which reflects light and makes skin look shiny. So I try to avoid it for the photo days.

Studio Sculpt Concealer by MAC is a cream and best for dry skin. A little goes a long way. If too much is applied, the thick formula tends to make skin look cakey.

Makeup For Ever makes 5-Camouflage Palette Cream concealer. There are 5 colours – so it may not be cost effective for a regular woman. It has decent coverage and there are 5 different palettes. One is a colour corrective palette. One palette is for dark skin and 3 palettes are for light skin ( the 3 are VERY similar).

Colour Correcting Concealer:

There are different colour correcting concealers available that works based on the colour theory. For example, green concealer would take out any redness in skin – but I feel that green on skin only makes it look ashy. Peach is a GREAT colour correcting concealer for under eye circles. Peach takes out the blue/purple undertone of under eye circles. My favourite peach concealer is by Bobby Brown. They have more pinky tones for lighter skin and peach to dark peach tones for darker skin.

Modern day women have to keep their makeup up with technology. If an event is video graphed, possibility is that the camera is High Definition (HD). HD cameras can pick up more than naked eyes. So even more blemishes can be seen – which is kind of scary. However, as technology is improving, makeup is also improving along with that. I have tried tons of foundations and will try to give brief reviews on a few of them.

High End Foundations:

Make Up For Ever’s HD Foundation is the holy grail of all foundations! It gives awesome coverage but looks amazingly natural on skin. It is very light weight for the coverage. The application is smooth and dries within a minute or two. It feels very light on the skin and the natural looking finish amazes me every time. It is $43 CDN but worth every penny. It has 25 shades – everyone should find their exact shade (or a better shade compared to other brands). It can be found at Sephora, Sears and some select Shoppers’ Drug Mart in Canada.

Vincent Longo Liquid Canvas Dew Finish Foundation. It has SPF 15 and called Radiant Glow foundation. It’s great for dry skin. It gives a glowy finish and has awesome coverage. I don’t recommend it for oily skin since oily skin doesn’t need more shine. The darker shades can be a bit orangey.

Mineralized Skinfinish Natural by MAC is a mineral powder, but it is pressed. I like that I don’t have to deal with the trouble of loose powder going all over the place. It gives a natural but dewy finish. It’s great for summer since it can be applied with a Kabuki brush within a minute. And none likes the feel of liquid or cream foundation on their face during summer (except for special occasions). However, it can be really shiny on oily skin and can look greasy in photographs.

Sheer Colour SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer by Stila has SPF 15 and is great for a natural look. They also made an oil-free version of this recently – which is even a better news to us oily-skinned girls.

Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation by MAC is a cream foundation is best for dry skin. It gives a dewy finish. It is a full coverage foundation and can look cakey if too much is applied. People with oily skin should avoid it.

Benefit makes some kind-a-gorgeous foundation. It is a cream foundation and is supposed to match every skin tone. Though I would not agree with the skin matching part. It also has a slogan on the package, “Fake it, don’t cake it”. But unfortunately I think it does look cakey.

Elizabeth Arden makes Flawless Finish Mousse Makeup. It has a good packaging, it comes out like a mousse, applies smoothly and feels good on the skin. And that’s how it is sold. However, it is $40 CDN and is a does nothing for the price. It gives a very sheer coverage. Within an hour, it starts looking really shiny and wears off very easily.

Budges-Friendly Foundation:

Revlon ColourStay Makeup Foundation is the best low-end foundation, period. They make two versions – combination/oily skin and normal/dry skin. There are quite a few shades to choose from. Some of the foundations have SPF 15, some have SPF 6 and some has none, I don’t understand the chemistry behind that. But it really lives up to its name. Once it goes on it won’t go on your dress and it lasts forever. The formula is very thick – designed to give full coverage. But it can be sheered out with a moisturizer.

My second budget-friendly favourite foundation is also by Revlon. Revlon Beyond Natural Skin Matching Makeup is great for the days when you want medium coverage. It has SPF 15 and looks natural.

Dream Matte Mousse Foundation by Maybelline is a great foundation for oily skin. It gives a matte finish.

ELF is the acronym for Eyes Lips Face. This website has a lot of products for $1 USD only (There are a few exceptions, i.e. Mineral and Studio line). But if you are ordering from Canada beware of the big shipping fee. ELF makes Shielding Hydro-Tint SPF 15 foundation. It has 4 shades. It is not the best, but it is quite nice for the price.

ELF also makes a mineral powder. It only has 4 shades and can look cakey after a few hours.

All Over Cover Stick by ELF is a cream foundation that comes in a stick and has 4 shades. It is very cakey – I only recommend it for theatrical makeup.

So I have been chit-chatting for a while. Now I am going to really start talking about makeup in details. Today’s topic is face primers. There are different types of face primers. Some are water based and some are dimethicone based. Primers go after moisturizer and before foundation. So it makes a barrier between skin and foundation. Most primers even out skin tone, smooth out any rough patches or dryness, fill in fine lines and pores. Primers also make the foundation application very smooth and easy. Foundation usually lasts longer when applied over a primer.

High end primers:

My all time favourite primer is Make Up For Ever’s HD primer. It has a non-oily finish so foundation can be applied immediately and it goes beautifully with Make Up For Ever’s HD foundation. It’s great for all types of skin. They have one translucent primer and 6 other coloured ones to correct imperfection, I prefer the translucent one.

My second favourite is Photofinish primer by Smashbox. But it is my favourite only in winter because it makes my face greasy in summer. It is oil-free and gives a velvety finish. The translucent primer has an “original” version and a “light” version for oily skin. There are also colour-correcting primers.

Clarins make Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. It is a creamy and non-oily primer and best for dry skin. It gives a smooth finish and fills in fine lines and pores.

Clinique makes Pore Minimizer. It comes in two colours- Invisible Light and Invisible Deep. It really does minimize the pores. But it comes in a tiny tube and is pricey for the product.

Budget friendly primers:

Fix and Perfect foundation primer by Rimmel is a great low end primer. It goes in peachy but is invisible once you blend it. It smoothes the skin and hides pore very well. It’s excellent for oily skin. The finish is somewhat like Make Up For Ever’s HD primer, unlike Smashbox’s silky finish.

Last but not the least, Monistat Chaffing Gel. It is an intimate care product and NOT designed as a primer. It cautions to keep out from eyes. So I am NOT responsible if this product harms your face. However, it is the best primer for dry skin in my opinion. It smoothes the skin, fills in fine lines, gives a silky finish – everything that a primer does.