I’m always in need of a good pencil eyeliner (who isn’t?). But unfortunately, I’ve never really been able to find one that truly stays put all day long. So instead of browsing the drugstore as I usually do, I decided to splurge and purchase the $25 Lancome Crayon Khol in Black Coffee (mine is pictured on left).

Let me preface by stating that I purchased this product in October. So I’ve been giving it a lot of time, applying it in different ways, and using different techniques. Now, for $25 (TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!) I expected this to be the end all, be all eyeliner. The Queen of eyeliners. The never smudge, never fade, always perfect liner I’ve been looking for! Sadly, my expectations were not met.

Racoon Eyes? Check. Even when it’s 35 degree outside? Yup. It has to at least stay on for a couple of hours, right? Wrong. It starts to melt off within the first two hours of application. I’m not kidding.

The color, however, is very nice. I purchased the Black Coffee color, which is basically brown. It’s a great color for days when I’m not brave enough to go sans eyeliner, but still want to look a little more natural. Here it is on me in natural lighting:

(Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Black Coffee: freshly applied as both top and bottom liner. No other product on eyes or face is used)

While the pencil does apply very easily, it really doesn’t count for much knowing that it comes off so quickly. Even as I write this, I can already see parts of the liner starting to melt off.

The worst part: IT WAS TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS! TWENTY FIVE! That’s lunch at a mediocre restaurant. That’s a month’s worth of HBO. That’s my electric bill for one month. That’s TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!

I will say, however, that the reviews for this are sort of mixed from the reader reviews on Sephora. Some say that it lasts all day and that it is their end all, be all eyeliner. So I guess it’s just that kind of product: The kind that works perfectly on some, and horribly on others. 

I hope you like my new review format! Happy Monday, and as always …

Shopping Information: Le Crayon Khol by Lacome, $24.50 at Sephora.com