Some products show up everywhere — subway ads, Instagram, celeb endorsements. With this series, we're testing such products to conclude one thing: Does it live up to the hype?
What’s everyone talking about?
This affordable eyeliner promises to define the eyes with highly pigmented color, similar to liquid eyeliner, but in an easy-to-use pencil format, ideal for beginners and novices alike. It promises to last through heat and humidity, and eliminates the need for a pencil sharpener, since you can just twist up for more product.
What’s the buzz about?
With a $6 price tag, it’s no wonder Amazon shoppers and beauty YouTubers can’t get enough of the NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil. This cheap beauty product has climbed to the top of Amazon’s beauty section and quickly became a best-seller. It also earned thousands of rave reviews across Ulta, Target, and YouTube. Given its low price, you can gift a few to loved ones and treat yourself to a nice beauty gift.
Where’s all the hype coming from?
- This popular eyeliner earned a 4.5-star average rating from over 97,800 glowing Amazon reviews.
- Beauty YouTubers are obsessed with the creamy and blendable formula of this eyeliner. Makeup tutorials and reviews received hundreds of thousands of YouTube views.
- Years of coverage on sites, like ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR, and Allure.
So does it live up to the hype?
Key Specs
NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil
NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil
- Rating: 4.5-star average rating from more than 97,800 Amazon reviews
- Where to buy: Amazon, Ulta, NYX, and Target
- Colors available: 13
- What reviewers are saying: “This is the best eyeliner ever! I use it on my waterline to brighten up my eyes. This stuff lasts literally all day! Like 12+ hours. I was wary of it since it’s a mechanical pencil, but I am so impressed. I would definitely recommend this, and I would buy it again,” says one 5-star Amazon review.
- What I think: As Best Products' beauty editor, part of my job includes testing new beauty products and classics alike, to ensure that all beauty products featured on our site are 100% worth your hard-earned money and are fantastic beauty gifts. Well, the NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil is a solid pencil eyeliner that doesn't outperform higher-end options, but it definitely gives them a run for their money. And given its $6 price tag, I really can't complain about one small thing I'd change.
How’d we come to this conclusion?
There are several reasons why I enjoy using the NYX Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil, including:
The twist-up applicator
I cannot tell you how many times I've forgotten to pack an eyeliner sharpener before a trip and had to rush order the $1 wet n wild sharpener off Amazon. The NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil is a twist-up pencil that doesn't require a sharpener. Given the design, only a little of the product comes out at a time, which is great because it helps prevent your giftee from twisting up too much eyeliner, causing it to break off.
It doesn’t tug at the eyes
Unlike dry wooden pencil eyeliners, the slim NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil has a very creamy formula that glides easily across my eyelids. It doesn't pull or tug at the delicate eye area, which is always a win in my beauty book. Given its formulation, your giftee has a few seconds to smudge the eyeliner for a smoldering smokey eye effect, but once it sets, the eyeliner locks in place. I typically prefer a crisp cat eye, so this isn't a problem for my daily wear, but I could see this potentially becoming a slight annoyance for others who like a smokey look. My advice: Incorporate the Sigma Beauty E30 pencil brush to speed up the smudging of the eyeliner.
Available shades
There are 13 gift-worthy shades, including Brown, Bronze, and White. Celebrity makeup artist Jamie Greenberg recently told our friends at ELLE the white shade is incredible for lining the waterline for a brightening effect. There are also fun jewel tones, such as Aqua Green, Gold, and two shades of purple. Black eyeliner is my no-fail eyeliner color, especially when creating winged eyeliner, and I gotta say, NYX honestly makes a true panther-black eyeliner, especially for the price! The pigmentation is truly next level, and the color payoff reminds me of the pricier options I've tested in the past.
The wearability
Throughout my month-long testing process, I wore this eyeliner to the office, around my apartment, out with friends, and found the NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil lasts from a.m. to p.m. Most eyeliners smudge on me when I don't use an eyeshadow primer, like my trusty Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but this one holds up nicely without the primer.
It’s also important to note that I wear eyeliner on my eyelid since I’m not a huge fan of how I look with eyeliner on my waterline. For this story, I did test how it performed on my waterline because I want to ensure what I recommend is always on point for readers. In my experience, the creamy formula was non-irritating and lasted approximately 4 hours before it started to fade. While waterline longevity is not a deal breaker for me, it's something worth considering if your bestie loves wearing waterline eyeliner. Given its slim size, the NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil is something they can throw into their Barbiecore clutch and touch up before heading out to after-work drinks.
What’s the bottom line?
The NYX Professional Makeup Mechanical Eyeliner Pencil is creamy and has a smooth consistency that applies like a dream. Given its cheap price point, I was impressed it performed as well as it did, and I feel confident recommending it to anyone who looking for an affordable eyeliner. It has a slim design that makes it easy to create detailed graphic eye moments or tight line and line the waterline. These eyeliners are also highly pigmented, honestly reminding me of higher-end products you can find at Sephora. Since this eyeliner is only $6, you should gift yourself and your beauty-loving friends and family these high-performance eyeliners.
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Nicole Saunders is the Beauty Editor at BestProducts.com, where she oversees coverage on all things beauty. When she's not creating shopping guides, interviewing experts, and testing beauty treatments, you can probably find her walking around Lower Manhattan or overanalyzing the latest episode of "Succession." You can send all lipstick and calamari recommendations to her inbox and DM her memes on Instagram.
