A tiny bit of backstory: If you haven't heard of
SOPHIE yet, where have you been? The Sophie Lancaster Foundation aims to not only provide a lasting legacy to Sophie herself, but to put an end to hatred and prejudice, something which I wholeheartedly support. To show their support, Illamasqua donates a portion of the sales of each Medium Pencil in Sophie, a staple black, to the charity.
So when I was at the counter in Sydney I insisted on picking up two (because of how quickly I go through eyeliner) as well as a bright blue, Debonair. All the reviews I could find were glowing for the whole Medium Pencil range, so they had to be absolutely fab, right?
Sophie
Debonair
Both deliver rich pigmented colour in one smooth stroke. Meow!
I also trialed Debonair on the waterline. This is how it looked when freshly applied...
...and four and a half hours later! Check the EXIF data if you don't believe me. It has worn off a bit on the outer corner, but for the vibrancy is still holding on strong and didn't bleed downwards.
Unfortunately that's where the love affair ends, which is such a shame as I really wanted to love these pencils! :( Do I just have dud eyes or something? When I wore the pencils in Sydney, I attributed the smudge-fest to the humidity, but even 20 minutes after being on my hand... this happened.
Yup, clean imprints! I was photographing a whole lot that day and have a tendency to rest my hand on the bench to stabilise. These pencils never seem to dry down, moving all over the place when I rubbed my eye after a whole hour.
What a shame, because this is how rich they are on the lashline (didn't tightline, it's a trial day!)
...but then a mere 1hr and 40 mins later
This is how it looks at the 2 hour mark on a different day, fading and smudging down to the lower lashline :(
And even though Debonair lasted fantastically on the waterline, it hated my lower lashline. Is it just my skin?! Again, fading and migrating. I'm not impressed! I don't get it, why does it last on the waterline, where lasting power is usually most impressive, but not anywhere else?!
Thanks but no thanks Illamasqua. I'm going to donate straight to SOPHIE now instead of via pencil.
