Liner Love: Bobbi Brown Lip Liner: Ballet Pink & Lancome Khol: Black Coffee

Bobbi Brown Lip Liner: Ballet Pink & Lancome Le Crayon Kohl: Black Coffee

A quick post on two recent pencil purchases, Bobbi Brown Lip Liner in Ballet Pink and Lancome Eyeliner pencil in Black Coffee. I picked these up just before Christmas from Cheapsmells and have been using both on a daily basis since.

Bobbi Brown’s Lip Liners are described as being long-wearing, non-drying and are supposed to help prevent feathering. Ballet Pink is described as ‘a pale neutral pink’ on the Bobbi Brown site, which is a fairly accurate description. I mainly purchased to use with paler lipsticks and glosses as a base to tone down my naturally pigmented lips, and it does actually work well used like this. The shade is slightly lighter than my natural lip colour, but still looks very subtle and natural after it’s been applied and blended.

The pencil itself is quite soft, but not overly so, applies well without dragging or pulling, and the formula is comfortable and as promised, is non-drying. I find the colour lasts well on lips too, and fades evenly throughout the day. 

Bobbi Brown Lip Liner: Ballet Pink & Lancome Le Crayon Kohl: Black Coffee

Lancome’s Le Crayon Kohl’s are described as ‘smudgy, creamy-smooth eye pencils, which glide on effortlessly and blend beautifully’. Black coffee is a dark, natural brown. It’s not quite as harsh as black and not as soft as some of the other brown liners I have, it's perfect for everyday wear and creating natural looks. The pencil applies well, feels really soft and creamy and again, doesn’t drag or pull. The formula is creamy enough to smudge and works beautifully at creating a fairly natural, smoky eye look. 

I mainly use kohl pencils to line my upper lash line and used in this way, Black coffee stays put all day. Once it’s been applied, it really doesn’t budge. I have used it on my lower lash line and waterline on a couple of occasions and found it also lasted well. It doesn’t hold up quite as well used in this way, but lasting power is still pretty impressive. 

 

Swatches of both shades, and below a photo to give an idea of what they look like applied. 

Ballet Pink applied all over lips with a little bit of balm, and below, Black Coffee applied on the upper lash line. The photo was taken at the end of the day after about 8 hours of wear, so my shadow has started to crease, the liner is still is still pretty much perfect though.

I don’t often get excited about lip liners or eye pencils, but I am really pleased with both of these. Both shades are flattering and perfect for creating natural make up looks and they both apply and wear really well. As I said, I purchased both from Cheapsmells for quite a lot less than I’d have paid if I’d purchased them from the official Lancome or Bobbi Brown sites. I believe the only difference with the pencils Cheapsmells are selling is the liners come without boxes and sharpeners. The boxes certainly don’t bother me and I’ve collected a ridiculous amount of sharpeners over the years with various different lip, eye and brow pencils, so that’s definitely not a problem either. 

Both pencils are still available on the site. The Bobbi Brown liner costs £10.95 & the Lancome kohl is £10.45.