Review: LUSH Auger Liquid Eyeliner

I feel like I'm constantly on the hunt for the perfect black liquid eyeliner. I've tried a huge variety of styles and formulas, from felt tip pens, to gels, to ink pots, from brands such as Too Faced, Kat Von D, NYX (current favourite) and Maybelline, but NEVER found the perfect one!

When I first tried this eyeliner at the LUSH Liverpool Spa last year, I wasn't very impressed. The sales assistant, bless her heart, didn't seem to be the most talented with an eyeliner brush (we've all been there!) and we ended up with a situation where she had applied more and more, filling my entire eyelid and with a massive, rounded wing. Needless to say I did not buy the Auger there and then.

I decided to give Auger liquid eyeliner another chance in my most recent order. I haven't worn black liquid eyeliner properly for absolutely ages, and looking back at some of my photos from college I decided that I would like to start wearing it again. 

Before I begin my review, I think it's important to mention that I have really greasy eyelids. Gross I know, but even Kat Von D tattoo liner literally slides off my eyes. For my trial period, I wore a single layer of Auger eyeliner over 3 days, applied at around 8am each morning, without any kind of primer, eyeshadow or setting powder underneath.

LUSH Auger Liquid Eyeliner

Upon receiving my bottle of Auger, the first thing I noticed was just how full the bottle was. It's absolutely brimming! Can you remember a few years ago the absolute scandal that went around showing the amount of product actually in eyeliner pens? None of that problem here, where you can see exactly how much you get (apparently 5g, but it looks like so much more physically!) I can tell it's going to last me a long time, which makes it really good value for money at £15.00 a bottle.

I always like to talk about scent in my reviews. Weirdly, Auger doesn't smell of anything. Just regular liquid eyeliner scented. Which is kind of a shame, as I do love the way that LUSH sneaks a natural scent into every product, but also understandable when it comes to using fragrance around the delicate eye area.

The website mentions that this eyeliner has a high-shine finish, however I don't think their images capture just how deep and glossy the colour really is. Just one layer of liner gives a really intense black colour, unrivalled by any of the liquid eyeliners I've tried previously and definitely better than any pen ones. 

My favourite brush to apply Auger with is actually the brush from a dried-up NYX Vinyl Liquid Liner, rinsed off and repurposed for this eyeliner. I personally don't think LUSH has a brush suitable for using Auger eyeliner to its full potential. 'Get In There' is too stubby, and 'Wing It' is just too large in general. You need a really fine-haired brush (or even possibly one of the tiny silicone ones from Real Techniques) to properly achieve delicate, vintage style flicks like mine above. I've included an 'Application Tips' section below for more information!

Application Tips

- Make sure the brush you are applying with is really clean. Any dried specks or clumps of eyeliner stuck to it will drag and smudge the fresh application

- Start in the middle of your eye and dot the liner outwards to the end corner. Join these dots up by dabbing or sweeping the liner, whichever you feel more confident with.

- Get a clean, crisp flick by dipping your brush back into the liner to top up the amount on the brush, then drawing a thin line upwards from the corner of your eye. 

- You can leave this line as it is for a super-fine line, or draw a second line down again to create the triangular cat-eye, then colour the triangle in.

But here's what you really came here for - What is the staying power of Auger eyeliner, and how does it wear throughout the day? I spent three days wearing Auger in a variety of styles, and I found that on average it had a 8-10 hour wear time! I found that vintage style flicks would have needed to be topped up around hour 8 to sharpen and darken the flicks after creasing at the corner of my eyes. A simple black line of eyeliner looked good for 12+ hours despite getting a little crumbly around the inner corners.

I also posted real-time updates on my Instagram story throughout my first day of wearing Auger eyeliner, so pop over to my 'Eyeliners' story highlight to see how the wear progressed for yourself.

Of all the eyeliners I've tried, I would say that LUSH Auger Eyeliner is up there with the NYX Vinyl Liquid Liner, in terms of colour and formula. I love how easy it is to apply and remove, and that it doesn't slide off my face throughout the day (looking at you Kat Von D...) However, I think Auger does need a second coat of liner to really be at it's most opaque, whereas with NYX I only ever need one. I do however LOVE how much product you get, how little you need to use, and how absolutely adorable the bottles are in general.

I'm looking forward to ordering some more LUSH eyeliners, namely Coquina (matte brown) for subtle days and Abalone (metallic green-blue) for a delicious pop of colour. Watch this space for more reviews soon!