Estee Lauder Double Wear Gel Eyeliner Splurge or Save?

I was recently given a few gifts because of my birthday in February. I received some high-end makeup and I thought it would be interesting to compare it to its drugstore equivalent. One of the items I was given was the Estee Lauder Double Wear Gel Liner in Stay Onyx. This is your basic matte black gel liner in a screw off cap pot. 

This eyeliner retails for 25 dollars on Nordstorm.com. I looked on the Sephora website but they don't seem to sell this product. I have actually never seen Estee Lauder sold at any of my local Sephoras so I am not that familiar with the brand. I do know through the blogger grape vine that the Double Wear liner is really amazing so I had high hopes for this product. 

The liner is a super rich black color but the liners consistency is very very creamy. Estee Lauder advertising this products as a long wearing gel formula but it applies much more like a cream. Because it is so emollient it slides and slips on the eye and never really packs a punch with pigment. When an eyeliner is so creamy it actually becomes very difficult to apply. Trying to do a wing liner was nearly impossible. Even with a fine liner brush I would get a sharp point at the end of my wing. I also have to go over my lines a few times to get opaque color. I really only use gel liner to do a cat eye. This doesn't perform well on that aspect. 

Once this liner dries and sets on the lid it is super matte. A lot of gel liners and liquid liners when they dry will have shiny satin finish. What I really liked about this liner is dries totally matte. But, because this liner is so creamy you will have to wait for it to dry. I made the mistake of closing my lid and the liner smudged all over the place. 

Overall I am not a huge fan of this product. As liner it doesn't perform nearly as well as my Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner. However this product does work well as a base for a smokey eye. I took a small synthetic brush and I was able to create a perfect smokey eye in seconds. For 25 dollars I would expect more out a product and this just fell short. This product claims to be long wearing and it is if you let it dry completely. If you are looking for a gel liner I would go to the drug store and save some cash on the Maybelline Eyestudio in Blackest Black.