21 Best Waterproof Eyeliners That Won’t Run, Smudge, or Transfer
Waterproof eyeliner is just… waterproof eyeliner, right? Oh no… we need the best waterproof eyeliner out there because let me explain. You know that perfect winged eyeliner you’ve spent hours perfecting? Or that gorgeous vampy cat-eye?
Well, that also happens to be the one look that’s hardest for waterproof eyeliner to achieve. Even the most long-lasting pencils can start to run and transfer if your lids are prone to be more oily. Who wants their eyeliner running down their face?!
Top Picks
It’s almost inevitable with the humid summer months ahead of us, and even worse if you have sensitive eyes like me. Thankfully, there are a number of waterproof eyeliners out there specifically designed for the humid climate. Here are some tips on how to get your liner to stay put all day without running, smudging, or transferring & the best waterproof eyeliners to achieve that.
The Best 21 Waterproof And Smudge Proof Eyeliners On The Market
If you’re looking for a long-lasting waterproof eyeliner, these are the 21 best waterproof eyeliners you should consider. They’re all highly pigmented, easy to apply and remove, and have become favorites among beauty lovers everywhere.
MAC Liquidlast 24-Hour Waterproof Liner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $22
- Doesn’t flake at all
- Stays put all-day
- Application is easy and smooth
- Not the easiest brush for beginners
- A little harder to take off
Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long-Lasting Eyeliner
- Available Colors: 14 different colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $34
- Stays on perfectly even when swimming
- Can be used on the waterline or lash line without smudging
- Smooth, creamy, and easy application
- Expensive
One/Size Point Made Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner Pen
- Available Colors: Black, Blue Brown
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $19
- Glides onto the lids
- Easy to fix any mistakes
- Matte ultra-black finish, all-day wear
- No flaking, smudging, or smearing
- A little harder to take off
Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner
- Available Colors: 7 Colors
- Available Sizes: Mini + Fullsize
- Price: $12-23
- The formula is very easy to work with
- It glides on ultra-pigmented and smoothly
- Stays on all day, without budging or smudging
- Nothing
Too Faced Better Than Sex Easy Glide Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $22
- A very thin tip which is great for thin lines and wings
- Stays put perfectly all day long
- Never smudging, bleeding, or transferring
- The brush is quite flexible which makes drawing a straight line a little harder
Benefit Bad Gal Eye Pencil Waterproof
- Available Colors: 4 Colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $22
- Doesn’t require a sharpener
- Smooth, creamy, and easy application
- Doesn’t smudge or flake
- It stayed on all day on my normal-dry lids
- My mom has oily lids and on her, this eyeliner started to transfer just a little at the end of the day
Yves Saint Laurent Crushliner Waterproof Eyeliner
- Available Colors: 3 Colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $29
- Smooth, creamy, and easy application
- Comfortable wearing without smudging
- Stays put all day
- Quite expensive
Lancome Idole Ultra Precise Waterproof Liner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $22
- Easy, smooth application without much effort
- It’s smudge-proof and water-resistant (sweat-resistant to be precise)
- Glides on and is pigmented immediately
- Lancome isn’t cruelty-free
KVD Beauty Tattoo Liner Vegan Waterproof Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black and Brown
- Available Sizes: Mini + Fullsize
- Price: $23
- Glides on super smoothly
- Very precise and pigmented application
- Stays on all day perfectly
- Never transferring, budging, and smudging
- Easy to remove at the end of the day
- Nothing
Huda Beauty Life Liner Double-Ended Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $25
- A pencil and liner in one
- Both sides glide on effortlessly
- Extremely pigmented
- Lasts all-day
- A little difficult to navigate with a shaky
ILIA Clean Line Liquid Liner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $28
- Super easy to get into the inside corners
- Fine line, flexible but not too flexible tip
- Glides on easily, stays on all-day
- Clean, cruelty-free and vegan
- Can transfer a bit if you have oily lids
bareMinerals Mineralist Long-Lasting Eyeliner
- Available Colors: 8 different colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $19
- Smudge-resistant
- Glides on creamy and dries down for all-day wear
- Doesn’t flake or transfer
- Clean, vegan and cruelty-free
- My mom has oily lids and on her, this eyeliner started to transfer just a little at the end of the day
Kylie Cosmetics Kyliner Brush Tip Liquid Eyeliner Pen
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $18
- Glides on easily and is very pigmented
- Very fine tip for precise application
- Completely budge, smudge and transfer-proof
- Clean, vegan and cruelty-free
- Nothing
e.l.f. Cosmetics Intense H2O Proof Eyeliner Pen
- Available Colors:
- Available Sizes: One Size (Fullsize)
- Price: $7
- Very affordable
- Very black and easy application
- Budge-proof and water-resistant
- A little harder to take off
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil
- Available Colors: 38 different colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $23
- So very creamy, makes application smooth
- Even though the creaminess, it dries down and stays put all day
- Wide variety of colors to choose from
- Budge-, smudge-, and transfer-proof.
- A little harder to take off (an oil cleanser works wonders)
Fenty Beauty Flyliner Longwear Liquid Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black and Brown
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $24
- Very pigmented, one-swipe application
- It did stay on my normal-to-dry lids all-day
- Quite a stiff tip which makes precise application harder
- Didn’t stay put on my mom’s oily lids
- It dries down pretty quickly
NARS High-Pigment Long-Wear Eyeliner
- Available Colors: 10 Colors
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $24
- Amazingly pigmented, glides on
- Very easy to work with
- It does smudge if you want it to look smudged (for a smokey-eye look for example)
- Lasts all day and night
- The tip gets less sharp very quickly
Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Matte Liquid Liner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $19
- Very easy, smooth, and quick application
- It’s ultra-black, pigmented with one swipe
- Makes precise application easy
- Packaging can get a bit messy
Pat McGrath Labs Perma Precision Liquid Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $34
- Flexible, precise tip for easy application
- Stays put all day on my normal-to-dry lids
- Very black and dries down matte
- Expensive
- May smudge a little on oily lids
Charlotte Tilbury Feline Flick V2 Eyeliner
- Available Colors: Black and brown
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $32
- Easy to apply, very precise application
- Doesn’t smudge, budge or transfer
- Glides on and is pigmented immediately
- Expensive
Diorshow On Stage Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
- Available Colors: 16 different shades
- Available Sizes: One Size
- Price: $32
- Very pigmented and smooth application
- Quite a variety of colors and finishes
- The tip is very easy to work with, very precise
- Doesn’t smudge or transfer, and lasts all-day
- Expensive
- Dior isn’t cruelty-free
How To Properly & Easily Remove Waterproof Eyeliner
If you find yourself still struggling to remove any of these eyeliners, I recommend getting a cleansing balm. The one that is truly outstanding is the JUNOCO Clean 10 Cleansing Balm. This will not only remove any track of eyeliner but also waterproof mascara and all your other makeup.
Another great, affordable option to remove all your makeup is The Inkey List Oat Cleansing Balm. If you click on the name of one of these cleansing balms, you’ll be redirected to my blog post reviews so you can read my full thoughts in these posts before you buy!
What To Look For In A Waterproof Eyeliner
What you should look for in a good waterproof eyeliner is primarily how long-lasting it is. Depending on how oily your skin is, a regular eyeliner pencil might survive a couple of hours, while waterproof eyeliners can often last all day long even after swimming in the pool!
You also want to make sure it’s easy to apply and doesn’t flake off or cake up on your lids. You also want a waterproof eyeliner that’s easy to remove (after a full day of wearing it, obviously), especially if you wear it daily.
Why Is It So Hard To Find Good Waterproof Eyeliners?
The problem is, way too often, these supposedly “smudge-proof” eyeliners don’t live up to their claims—either running with sweat or fully fading away when met with water. And when they do meet the claims, you’re barely able to remove them at the end of the day.
Waterproof eyeliners use a variety of different ingredients to hold the color, including oils and waxes. However, these ingredients can also be very hard to remove, especially when they’re used in high concentrations.
When an eyeliner is really hard to remove, it can lead to a build-up of the product, which can cause skin irritation, especially on sensitive eyelids. So basically we’re looking for an eyeliner that stays on all day, even during sweaty days and/or swimming, but at the same time, we want it to be removed easily?
Yup, that’s exactly why it’s hard to find a good waterproof eyeliner. With all of this in mind, and summer coming up, I thought it was time to reveal the best waterproof eyeliners the market has to offer.
Best 2 Waterproof Eyeliner For Sensitive Eyes
If you have sensitive eyes, I recommend trying a clean beauty brand, better explained as a non-toxic beauty brand. What I mean by this, is that brands that consider themselves clean/non-toxic skip hurtful, irritating, harsh ingredients. Caution: “clean” is not a regulated term yet, that’s why clean beauty has a bad rep (every brand can just use this term) so I would always recommend checking the ingredients list.
Most of the time, it’s one of those ingredients that cause irritation or allergic reactions. My personal favorite clean/non-toxic beauty brands are ILIA and bareMinerals and both of them have great eyeliner options. The best waterproof eyeliner for sensitive eyes is the ILIA Clean Line Liquid Liner and the bareMinerals Mineralist Long-Lasting Eyeliner.
FAQ
Finding the best waterproof eyeliner for your needs can be a little tricky, so be sure to do your research before you buy to find the best product for you. However, I hope I answered the most important questions! If you still have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll help you find the best waterproof eyeliner for you!
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