REVIEW: Clio Gelpresso Waterproof Pencil Gel Liner

I haven’t used a pencil eyeliner since I was 18 and ordinarily, nothing would get me back into trying them since I love using gel eyeliners and have never had any complaints about them. However, I was intrigued when I found out about the Clio Gelpresso Waterproof Pencil Gel Liners.

So what makes them different?

Well, for one, they aren’t meant to be like regular pencil liners. Clio claims they have a sliding gel texture that performs like a gel liner you usually get in a pot. They are meant to glide smoothly, and have a creamy, melting formula that stays on all day without smudging and as the name says, is waterproof.

This is also a retractable auto pencil that you twist up from the bottom and comes with a sharpener on the other end.

All of them except Golden Black have an expiration of 18 months after opening and are made in Korea. Golden Black also contains slightly more product at 0.56g compared to 0.5g.

Indicates the sharpener is pulled off at the end and also where you twist the product in and out.

Sharpener

Close cap tightly to keep it from drying out for longer.

Golden Black is a shorter pencil compared to the others despite containing more product.

This is everything I could want in a pencil liner because my biggest gripe from using previous ones is that they are not creamy at all and tend to tug and drag on my skin. Since this area is the most delicate I don’t like the idea that it’s causing extra wrinkles and sagging skin. I want something that glides along easily. I also like that it is retractable and has a sharpener on the other end because it’s practical and fuss-free. These are good to carry on the go without needing a separate sharpener because it’s already included.

Shades:

No.7 Golden Black

No.7 Golden Black – dark black with specks of shimmer. I think it smudges the most out of all of them, especially on the lower lash line and the glitter tends to fall out a little. By the end of the day there isn’t much left on the lower eyelid.  Wears well on the top lid but the dark pigmentation does fade throughout the day. It does apply smoothly, but isn’t as creamy as Bloody Sweet or Bloody Devil.

No.13 Bloody Sweet

No.13 Bloody Sweet – this is one of the newer shades and is a beautiful pearly shimmery pale pink. I absolutely love this colour and works really well for lining the inner corners of my eyes to brighten and open up the eye area to appear bigger and more awake. It isn’t too dramatic, has good staying power and can be worn day and night. There is a similar shade to this called ‘Beige shine’ but I prefer Bloody Sweet for its warmer tone.

No.15 Bloody Devil

No.15 Bloody Devil – This is my favourite one out of all of them. It is a deep plum purple with specks of shimmer which looks subtle when applied and can almost be mistaken for a brown/black shade in low lighting. Its a dream to apply as it simply glides on and is by far the creamiest and smoothest but dries down quickly. You just have to watch out when sharpening since it’s so soft, it’s easy to break the tip. It does fade slightly during the day but a lot less so than ‘Golden Black’ and much more smudge-proof too. I like wearing this during the day but is also a great transition for night. I usually like to apply this colour on my upper and lower lids and then go over it lightly with the Golden Black and it works beautifully together.

No.16 Black Brick

No.16 Black Brick – This doesn’t seem like a black as indicated by the name but is more like a dark matte brown. It does have a very subtle shimmer to it upon closer look but which is barely noticeable when applied, and is a lot less glittery than the other 3 colours. Nice if you want something less intense than full black. I bought this one before all the others in Seoul, and I’m not sure if I got a dud or it’s just the consistency of this particular colour, but after a few uses it became useless as it dried up really quick and I couldn’t even get any liner onto my eyes despite dragging and tugging. Even drawing on my hand to remove the dry outer layer first before applying on eyes does nothing to help. The stick is just bone dry. I had to break off a small amount and resharpen this to get a swatch out and even running my fingers over all the swatches, this one feels the driest – almost like clay. The retractable function also broke too. At times when I’ve opened it, the eyeliner itself has wound all the way up and I have to push it all the way back in to use it. Disappointing overall, as I will probably have to bin it and I’ve used it only a handful of times.

Left to Right: Golden Black, Bloody Sweet, Bloody Devil, Black Brick

 Overall:

I do enjoy using these gelpresso pencil liners because true to their claim they are very similar to a gel liner texture in the way they glide on easily without tugging on the eyelids. It almost feels like using a soft crayon rather than a pencil. I was surprised that not only are they much creamier and smoother than other regular pencil eyeliners I’ve tried, they are also very pigmented. Since they’re so creamy too, it’s not difficult to apply more coats to build up a thicker colour. For example, Golden Black can be built up to achieve a very dark intense black if you wanted.

They also come off easily with a makeup remover, both wipes or oil based formulas. Though some glitter in the eyeliners do tend to stick to the skin even after everything else has come off so I’d recommend double cleansing and using a face wash after it.

There are some things however, that put me off from fully converting to using these on a daily basis. Firstly, while I do appreciate it comes with its own sharpener, it is still like any other pencil and gets blunt often and needs frequent sharpening. I feel for their cost (£6-£7) – which I believe is a bit on the pricier end of pencil liners – you waste a lot of product (which isn’t much to begin with) by having to sharpen and it is time consuming and messy to maintain. Since they are creamy, you have to have a gentle hand using the sharpener as they can break easily and I find you need to clean out the sharpener often with something pointy like a needle, as the pencil peelings start to clog it up and it becomes difficult to sharpen.

Full amount of product

Another issue – which is more of a personal problem  – is that my double eyelids are not the same size for both eyes. Which is an annoying issue when it comes to eye makeup. My left eye has a smaller fold which means I always have to apply a thinner, more precise line than my right eye to get them both looking the same. This is why I prefer gel eyeliners with a brush because I have more accurate control over my left eye. With these pencil eyeliners the tip is not always sharp enough for me to achieve a thin, precise line from the inner top corner of my eyelid and I have to go much slower to do this. I’ll forever be sharpening and wasting a lot of product in the process and I simply can’t rely on these when I’m in a rush in the mornings.

Blunt

Sharpened

I also don’t think they meet their claim as lasting all day without smudge. While they may be waterproof, I find it more important to be smudge-free because no-one likes eyeliner transferring and giving you panda eyes. These don’t smudge to that extent but they do lose their strong pigmentation throughout the day, especially the lower lids. They do however, hold up fairly well on the upper lid and don’t seem to budge with minimal transfer when you swipe a finger over it. I’ve also noticed they wear better before applying BB cream/foundation as the moisture in those products make it move around more. A primer would also help their staying power.

It was also disappointing that ‘Black Brick’ turned out to be a fail. I was worried that the others would turn dry just as quick and that their retractable function would break but since I’ve used them more than Black Brick and they’re still fine, I’m inclined to believe it’s a unlucky dud or a problem with that particular shade.

I find the more colourful shades are the softest and creamiest and the dark blacks/browns to be less so. I’d buy more bright colours in future like blues/greens because they have great pigmentation and more colour variety than gel eyeliners, but for the everyday shades, I think I’ll stay away.

If you want to check these out you can buy here them from here.

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