Best Eyeliners of 2026

Shade 202 is a black-brown, and that is the first thing we would tell anyone about this pencil. The line reads dark without looking stamped on, so it suits people who find a true black harsh in daylight and want definition that still looks like a face. Across the 12 matte and shimmer shades in the line, this is the one that works hardest for everyday.

It is also the pencil we would hand someone who lines the waterline. Revlon has it ophthalmologist tested and states it is suitable for the waterline, and the wear is the most consistent of the pencils here: a full day with only a little softening at the corners. The barrel does double duty, with a sharpener built into the base and a smudge tip at the other end for softening an edge before it sets. We appreciate a pencil that brings its own tools, especially when it arrives two to a pack.

The formula is the variable. Some pencils arrive creamy and some feel like a hard wax crayon that skips across the lid. If yours is the second kind, warm the tip on the back of your hand for a few seconds and it starts drawing properly. After that it is a matter of a light hand and a short line at the outer corner.

The tip is the reason to buy this one. It is an extra-fine brush rather than a felt nib, and it takes almost no pressure to get a hairline flick out of it, which turns a wing into drawing rather than guessing. Of the two liquid liners here, this is the one we would give someone who has never managed a cat eye, and it is also the sharper of the two when you want the line to sit right against the lashes.

The pigment goes down wet and dense on the first pass, so you are not returning to the same spot three times and thickening the line by accident. Give it a beat to set: a thin line dries almost immediately, but a thick stroke stays tacky long enough to transfer if you blink hard. It is a lash-line liner, not a waterline one, and at two to a pack you can keep one at home and one in a bag. A bi-phase remover or an oil cleanser takes it off without tugging.

This is the least expensive retractable gel liner in this group, and it does not behave like a compromise. The tip is a fine gel point that glides without dragging, the finish is satin rather than flat matte, so it catches a little light instead of sitting dead on the lid, and the twist-up barrel means there is nothing else to carry.

We would call it the best budget liner here, and not only on price. It is one of only two liners in this group whose staying power reads consistently positive rather than mixed, and the 16-hour claim is closer to the truth than most hour counts on this shelf. It holds a workday, it survives a warm walk home, and it does not migrate into the crease the way softer pencils do.

The shade here is dark brown, which flatters brown eyes and daytime makeup but will not give you a black wing; that is a liquid-liner job and the two liquids above do it better. If your lids are very oily, the satin finish can shift a little by evening, so a primer is worth the extra step.

Epic Ink dries down properly matte, and that changes a wing more than the shade does. There is no shine catching the light at the outer corner, no satin sheen making a thin line look thicker than it is. The tip is a flexible brush that answers to pressure: press and the line fattens into a graphic wedge, ease off and it draws a hairline from the same pen.

That range is why it is the liner we reach for on a bold look. The black goes down wet and dense in a single stroke, and the brush holds enough product that you are not dipping back into the barrel halfway through a wing. It is also easier to keep symmetrical than a stiff felt tip, because you can feel the brush against the lid instead of guessing where the point is.

Where it wobbles is water. The box says waterproof, but on watery eyes and oily lids the line can travel by mid-afternoon, and the inner corners are the first to go. Set the wing with a little matte shadow and remove it with an oil cleanser rather than a wipe, and it behaves. If your eyes stream through allergy season, reach for one of the pencils instead.

A pencil with a smudge tip at one end is telling you what it is for. The Infallible carries a small smudge tip on the barrel, and used properly it turns a hard line into something diffused in about ten seconds, before the formula sets. If your usual technique is draw-then-blur with a fingertip, this does the same job more precisely and without taking half the line with it.

The lead is creamy enough to glide without tugging, which makes it a forgiving pencil on lids that are not perfectly smooth. You do not have to press to get color down, and that is the difference between a line that sits on the skin and one that drags it. The brown is a proper warm brown rather than a diluted black, and it is the shade we reach for on a day when a full eye feels like too much.

Sixteen hours is optimistic. We would trust it for a workday rather than a wedding and the after-party, and the line softens rather than vanishing, which for a pencil is the graceful version of fading. If you want an edge that stays razor-sharp until midnight, one of the liquids will serve you better.

Where it earns its place is the soft look. The smudge tip, the warm brown, and the fact that a blurred line is far more forgiving to draw than a crisp one add up to a pencil that makes a smoky eye feel easy. If you have been trying to get that effect out of a liquid liner and ending up with a hard edge, this is the tool that fixes it.

Most pencils here do one job. This one is built to do two: it is a retractable, waterproof liner for the lash line and waterline, and e.l.f. also suggests sweeping it across the whole lid as a base for shadow. We tried the second use, and it is the more interesting half. A smudged-out black base makes a shimmery shadow read deeper and last longer, and it takes about twenty seconds before you go in with powder.

As a liner it is creamy and genuinely pigmented, with a black that is black rather than gray. It works on the waterline, which not every pencil in this price range manages, and the twist-up barrel means there is no sharpener to carry around. For a soft, blended, everyday eye it covers a lot of ground for very little.

What we would tell a friend: if your everyday eye is a smudge with shadow layered over it, this pencil does most of the work and survives being rattled around in a bag. If your everyday eye is a wing, it is the wrong tool, and the liquid picks above will make you much happier.

Kohl is a different animal from the mechanical pencils here. The Color Icon is a soft traditional pencil that you sharpen yourself, and the lead is creamy enough that it moves under your fingertip. Press it on and you can blur it into a smoky shape with a finger or a small brush before it sets, which is a technique no twist-up gel replicates as easily.

The pigment is the standout. One pass gives a dense black, and the matte finish means it does not turn shiny where you have blended it. It is also the cheapest liner in this group by a wide margin, which makes it the one to experiment with if you are still working out whether you like a smoky eye at all.

Smudge is the trade-off, and it is written into the format. A kohl is meant to move, so on the lower lash line it softens and travels as the day goes on, and by evening it looks lived-in rather than sharp. If that is the look you want, this is not a flaw; if you want a line that survives a commute unchanged, it is the wrong pencil.

So buy it for the soft jobs: a smoked-out lid, a smudged lower lash line, a waterline that photographs well. For the least money on this page you get a pencil that does something the mechanical picks cannot, and that is a fair trade to keep in a bag.