Best Waterproof Eyeliners of 2026

This is the cheapest liner in the group by a wide margin, and it doesn't behave like it. The retractable gel glides on with enough slip to draw a line in one pass, then sets to a soft satin finish, and we got a full workday out of it without a touch-up.

What you trade for the price shows up at the edges. The shade reads charcoal rather than a deep wet black, and on a humid afternoon there can be a soft shadow under the lower lashes by the time you get home. For an everyday line that's a fair deal; for a photograph it isn't.

No sharpener, no shavings in the makeup bag: twist, line, done. That's why it's the one that gets used on ordinary mornings, and why we forgive a lot at this price. If waterproof means a beach day, the stila above is the safer bet; if it means a commute and a shift, this is more than enough.

There's no sharpener anywhere in this design. The tip is mechanical, so the point renews as you twist, which sounds like a small convenience until you've dug a blunt pencil into your lash line at seven in the morning or lost yet another sharpener in a bag.

The formula is soft enough to glide without pulling the lid, and it leaves a line you can smudge for a few seconds before it sets. Shade depth is the compromise: Onyx comes across closer to a deep charcoal than a true black, fine for daytime and less so for a graphic look.

For us it earns its place on speed and reliability — two passes, no sharpening, no fuss. It's the pencil we keep in the bag for the morning we're running late, and the one we hand to someone who has never gotten along with liquid liner.

If your eyeliner is a wing, this is the pen we hand over. The felt tip is firm enough to draw a controlled edge but not so stiff that it skips over the curve of the lid, and the formula dries within a couple of seconds, which is what lets you go back over a line without dragging the first pass off.

Jet Black is properly black, and what surprised us was the wear: the line came through a long day of screen time and the odd tear better than anything else at this end of the price range. It's a pen for a defined flick rather than a hairline, and for that it's quick, controllable, and a fraction of the premium liquid's cost.

Two ends, two jobs: a soft, densely pigmented pencil for lining and a built-in smudger to drag the line out into something smoky before it sets. There's a sharpener in there as well, so the whole look travels in one stick.

This is the pencil we reach for when the look is a soft edge rather than a wing, and it's the exception we make for a liner you can smudge by design — which is exactly why it won't be the most smear-proof thing in your bag. Expect it to soften by evening, especially in warm weather. What you get in return is control: the color goes down evenly and blends before it locks.

A flexible tip is a strange thing to fall for until you've used a stiff one. This point bends with the lid, so a thin line stays thin around the inner corner, and the matte black goes down dense in a single pass.

It's fast, too. We could do both eyes with this in the time a pencil takes for one, and because the finish is matte there's no waiting for shine to settle before you add shadow. The control lives in how hard you press rather than the angle you hold it, which makes it easy to learn.

Where it comes apart is water. Through a humid afternoon, or a film that makes you cry, the line softens at the outer corner and can travel under the eye. That's the whole reason it sits outside the top tier despite being the best pure drawing tool in the group.

So we treat it as a drawing tool rather than a survivor: the liner for the day the line itself is the point, not the one to pack for a wedding or a rainy commute. On a dry day, with a steady hand, there's little here that draws better.

Brown liner does a different job than black: it defines the lash line without announcing itself. This is the only softer shade in the group, and it's the one we keep for daylight — a brown that reads as shadow rather than a stripe.

The formula is creamy, soft enough to go on without dragging and to blend with the tip before it sets. It's a mechanical pencil with a built-in sharpener, so the point stays usable, though a stick this soft needs a light hand at the sharpener or you'll shave off more than you meant to.

It's a lovely everyday pencil that doesn't ask much of you: one pass, a soft line, a smudge tip for blending, done. If you want a line that's still crisp at midnight, this isn't that pencil; if you want your eyes to look awake at nine in the morning, it's exactly right.

The brush is the story here: a fine, flexible tip fed from a small reservoir rather than a felt wick, so the ink keeps flowing evenly through the length of a wing rather than thinning out halfway along it.

It's also the most forgiving liquid in this group for someone learning. The brush bends, the line builds gradually, and a wobble can be wiped away while it's still wet and drawn again — which is not true of a fast-setting pen.

Wear is decent rather than exceptional. It lasts a working day and doesn't flake, but it can go patchy if you layer a second pass over a line that has already dried, so build the shape in one go rather than going back over it.

We treat it as the practice liner and the travel liner: cheap enough to replace without a wince, fine enough to draw a real wing, good enough that it doesn't need babying. For a first liquid, or a second one for the bag, that's a good deal.