ELF Eye Widener Review

I keep hearing and reading about how applying white liner on the waterline can make the eyes look wider or more awake, and I wanted to try and see if that would work for me, but it took some time before I actually went out to look for a white eyeliner. I wanted an affordable product, and I remembered that I’d seen some ELF products around, so I went to the mall and snapped up the ELF Eye Widener.

elf eye widener

ELF Eye Widener

eye widener tip

ELF Eye Widener up close

Product claim:

This soft white eye pencil goes on smoothly and blends easily, creating an illusion of bold and beautiful eyes that sparkle. Helps to awaken tired eyes for a more youthful and vibrant look!

Apply this creamy white pencil along upper lash line, and on the inside of lower lids for a look that makes your eyes appear bigger and more noticeable.

Ingredients:

Paraffinium Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Ceresin Wax, Cera, Carnauba (Carnauba) Wax, Synthetic Beeswax,

Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax Rhus Succedanea Cera(Rhus Succedanea Fruit Wax, Microcrystalline Wax (Cera Microcristallina), Cetyl Alcohol Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Propylparaben, Methylparaben, BHT.
swatch

Product swatched on my arm

The regular line of ELF products I think are sold for $1 each in the USA, and over here (Manila), they’re sold for nearly $3, but I still found the price quite affordable. I was pretty excited to use it and see if it really could help make my perpetually sleepy/tired eyes look more awake. I was glad to see it came with its own sharpener too.

However…the first try was already a letdown because the consistency of the product turned out to be too soft for a liner. It was too creamy and too smudgy. A hard pencil would be uncomfortable or even painful to use on the waterline, but this was too soft and felt sort of like a product that had melted.

The second thing that disappointed me was the colour. On the pencil it looks promising but on the skin and on the eyes it’s not really a pearl white shade but more like a platinum or silver colour. Applied on the waterline, it looked rather unnatural and unfortunately, it did not make my eyes look wider or more
awake. It just looked like there were bits of silvery gunk around my lower lash line.

Here’s what I like about the ELF Eye Widener

• Um…the price? I only spent around $3 on it.
• It’s easy to sharpen because its cap has a built-in sharpener.
• It stays on for hours, however, the product smudges all around my eye (more on that below).

Here’s what I don’t like about the ELF Eye Widener

• The too soft, melty consistency. The texture prevents me from applying the product precisely— it snags on my individual lower lashes and little bits of it end up on random areas near my underyes. After a while, it smudges onto other areas as well.
• The platinum colour doesn’t look brightening but rather looks unnatural on my eyes.
• It’s a little hard to remove. I’m left with a pearly silver mess after my makeup remover fails to take it off completely.

Overall I really wouldn’t recommend this product to anyone. After using it a couple of times it’s just sat on my dresser since I don’t really know what to do with it. I don’t want it to completely go to waste though so I might try using it as an eyeshadow base sometime. Oh well, on to the next white liner!

Also Read:
ELF Cosmetics Hits and Misses – Part 1
ELF Eye Makeup Remover Pads
ELF Brightening Eye Color Quad Punk Funk

IMBB RECOMMENDS

48 thoughts on “ELF Eye Widener Review

  1. try using a matte milk white pencil(not glitter or shimmer)..it works …may be nyx jumbo pencil…i think UD yeyo is also matte…or else Lancome;s white pencil…Im sure there are many other good ones 2…

    1. Thanks for the suggestions Shanaiia. Will remember to go for matte ones. :)) The UD Yeyo one was what I was actually thinking of trying next. Thinking maybe I should go a little more high end.

  2. Ida this pencil looks so prettyy…. 🙂 you may try mac chromagraphic pencils also. They do a fab job! yeah you may also go for NYX jombo pencil in milk bt wonder if you’d be able to use it on waterline..

    1. Rati the swatch does look pretty huh? 🙂 That’s why I was thinking of using it as a base maybe for shimmery shadows instead. I used to have NYX jumbo pencil in milk but didn’t try using it on the waterline. :-/ Will keep the MAC chromagraphic in mind. :))

  3. Ida, there is a similar shade in Colorbar I glide pencils too, i Had seen few days back, I didnt buy, but it looked really good ! It looks nice to me though , bad that you didnt find it useful!

    1. Tapaswini, we don’t have Colorbar here though. :-/ Wish we did! I’ll try to put this to use as eyeshadow base.

  4. Ida nice review. :thumbsup: My eyes already big big so no white liners for me :toothygrin:
    I dont understand why frosty white for lining the waterline :tremble:
    I hade anything frosty,,,hehe
    yeah as Rati suggested u can try NYX Jumbo pencil in milk and its waterline safe….tested by me :))

    1. Thanks Jinal! :)) Now I know I should go for matte ones. 😛 I regret not trying the NYX jumbo pencil in milk on the waterline when I had it. :-/ I swapped it away cause I found mine a bit oily.

  5. Wish you could post a pic, these widening liners remind me of Rekha…there used to a lot of pics of her with the white liner on water line :toothygrin:

      1. May be because you were too young then to notice :angel:…I mean I was even YOUNGER but precocious :preen:

        1. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: i was YOUNG….but i was great fan of Rekha and used to tie two chottisss like her…or keep staring at her dark lippi….and the style of saree worn…..gosh…i am OLD….bujurg mahila :snicker: :snicker: :snicker: :snicker:

    1. Rajeshwari I should have posted a pic of my eyes with this on. I didn’t consider it cause the effect was pretty strange looking. :idk:

    2. Oh yeah! I remember on of the movie in which I first noticed the white eyeliner and thought it was weird because I was a kid , it was “Khoon Bhari Maang”

  6. i was never a fan of using a white liner on one’s lower waterline… it looks too artificial on me… Though i must say some women carry it off really well 😀

    1. Yeah Suma that was exactly how this looked on me…I was going for natural but the effect was opposite, you know? But I still want to try other white pencils- perhaps they’ll give a better effect. :))

      1. Ida,try a peachy-orangy colour which matches to the skin near the waterline,it looks more better :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:
        Though I havent been able to find it in a good brand here

  7. White on waterline hmmmmm i feel it looks good only on models for photoshoots
    but for daily wear I feel it creats a v artificial luk
    hey any ol website to buy NYX and ELF products with minimal shipping charges
    I hate buying a product wher d shipping charge is more than the product itself :spank:

    1. VibrantHues, really? I dunno, I’d still like to try it on myself. :)) Only ones that come to mind for me are cherryculture and nonpareilboutique…but those charge I think like $6 for international shipping, depending on the amount ordered…

  8. Looks like the pencil will go on patchy ?:) and the whole melting and smudging is a problem with most products I use on my waterline :weep: :weep: :weep:. I tried setting it with a little black eyeshadow and I ended up with a stye and now I just keep my waterline bare unless I want racoon eyes!

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