While smoky eyes and long wings are the makeup style du jour, not everyone will want to use darker colors to provide a mysterious look. That said, the smoky eye look or even long wings may not be the best look for every person or may need to be supplemented with other techniques to provide the best look.
Best White Eyeliner 2018
That said, there are just as many different types of white eyeliner as there are the darker colors, and figuring out which white eyeliner is the right for you can be a difficult and confusing task. That is why we have put together a list of the 5 best white eyeliners, highlighting what each one does best. Then we provide a helpful buyer’s guide, so you can find the best white eyeliner to suit your needs.
Product | Type | Tip | Waterproof | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Maybelline New York Eyestudio (Editor’s Choice) | Gel | Thick | Yes | |
L'Oréal Paris Infallible Never Fail Eyeliner (People’s Choice) | Mechanical Pencil | Thin | No | |
Kohl Prestige Eyeliner (Best Price) | Pencil | Thick | No | |
| Pencil | Thick | No | ||
| Liquid | Felt | Yes |
1. Maybelline New York Eyestudio – Best White Eyeliner (Editor’s Choice)
It may be considered a tad disrespectful to call Maybelline a cosmetics company when it is likely more apt to consider the brand a cosmetics institution.
This is because Maybelline has not only become one of the most popular and well-respected brands on the market but because Maybelline has been able to keep that esteem for over their 100-year history.
Of course, when you also consider that Maybelline is able to use their size to offer less expensive options, it makes our Editor’s Choice a fairly easy one. Of course, any product that on this list that is our Editor’s Choice is pretty much necessarily the best white eyeliner as well.
Best of Both Worlds
While liquid eyeliner and pencil eyeliners are regularly duking it out to see which one works the best in the most difficult situations, gel eyeliner has quietly slipped passed them both to provide arguably the best all-around application we have seen.
- Finding the Middle Pros
- Is a waterproof eyeliner
- Is a gel eyeliner
- Has a thick tip
- Has high-intensity pigments
- Is smudge resistant
- Can irritate sensitive eyes
- Difficult to wash off
2. L’Oréal Paris Infallible Never Fail Eyeliner – Best White Eyeliner Pencil (People’s Choice)
If any company can challenge the storied history and prestige of Maybelline or any other legacy brand of makeup, then L’Oréal Paris is the company you are looking for.
In fact, L’Oréal Paris is actually the most experienced company that we looked at by half a decade–though when considering a century of experience, 5 years does not really make that much of a difference.
Still, with a century of experience and a specialization on makeup and makeup accessories, this is easily one of the most reliable companies that we saw–though they are also well aware of their prestige.
All-Around Great
If you are looking for a white eyeliner that is a self-contained package, which can virtually do it all, then the L’Oréal Paris Infallible white eyeliner is like your best bet. For one, this is a pencil eyeliner, but the pencil is “mechanical” which means that it has a built-in sharpener. On top of that, the sharpener is designed to prevent the actual crayon of the pencil from separating from the body.
- Has a creamy formula
- Has a built-in sharpener
- Has a built-in smudger
- Is smudge resistant
- Has a thin tip
- Is a more expensive eyeliner
- Is not waterproof
3. Kohl Prestige Eyeliner – Best White Eyeliner for Waterline (Best Price)
Though it may be marketed with the name “Prestige,” this brand of eyeliner is actually the store brand for the mid-tier department store Kohl’s.
Generally, this would be the point where any serious makeup aficionado would immediately check out and move on, but you would be doing yourself a serious disservice in doing so–especially if you have sensitive eyes, wear contacts, or have any other issue relating to the application of makeup on or around the eyes, which is consequently why we ranked this our best white eyeliner for waterline.
Made for Sensitive Eyes
One thing to remember when looking for a white eyeliner specifically for the waterline of your eyes is that you are very likely going to expose your eye to the eyeliner’s formula–unless you are a professional makeup artist working on another person besides yourself. As such, when looking for a white eyeliner for your waterline, it is a good idea to look around for an eyeliner that uses a formula whose materials are not generally irritants.
- Not tested on animals
- Suitable for sensitive eyes
- Is a pencil eyeliner
- Has a thick tip
- Is smudge resistant
- Is not waterproof
- Not the longest lasting
4. NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Jumbo Eye Pencil – Best White Eyeliner for Inner Eye
NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP is a bit of an odd company on our list primarily because it is no longer actually its own company and is instead a subsidiary of L’Oréal Paris.
That said, NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP, which was originally known as NYX Cosmetics before being bought out, was originally founded separately from L’Oréal Paris–even specializing exclusively in eyeliner pencils–and has been specialized in manufacturing makeup and makeup accessories for under a decade.
Still, NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP has impressed both us and their parent company enough to be marketed as the professional grade lineup.
Difficult to Reach
Specifically, due to the excellent coverage as well as the ability to work for people with sensitive eyes, we actually rate this the best white eyeliner for inner eye. Keep in mind, it will work just as well for the entire eye, but because the inner eye is difficult and sensitive, the NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Jumbo Eye Pencil deserves more specialized recognition.
- Combo eyeliner and eyeshadow
- Is a pencil eyeliner
- Has a thick tip
- Suitable for sensitive eyes
- Is smudge resistant
- Is not waterproof
- Difficult to wash off
5. Stila Stay All Day – Best Waterproof White Eyeliner
While the company stila is not actually organized in a noteworthy manner, other than the fact that it is now a subsidiary company owned by Estée Lauder Companies, it is still worth noting that this is actually the company on our list that was founded by a professional makeup artist.
On top of that, this company has been in existence for over 25 years, which is more than enough time to develop a solid understanding of manufacturing any given product. Still, the stila Stay All Day white eyeliner actually makes our list because of its long-lasting ability.
An Easier Application
That said, what makes the stila Stay All Day unique even amongst it submarket competitors is the fact that it provides a truly waterproof result that is not only waterproof, it is smudge resistant as well. In fact, the stila Stay All Day white eyeliner is actually the longest lasting eyeliner that we reviewed and even comes off easy enough at the end of the day.
- Is a liquid eyeliner
- Has a felt tip
- Is a waterproof eyeliner
- Is smudge resistant
- Lasts longer than most
- Is the most expensive eyeliner reviewed
- Can irritate sensitive eyes
Best White Eyeliner Review – Buyer’s Guide
Type
Though it may not necessarily seem like it at first, the type of eyeliner you choose will very likely be one of the most important qualities.
This is largely due to the fact that the type of eyeliner chosen will ultimately determine the consistency of application.
In this regard, the different types of eyeliner should be seen through the lens of solidity in that the different types of eyeliner roughly correspond to how dense or solid the eyeliner is.
Keep in mind, this consistency has nothing to do with the absolute effectiveness of the eyeliner more than it does with how you prefer to apply it.
Pencil
This is the standard type of eyeliner that has been used pretty much since makeup was invented. This type of eyeliner features the wooden body of the pencil, but the core is filled with a softer crayon.
This crayon can be shaped with sharpeners to provide you with the tip that best suits you–whether you prefer to be broader and duller or thinner and sharper.
Liquid
As the name suggests, the primary difference and benefit of this type of eyeliner are that it is applied in a liquid form. What this means is that you generally do not need to make multiple passes nor require multiple applications.
On top of that, liquid eyeliner has a tendency to provide a generous amount of fluid with every dip to the point that you may not need more eyeliner for a given eye beyond a single dip.
On the other hand, liquid eyeliner is also noted for being far more painful if it gets into your eyes–something that is much more likely considering its liquid nature.
Gel/Cream
The last type of eyeliner is also the newest type of eyeliner developed and was made primarily for professionals–at least initially.
These days, many of the gel eyeliners are no longer sold in tins that you then apply with a separate brush–though that form of eyeliner does still exist and is often used for professional applications.
Conclusion
As we can see, due to the different physical and preferential needs of the user as well as the various individual qualities of the eyeliners themselves, there is no white eyeliner that will work best for everyone. Instead, you need to identify the qualities that are the most important and single them out.
That said, there are still some products that provide a better result for more people than others, which is why we recommend out Editor’s Choice best white eyeliner in the Maybelline New York Eyestudio.
The gel type of eyeliner provides for an easy application that also avoids the problems commonly found with both eyeliner pencils as well as liquid eyeliner. It also happens to provide some of the boldest and richest white colors that we saw.
If you need a white eyeliner that can handle the toughest of situations though, then we would recommend the stila Stay All Day white eyeliner. This is a liquid eyeliner that goes on even easier than our Editor’s Choice and also provides one of the longest lasting holds we found. On top of that, the stila Stay All Day white eyeliner is also the best waterproof white eyeliner we found and is smudge proof as well.
