Battles of Gel Eyeliners: Paris Hilton vs. Elf Cosmetics

This post is inspired by the Candle Reviewer Rich Lux. One day he made a video about the secret line of Paris Hilton Cosmetics that is probably marketed to an overseas market, but has trickled into discount stores like Marshall's, TJ Maxx, etc.

Well, at Burlington the other day, I found an eyeliner set from PH, which included a gel eyeliner pot and brush, as well as a pencil eyeliner.

I am trying to get into gel eyeliner, actually, because I feel it will be easier to apply, but I haven't had great experiences yet. So, I bought the eyeliner hoping I would have found my holy grail.

I also wanted to compare this eyeliner with another one I own, the elf creme eyeliner.

The entire Paris Hilton set cost $3.99, while the elf gel cream eyeliner cost $3.00.

In terms of what my eyeliner preferences are- my eyelids are textured, and my eyes water frequently. Eyeliner tends to bleed on my very easily, especially toward the outer corner of my eyes.

First, I want to put swatches of the product.

On the left is the Paris Hilton eyeliner, and on the right is the elf. The Paris Hilton formula is a lot smoother and "gel-like," while the elf one was a lot stiffer and overall harder to apply. 

 But when it comes to setting, the elf eyeliner does not budge, as the company claims. The Paris Hilton one, however....well, see below.

In terns of staying power, both were pretty resilient. After wiping a couple of times with a makeup wipe, both stayed on my skin. The elf one was a lot darker, though. 

So, final thoughts? Though clearly elf wins in terms of durability, I hate applying it to my eyes. It is difficult for me to do so, and I find that it applies patchy. However, though the Paris Hilton one clearly is more prone to smudging, it goes on the eye a lot more successfully. I do have to touch up during the day, however, because it did leak a little bit on me, but not terribly.

Overall, neither wins completely. I will prefer to use the PH one, but neither are my holy grails.