I spotted this display for Wet 'n' Wild's High Voltage dual-ended eyeliner collection at CVS awhile ago. I'd already heard about it from G, so I was on the look out. It was pretty hit-or-miss, though, because one of CVS's had it, but the other didn't; I don't think I've seen it anywhere else yet, either, so I have no idea if it's upcoming or if I simply missed the first wave entirely. x.x
As an admitted eyeliner fiend, I waffled over getting one for a long time. On one hand, do I really need another eyeliner, but on the other, shiny (literally!) new product!!
Obviously, I gave in. XD;;; The constant $3 off $15 coupons CVS keeps churning out for me didn't help curb temptation any, and neither did the LE tag. I'm almost positive they'll make it into the permanent collection at some point, since they're a completely new product, so it would really surprise me if these didn't make a comeback somehow. But just in case, I figured I'd pick one up, anyway. They retail for $3.99 a piece, which isn't bad but is kind of high for WnW.
Since I'd been looking for an electric purple liner that's similar to Urban Decay's Ransom, I chose DA BOMB! As you can see from the picture above, the exclamation point is part of the actual name, LOL.
On its own, the pencil liner was okay but not much to write home about. The texture is nice and smooth, but with every drugstore line coming out with UD 24/7 dupes these days, I feel like that's almost to be expected. Unfortunately, the color wasn't as bright or metallic as I'd hoped it would be... On my eyes, at least, it came across more as plummy than a straight-up purple. Despite the coolness of the color, it's dark enough to be subtle, so used with a light hand, it could easily be office-appropriate. It is very pretty and is great for tight lining if you have dark lashes: The effect isn't as harsh as black or grey and also helps bring out the color of your eyes as well as accentuating them.
The lasting power left something to be desired, though. By the end of an eight-hour shift, it was smudged under my eyes. I do have oily lids, though, and I didn't use a primer. Given the usual WnW formula—texture-wise, it feels just like their normal liners—I'd say that a primer should sort things out pretty well, so it's not a complete no-go.
Now, the real charm point of this product is, of course, the liquid glitter liner. This is both where it gets awesome and falls apart.
The glitter liner is really pretty. It has blue, purple, and silver microglitter with a mild holographic effect. Alone, it can look a little sparse, but on top of the pencil, it's absolutely stunning. The brush is fine and reminiscent of WnW's liquid liner brushes—thin and precise. Easy to apply, very lovely to look at.
But it takes for-freaking-ever to dry.
Maybe I'm just impatient, but when I'm doing my make up, I like to just finish it up and go. I don't want to sit around for five minutes waiting for my liner to dry, no matter how much I feel like a party animal. And frankly, it's liner? Up close, it looks awesome, but from a distance beyond invasion-of-personal-space, I'm not sure the effect is dramatic enough to be worth the effort. As I said, the base-color is fairly safe, so for me, it's not immediately stand out. Furthermore, if you blink too early, you end up with glitter all over your lid, which may or may not be a good thing.
Of course, this isn't a problem limited to just WnW. Most glitter liners take awhile. And I will say that once dry, WnW's glitter doesn't move unless you really go at it, and even then, it'd take tremendous effort, which is really important. But honestly, the pay-off effect just isn't that noticeable. Compared to my Too Faced Feelin' Smurfy, which is seriously holographic, the WnW doesn't even really show up. It might be a nice addition if you had a flashy liner to begin with, but the given pair, while pretty, is so faint, you might as well just wear pencil alone.
Bottom line is... This is a decent product. There's nothing terrible about it. But there's also nothing great about it, either. If you don't usually wear glitter-liner, this is not a must have. At a lower price, I'd say to just try them out, but for $3.99, I'd much rather grab the $0.99 regular pencils instead. The formula, as far as I can tell, is identical. I'm not sure if the pencils are dupes of the permanent colors or not, but there are only four, and I can't imagine that they're too different.
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