Marc Jacobs The Sky-Liner Seven Piece Petites Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Collection Review & Swatches

I was so impressed with the Marc Jacobs Sky Liner 7-piece Petites Highliner Collection (review) released for the holiday last year that I made it my mission to buy this year’s sequel the moment it became available. And I did, despite all the bad reviews. At first I could not believe why they would rate these eyeliners so poorly, until I had a chance to try them myself, then I understood. It isn’t all that bad, though, and there’s a way around it. Keep on reading to find out how I made them work.

The Holiday 2015’s Sky-Liner Seven Piece Petites Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Collection includes 7 travel-sized shades of the brand’s famous Highliner Gel Eye Crayons. All but one are different shades from last year’s set so if you are hesitating because of the repeats, you need not worry.

The eyeliners are housed in a convenient twist-up pencil with a shiny, all-silver exterior with a color-coded end. They are non-sharpenable and lack a sharpener (the full-sized pencil comes with a sharpener at the other end) and I find this to be one of the biggest disadvantages. These pencils have such soft and creamy formula so their tip tends to get dull very easily making it challenging to create a sharp winged look unless you follow with a pointed eyeliner brush.

The pencils are displayed nicely on a velvet-lined insert tray as seen below. The tray is tucked neatly inside the shiny vinyl clutch-styled Marc Jacobs pouch. The pouch closes with a magnetic button and looks to be well-made so you can definitely reuse it as an evening clutch or storage pouch as desired.

Shades included

The 7 shades included in the set are:

1. Blacquer – black (permanent; repeat from last year; review)
2. Express-oh! – espresso shimmer (limited-edition, set-exclusive)
3. In the Buff! – champagne shimmer (permanent)
4. Boys & Berry – boysenberry shimmer (limited-edition, set-exclusive)
5. (Wave)length – midnight blue (permanent)
6. Ody(sea) – teal green (permanent)
7. (Stone)Fox – metal gray (permanent)

Definitely a very versatile set since it has a nice mix of matte, shimmery, and glittery formulas as well as neutral and bright colors! (Wave)length, Ody(sea), and (Stone)Fox are my favorites here since the colors are bright and unusual. (Wave)length reminds me so much of MAC Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in Petrol Blue (review) which is my favorite shimmery bright blue liner of all time. Boys & Berry, Ody(sea) and (Stone)Fox remind me of Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils in Rockstar, Electric, and Uzi (review), respectively, which I also use very often.

As you can see from my arm swatches above, these colors are all vibrant and richly-pigmented. You do get a good coverage in one pass, coupled with a very smooth and creamy (but not too creamy) formula, you can easily draw a long solid line across the lid without skipping or dragging. They truly feel like a gel eyeliner formula in a pencil form. What’s even better is that they are truly waterproof and last all day without budging. The only thing that can break down the formula is an oil-based eye makeup remover. They can be used as a tighliner and waterliner as well. Truly impressive!

Problem is, for this very special set, you have to go through one thing that would probably break your heart a little (it did mine) before you can get to the creamy, pigmented core of the pencil: you have to break off the tip!

The reviewers were right when they said these pencils are dry, hard, crumbly, and very hard to use because I observed the very same thing. It was almost impossible to swatch these on the back of my hand, let alone on the eyelid. In the midst of trying to get each color to show up on arm swatches, I ended up breaking the tip of every single color! And that’s when I discovered the creamy formula inside! Yes, it’s very unfortunate that you have to break off the tip to get to the good stuff given the small amount of product and high price tag but that’s the only way to make these pencils work. A small price (that I was willing) to pay because what’s underneath is truly one of the most spectacular eyeliner formulas you’ll ever come across. :)

Close-up

For a complete review of the formula, please check out my initial reviews on these pencils here and here. To summarize, I think the 2015’s Marc Jacobs The Sky-Liner Seven Piece Petites Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Collection is truly a must-have if only you’re willing to break the tip of the pencil off. I ended up losing quite a bit of product but what’s left is still a great value to me because I get to try 6 new and beautiful shades I haven’t tried before. I have yet to finish any of the colors I got from last year’s set so I’m pretty sure these minis are going to last me another long while. :)

Did you buy this set? Did you encounter the very same problem I did?

Purchase