Vincent Longo Duo Eye Pencil

I have been doing a bit of cleaning and re-organizing over the past few days and I decided that I was going to work on my traincase last weekend and dig all the way to the bottom to find some long lost favorites.  I haven't really unearthed anything new but I did find two old Vincent Longo eye pencils and I out both of them to the test later on that weekend.  I bought any new Vincent Longo products since Bath and Body Works and Sephora stopped carrying this makeup line. I want to find a brick and mortar store that carries it and play around with anything new that has come from this line.  I see some items that I don't recognize on the website and I am curious to see if the formulas and quality have remained the same or have been revamped.  Overall, I have found that the Vincent Longo collection contains some amazing products and then formulas that are complete duds.  It is one of the two extremes and therefore I am wary of just ordering the products online without seeing or being able to play with testers.

The Duo Eye Pencils are what I dug out of the bottom of my traincase this time around, I first bought and used these at Bath and Body Works many years ago and I wasn't in love with this product but didn't hate it.  These two came from a friend who could not get the formula to cooperate with her contact lenses and gave up trying after a few weeks.  Since I have been wearing my glasses exclusively for a few years now, I took these off her hands and then gave them a try.  I don't remember what I thought of them when she first gave me the pencils (maybe a year ago) so I worked with both of them over the past few days.  I can already state that this is one product formula that has not been changed since I first tried the line...and this is not a positive statement.

"Using two shades of eye pencil is a professional technique and easy makeup tip for creating intense and smoldering eyes. Combined complimentary shades encourage maximum creativity and remove the guess work for fast and easy application.  A must have for every makeup bag.  Smudge resistant and long wearing.  Glide-on application prevents tugging of delicate eye tissue.  Creamy texture and rich pigment blend easily to give maximum definition and shape to eyes.  Sharpens to a fine point without breakage.  Suitable for eyes of all ages.", states the Vincent Longo website.  The website goes on further to give more instructions about the best method of use for the product.  "Use the darker shade to define and shape your eyes by applying it along the lashline and in the outer corners.  Apply the lighter shade to the inner corners of your eyes to brighten and open them up.   The lighter shade may also be smudged over your upper lid to highlight your brow bone as well as intensify the color of your eyeshadow.  Blend the two shades together along the lashline midway between each corner to bring-out your eye color."

The colors are as follows...

- Mystic Sabine - deep shimmering brown/black
- Cabaret Urban Nights - matte plum/matte charcoal
- Brown Fawn Silk - medium brown cream/lilac cream
- Brown Orofila Golden Moss - medium gold cream/medium charcoal cream
- Jet Black Brown Black - deep black cream/deep brown cream
- Knight Spell Carnaby Pink - medium gray cream/pale pink cream
- Lapiz Lazlu - medium blue cream/medium jade green cream
- Lime Forest - pale green cream/medium navy cream
- London Glimmer Jet Black - deep charcoal shimmer/deep black cream
- Midnight Smoke - deep navy blue cream/medium charcoal cream
- Raisin Cabernet Esmeralda - deep purple cream/deep charcoal cream
- Satin Plum - light blue cream/medium navy cream

I have the Jet Black Brown Black and Brown Orofila Golden Moss pencils from this shade line up.  The best aspect about this product is that the shade line up is extensive and the idea for the use of the two shades to line the eyes is very unique and works well once the product is actually applied (sort of).  I get the most use from the Jet Black Brown Black shade, it is a very nice neutral that works with all kinds of eye makeup shades.  The other shade that I have (Brown Orofila Golden Moss) is a pretty gold hue but I don't love the look when used with the charcoal shade.  I only use these two shade alone with complementing eye makeup shades. 

The aspects of the product that I dislike will take much longer to write up.  The first aspect that I dislike is the hardness of the liner, it pulls and tugs on my eye area and would be much improved by having a softer formula that would glide on much easier.  I can barely use this formula without getting annoyed at the formula and therefore I would rarely use the two pencils that I own and have no reason to purchase any more shades of it.  The pigment is lacking in the lighter shades of these pencils, the gold hue kills me when I use it.  I have to go over the line at least twice and then work with the hard to use formula even more than I would like to.

This is one of the Vincent Longo products that is a complete dud, I like the concept of the complementing shades but the formula is so bad that I hate using the two liners that I already own from this company.  I much prefer gel or liquid liners to begin with and this formula is great example of why I prefer to purchase many types of liners other then the traditional pencil liner.  I would be willing to try a gel liner from Vincent Longo but I would hesitate before ordering any type of pencil liner from this company since I have gotten such horrible results from this formula.

photo courtesy of Vincent Longo