The Best Liquid Eyeliners of 2026

Finding a liquid eyeliner that’s easy to apply, wears comfortably, and is long-wearing without fading, smudging, or flaking away from your lash line seems near impossible. The market is inundated with hundreds of products that claim to do it all and more—but rarely deliver. We tested top-rated liquid eyeliners at all price points to truly find the brands that deserve a place in your makeup bag.

We ended up loving Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner (available at Amazon) for its ease of use and truly all-day lasting power, but we also loved the inexpensive NYX Matte Liquid Liner, which requires a steady hand but yields mind-blowing results.

There are so many “best of” liquid eyeliner lists out there, but in testing, we found that a lot of the top-rated liners were poorly pigmented, or smudged and flaked during wear. That’s why it is so important for us to get hands-on and carefully test each product first-hand.

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How We Tested

The Tester

Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm Reviewed’s resident beauty expert—I also love an inky-black liquid eyeliner that can make a razor-sharp cat eye with minimal effort, wears comfortably, and comes with a reasonable price tag. To find this unicorn liner, we scoured best-seller lists across retailers, beauty blogs, Reddit threads, and best-of lists to round up the best black liquid eyeliner pens on the market, from $2 to $40, including both brush and felt tip pens. Then, we pitted these top-rated brands against each other to find the winner.

The Tests

How? The same way you might: Each morning, I drew on a cat-eye with a new liner and wore it until bedtime, without touching up or re-lining. Unlike the way you might test, though, I teamed up with Reviewed’s senior scientist to score and weight results on a scientifically calibrated rubric. I also swatched each liner on my arm and ran it through durability tests.

To find which liquid liner really is best, I answered and weighted questions like:

Application: Is the eyeliner easy to apply, or does its design make application difficult and time-consuming? Does the eyeliner go on easily in one smooth stroke, or does it skip or run out of product? Can you create an ultra-fine line?

Wear: Is the formula deeply pigmented, or do you have to trace over the line to get a true show of color? Does your drawn line feather or bleed before drying? Throughout the day, does the eyeliner flake off, smudge onto lids, or rub off at all? Is it waterproof, or will it run when your eyes tear up, or if you sweat?

When I ran the results from each liner test through the same scoring rubric, it was easy to see which were the best—and which to skip, like the five below.

How Do I Apply Liquid Eyeliner?

If you're new to applying liquid makeup to your lash line, it's best to perfect your technique using an eyeliner pencil—they're typically less expensive and more forgiving. Take your time getting used to applying eyeliner with a pencil and see what works and more importantly, what feels comfortable to you.

When you're ready to practice, sit down in front of a mirror or your tablet or laptop's front-facing camera. Tilt your head back and look into the mirror or camera: your eyes will be almost closed in this position, but not so much that you can't see your eyelid. Use the pinky finger of your free hand to draw the skin next to your eye taut, so that there is less of a chance that you'll twitch or move while you apply your eyeliner.

Start to apply your eyeliner in the middle of the upper lid, drawing along your lash line, towards the side of the eyelid, closest to your ear. Once you've done this, begin drawing from the middle of your lash line, towards the inner corner of your eye. Once you're comfortable with the basics, move on to using one of the liquid eyeliners we've suggested in this guide. We stand behind their quality. Of course, there are many ways to accentuate your peepers using eyeliner, so don't be afraid to experiment: ask your friends or catch a few YouTube videos for tips on how to find an eye-lining style that works for you.

Other Liquid Eyeliners We Tested

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