Ahoy there! Sorry this is so bloody late, but as it is Canada Day and I'm Canadian, there were things going on! And these going ons involved food and sangria! Mmmm, yum. Here I am now, though, to address something I've long been frustrated by: how do make up for ever's aqua eyes compare to urban decay's 24/7 pencils?

Follow up:

I apologize if MUFE 6L and UD Yeyo look a little pathetic there - my pencils REALLY need sharpening and I don't know where my sharpener ran off to! 7L and Covet are looking a bit healthier because, well, they aren't dulled down to a flat!

The overcast natural lighting doesn't do a lot of justice to the lovely blackened purple of ^L, but I can safely say I really love all four of these shades. However, I have a bit of a concern regarding the formula... When I got my first 24/7 pencil many moons again (Yeyo), I found (to my dismay!) that it didn't set on me. I've read many praises for these pencils, and as such had rather high expectations. I thought, though, that perhaps it was just a fluke?

It's not a fluke: I now have two of each formula of pencil (as you can see), and the results are consistent. I swatched them on my hand and went about my business for a bit, giving them ample time to set before I took the fingers from my other hand and dragged them firmly over the swatches to see if they would budge. The results?

The 24/7s don't come out of the smudge test looking so hot, do they? The very faintest hint of colour from 6L moved along, but 7L is exactly where I placed it and nowhere else. Hmm, well, I wish I could say I was surprised, but this pretty much nixes my hope for the 24/7s. They go on smoothly and come in some lovely shades, but they are by no means the most budge proof pencils I've met (if you're not keen on the MUFE aqua eyes, check out GOSH's velvet touch liners! They're cheaper, too!). In my perfect world, the 24/7s would be just as good at staying put as the aqua eyes, since I do so adore some of the shades available, but I can't say I'm thrilled this. Given the price difference of a dollar, I'd definitely feel confident in saying I lean firmly toward the aqua eyes.

I don't have oily lids, so that's not my worry, but I am a girl filled with allergies - and as such I get leaky eyes a lot. I want something water-, sweat- and smudgeproof to wear on my lower lashlines so I know I won't get the dreaded Raccoon Eyes. I work damn hard at concealing my under eye circles, I surely don't need to paint on new ones! I ought to add I did wear Covet around the house on my waterlines and lower lashlines last night, and found unwelcome smudgy unsexiness when I went to wash my face before bed, so absolutely these succumb to the smudging influence of things other than a firm finger.

To be fair, I'd say these are pretty equal when it comes to application, they're both the same size, and they're very close in price. Plus, neither are available to me locally, of course. I'll certainly continue to use my Covet and Yeyo (I LOVE the colour of Covet, beautiful teal!)... but I don't know that I'd seek out more. I don't usually buy into product hype, but I'd heard so much good about the 24/7 pencils that I can't help but feel a bit let down. Alas, they're just not the product for me.

Aqua Eyes, you're welcome on my face any time! 24/7s, well... you guys take the silver this time, ok? If your formula gets more comparable to that of Aqua Eyes, we'll re-evaluate. Til then, I might suggest one refer back to these swatches of a whole bunch of aqua eyes. Mmmm.