L'oreal Infallible Smokissime Eyeliner Review and Swatches

L'oreal Infallible Smokissime ($8.99 Target) is a brand new eyeliner for Spring 2015 with a twist- it's a powder liner in a pen!  Let's take a look...

This pen has a sponge-tipped applicator and powder contained within the cap.  L'oreal describes the powder as gel-like and they claim up to 14 hours of wear. This is supposed to be a smoky-eye-in-a-pen, no smudging or other brushes needed.

The pen itself is chubbier than I thought it would be...it's somewhere in between a regular eyeliner and a mascara tube.  It has a matte black finish with gold lettering and looks high-end and modern.

The sponge-tipped applicator is also much larger than I imagined, so it would be difficult to draw a thin precise line with it. But at the same time, this product is really meant to give a smudgy, smoky look so it's not about precision here.

I purchased the shade Taupe Smoke, but it also comes in Black Smoke, Brown Smoke, and Purple Smoke.  The swatch below shows how thick the line is when using the tip of the applicator.  The formula is indeed a gel-like powder, it's not dry or chalky and I didn't experience any fallout (which I was expecting). It glided on easily and stayed put for about 9 hours (I washed my face at that point...so it likely would have lasted quite a bit longer).

Taupe Smoke

Overall, this is an amazing product for helping to create a smoky eye- it makes it so easy!  I still wanted to blend with a brush a bit afterward because the sponge applicator kind of skipped and dragged on my eyelids. So the claim that this is all you need is somewhat of a stretch for me, but in a pinch, it would definitely get the job done by itself. Also, I like that the applicator doesn't pick up too much powder at one time so there's no fear of over-applying.  I was really impressed that the powder didn't get all over the place or end up a smeary mess...it has major staying power!
I had a feeling I would love this since I'm crazy about the Silkissime eyeliners.  What about you? Have you tried this, or do you want to?
You can purchase this at Target for $8.99