Eyeshadow Pencils - NYX v MAC v Urban Decay

Hi Everyone!

This is a post comparing 3 of the most popular eyeshadow pencils currently on the market, the NYX Jumbo Eye pencils, the MAC Shadesticks and the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow pencils. I have a few of each of the pencils and have tested them over an eyeshadow primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance) with and without a pressed shadow over the top. Here's how they did!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils:

The NYX pencils are the cheapest of the 3 pencils that I have tried and are currently available in 28 shades. These pencils are really chunky but can be sharpened pretty easily using a large sharpener. The texture of the pencil is really creamy and a little goes a long way. I would suggest applying them using your finger or by dotting a small amount directly on to the lid and blending out. If you apply the shadows directly all over the lid you will end up with way too much product. First of all I tested out the Strawberry Milkshake pencil under MAC's Pink Freeze shadow, I applied the pencil with my finger and blended it out with a MAC 217 brush. Due to the thickness of the pencil it wasn't all that easy to blend out. The pencil did a good job at intensifying the colour but it was a little patchy in places. I would say that it prevented some creasing but didn't do an amazing job.

The following day I applied Purple Velvet all over my lid without a shadow over the top. First of all I have to say that we are experiencing unseasonably hot weather for England at this time of year which will have had an effect on the oiliness of my lids. The NYX pencil did, however, do a fairly OK job at staying in place, I found that the colour was still pretty intense at the end of the day but it creased fairly quickly even over an eyeshadow primer.

The biggest plus point to the NYX pencils are the price (you can almost get 3 of these for the price of one Urban Decay pencil) and the large colour selection, however I would stick to using them as an eyeshadow base rather than on their own!

You can purchase the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils from NYX Online for £4.50 each. For a review and swatches of my Jumbo Pencil collection please click here.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow Pencils:

These pencils are the newest of the 3 that I have tested and are currently available in 10 varying shades. The pencils can be sharpened in a similar way to the NYX pencils. The colours are really nicely pigmented and are less thick and creamy than the NYX pencils but not as dry as the MAC ones. They apply really easily directly to the lid and blend out really well too. I applied Delinquent all over my lid over my primer and wore it all day on its own, at the end of the day it had only creased a tiny bit which wasn't all that noticeable and it kept it's colour intensity really well. The following day I applied Morphine over MAC's Stars n Rockets shadow, it helped the colour to pop and the shadow remained completely crease free throughout the day which is amazing.

You can purchase the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Shadow Pencils from Debenhams for £14 each. 

MAC Shadesticks:

Finally I tried out one of the MAC shadesticks. The biggest downside to these pencils are that there are currently only 5 shades available but MAC do bring out limited edition shades in various collections throughout the year. These pencils are different to the 2 mentioned above as they have a twist up design and, therefore, do not need sharpening. The shadesticks are much drier than the other 2 pencils and do not apply as easily and evenly and tug at your lids a little more. They give a much more subtle effect which is great if that is the look that you are going for. When I wore one alone without a shadow over the top it did a pretty good job at not creasing but the colour pay off is pretty poor. All of the 5 permanent shades are fairly neutral in colour so you are limited as to which pressed shadows that you can wear over the top, I used Taupographic pencil under Twinks eyeshadow and it didn't do all that much to intensify the colour in my opinion but it did, however, prevent the shadow from creasing throughout the day.

You can purchase the MAC Shadesticks from MAC Online for £13.50.

Overall my winner, by far, has to be the Urban Decay pencils despite the fact that they are the most expensive of the 3 they apply really well and not too thickly and have a great colour range.

I hope that you have found this post useful, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Maz x