Perfect Your Cat-Eye With These Pigmented Yet Affordable Eyeliners

Eyes are the window to the soul, which explains our centuries-old passion for lining and defining them. Eyeliner is an easy way to play around with your look at the drop of a hat: a plain top turns into something far chicer when paired with a dramatic cat-eye, for example. Eyeliner is the little black dress of your makeup collection and that’s why the task of finding the perfect one feels so daunting. 

Here are our prerequisites for a flawless eyeliner: waterproof, smudge-proof, transfer-resistant, long-lasting, and easy to apply, with each attribute varying in importance depending on the person. If you struggle to achieve the perfect wing, L’Oréal Paris’s Infallible Flash (and its helpful attached stencil) helps you carve out the perfect line with precision. Similarly, Kaja’s Wink Stamp comes with a dual-sided stamp pen that dedicates each side to ensure an even left and right wing. Stila’s Stay All Day liquid formula has been lauded by reviewers for years thanks to its impressive staying power, ideal for long, busy days in which the available time for reapplying is zilch. 

From waterproof liquids to mechanical pencils with built-in sharpeners, we’ve rounded up the best eyeliners you can purchase on Amazon. We’re confident you’ll find your smudge-proof, long-wearing soulmate in one of the products below. 

Best Liquid Eyeliners on Amazon

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

L’Oréal Paris Infallible Flash Eyeliner

Stila’s Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner earned two Allure Best of Beauty Awards in 2021 and 2022, in addition to a Readers’ Choice Award in 2021. Why all the hype, you ask? This lauded liner is designed with an incredibly precise, ultra-fine brush tip that makes mastering cat eyes a breeze, while a quick-drying, transfer-resistant formula won’t fall victim to oily eyelids. Looking for a hint of color? This star pick also comes in Dark Brown, Jade, and Midnight (a slightly greyish blue). 

If nailing the cat-eye has been your dream since that first YouTube beauty blog rabbit hole ten years ago, L’Oréal Paris‘s Infallible Flash Eyeliner is the right tool for the job. This liquid liner — which won a Best of Beauty Breakthrough Award, our highest accolade, in 2019 — comes with an attached stencil for a sharp wing that doesn’t require a naturally steady hand. Simply position the stencil next to your lower lash line, outline, and fill in the designated space with liner, and ta-da. You may be tempted to launch your own YouTube channel, so start practicing your “like and subscribe” catchphrases. 

Kaja Wink Stamp Wing Eyeliner

Maybelline New York Hyper Easy Liquid Pen

If you’ve mastered winged liner on your right eye but can’t replicate that perfection on your left (assuming that you’re right-handed, of course), allow Kaja‘s Wink Stamp to give you ambidextrous capabilities. This set comes with a smudge- and budge-proof liner and, the pièce de résistance, a dual-sided eyeliner stamp to help perfect your left and right wing. It takes two simple steps: “stamp” above your lower lash line and then use the corresponding eyeliner pen to connect the wing to your eyelids.