You’ve Never Seen a Liquid Eyeliner Like Urban Decay’s 24/7 Inks

While most of my liquid eyeliner collection consists of, more or less, standard black cylinders that are about five inches long, the 24/7 Inks stand out immediately for their gunmetal-purple tubes that are just over seven inches long with the cap on. Below the applicator, the tube flares out in three different places, giving fingers a natural resting place during application (more on that in a second), then tapers into a slim tip, like a paintbrush. 

The eyeliner’s nine-shade range includes bright green, yellow, and blue, and neutrals such as gray, brown, and white, all in matte and metallic finishes. It’s a far cry from the 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner Pencil‘s 38-shade range, but Urban Decay’s general manager Malena Higuera says the colors were chosen carefully, curated from makeup trends and beloved shades the brand already has in existence. “We translated some of our fan-favorite 24/7 pencil shades into a vegan liquid format,” she says, citing Freak, Gunmetal, and Zero. 

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was this eyeliner; according to Urban Decay’s product research and development (R&D) team, the entire creation process took two years. That might sound like a long time, but it’s not when you consider that these liquid eyeliners are like snowflakes: Each unique shade has a different formula and applicator based on its specific color and how best to make it flow. 

As the R&D team explains, some pigment particles of colors are bigger than others, and bigger particles — often found in pastels and shimmers — are more difficult to make flow through a pen format. If you’re wondering why some shades in this range have a brush tip and others have a felt tip, it’s all to accommodate what works best for each particular shade. 

The story behind that funky-looking handle

When I said the tube tapers like a paintbrush, I meant it: The Urban Decay team found its inspiration for the 24/7 Inks Liners packaging, including the grip, in arts and crafts supply stores. Says Higuera, “Our product development team looked for the easiest-to-use paintbrushes and found that the ones with ergonomic grips that show you exactly where to hold it were the most intuitive, especially for doing fine lines.” 

The raison d’être for this product is to make punchy, graphic eyeliner trends approachable for everyone. One team member used to lead makeup-artistry classes, where they learned that a lot of makeup wearers just aren’t sure where and how to hold a liquid eyeliner pen to get a seamless application. Urban Decay found the solution in those paintbrushes and modeled its own version accordingly. The brand developed and tested about 10 iterations before landing on The One.