Bourjois Erasable Eyeliner: Great Idea But It's Gimmicky

Bourjois have been inspired by the back to school brigade and their pencil cases. My Rainbow Brite pencil with its multi coloured eraser attached at the end is the only thing I can remember about my first day at school. But the eraser is back and this time it is in my makeup bag.

Bourjois have been knocking it out of the park recently with some great products and so I was excited to get my manicured paws on their new Erasable Eyeliner (from €10.49). The hot pink tube is double ended, with liner on one end and an eraser on the other. The idea is that you wait for your liner to dry and then you can fix any mistakes and tidy up the line. This is music to my ears because I adore a black flick on the eye but I find it hard to get it exactly symmetrical and end up wondering if I look like an extra from A Clockwork Orange.

The eraser itself does a good job. It gently rubs away any excess and you can style the line. It is especially good to craft a nice tapered end. The old school cotton bud tends to smear and can give an uneven distribution of pigment but the eraser gives a clean finish.

The liner itself is where this product falls down. It is super black, very glossy on the brush and it sets to a vinyl finish. It has great lasting power. But the texture is quite gloopy and difficult to work with. The brush leaves an uneven line and I had to be careful of the thickness. Being too heavy handed resulted in a weird finish, like I had stuck some thin black cotton strips to my eye. One final but important thing - it smells like a cross between a tyre factory and a vinyl record shop.

And herein lies the rub - the eraser will only work with this liner.

This product fills a big, fat gap in the market. Like sticking wheels on suitcases, I wonder how we didn’t think of it sooner. Overall, I would recommend trying with a light hand, if only for the gimmicky novelty. But I do think Bourjois are onto something - the second generation of these will rule the world.

Have you tried this out yet? Do you like the idea?