Etude House Play 101 Pencils Swatch and Comparisons

I was thoroughly intrigued about Etude House’s recently launched Play 101 Pencils when I saw the drool-triggering Pony use only these pencils to create a variety of amazing looks here, here and here.

Play 101 Pencils so far include 50 twist-up pencils with a sharpener embedded at the removable end. The finishes range from matte, shimmer, glitter to almost wet textures and a well balanced collection of colours. At the mid-high end of drug store prices, the quality and selection of these pencils are considerable, and when my local Etude House had their 30% off sale, I picked up a bunch of them. Today we’re going look at a few of the eyeliner/eyeshadow pencils. The blusher/lippy pencils will form another post.

These particular Play 101 pencils are all shimmers with micro glitters, the gel formula is buttery soft and glides on without patchiness. However, due to it's creamy softness, make sure you don't twist up too much product, as it may break off if you're not careful. One swipe gives good colour, but can be built up to a densely packed and intense pigmentation. I found these needed a little more time to set (nothing over a minute), but once set, it does not budge. My biggest issue with liner is smudging due to the shape of my hooded, mono-lidded eye, and these babies don't move one bit, even when I've got sweat rolling down my lids. It takes a tough rubbing with micellar to remove the hand swatches, so I’d say you’re better off with a bi-phase eye makeup remover to avoid damaging your eyes. In this batch, I found #31, 35 and 39 to have been the easiest to remove with micellar, but still one of the hardest to remove in the stash comparisons.

Let's swatch!

Left = 1 single swipe, right = intense swatch, bottom = blended out with finger.

First up are #31 a lilac taupe, #34 a purple aubergine and #35 a royal blue.

Next is #36 an electric blue, #38 a forrest green and #39 a khaki bronze. (apologies for shoddy #38 swatch, it broke off because I twisted up too much product, then I was too lazy to sharpen it)

Finally I have #43 an apricot pink, #45 an orange and #46 a pink orange.

Now on to some stash comparisons.

Taupe

L to R

• EH Play 101 in #31 - Lilac taupe with silver micro glitter. Twist up.
• Clinique Quicliner in Intense Truffle (10) - Shimmery cool toned taupe with grey hints. Twist up.
• Chanel Stylo in Marron Glace (906) - Browner than the Clinique with silver micro glitter. Twist up.

Purple

• EH Play 101 in #34 - Purple aubergine with brown tones and pinky purple micro glitter. Twist up.
• Clinique Quickliner in Intense Aubergine (15) - Brown aubergine, subtle shimmer. Twist up.
• By Terry Crayon Khol in Purple Label (5) - Very similar to the EH, only more black toned and slightly more muted on the glitter. Sharpened pencil.
• YSL Eye Pencil in #11 - Almost matte deep black purple. Sharpened pencil.
• Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner in Amethyst - Light red brown purple with subtle gold shimmer. Sharpened pencil.
• Pupa Viva Carioca Long Lasting Eyeliner in #001 - Red brown aubergine with pink and gold micro glitter. Liquid liner.

Blue

• EH Play 101 in #35 - Shimmery royal blue with electric blue micro glitter. Twist up.
• YSL Eye Pencil in #13 - Subtly shimmery royal blue. Needed recoat after drydown to get this pigmentation. Sharpened pencil.
• By Terry Crayon Khol in Blue Vision (4) - Deep almost black blue with hints of purple and grey shimmer. Sharpened pencil.
• Guerlain Eye Pencil in Katy Navy (04) - Grey navy blue with silver micro glitter. Twist up.

Light Teal

• EH Play 101 in #36 - Rich electric blue with silver glitter, colour can be intensified with 2nd coat. Twist up.
• Nars Larger than Life Long-Wear in Abby Road - Shimmery light blue teal, more aqua than the EH. Twist up.
• Chanel Stylo in Bleu Metallique (909) - Close in colour to EH, only slightly deeper. A shimmer without glitter. Twist up.
• Clio Gelpresso in Jade Green (2) - Light blue teal with a hint of green shimmer. Needs second coat to get full opaque line. Twist up.

Greens

• EH Play 101 in #38 - Olive forrest green, with gold and green micro glitter. Twist up.
• Clinique Quickliner in Intense Peacock (14) - Bluer and less intense than the EH, is a shimmer without glitter, while the gel formula glided well, it needs a second coat to be patchless. Twist up.
• Chantecaille 24hr Waterproof Eye Liner in Teal - Richer in intensity than Clinique, shimmer no glitter, Sharpened pencil.
• By Terry Crayon Khol in Emeral Evasion (8) - Shimmery emerald green with gold hints. Sharpened pencil.
• MAC Undercurrent - Base green colour is similar to the Chantecaille, but with added gold glitter. Sharpened pencil.
• MUFE Aqua Eyes in 52L - Brighter and teal-er than Chantecaille, with a more obvious golden shimmer. Sharpened pencil.

Khaki Bronze

• EH Play 101 in #39 - Bronzy green khaki with gold micro glitter. Twist up.
• Clinique Quickliner in Intense Peridot (13) - Slightly more yellow/golden than the EH, a shimmer with sparse golden glitter. Twist up.
• Chanel Stylo in Khaki Precieux (104) - Very similar to the Clinique, slightly more golden with pink shimmer hints. Twist up.
• Chantecaille 24hr Waterproof Eyeliner in Oolong - Shimmery rose gold beige. Sharpened pencil
• Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Gel Eyeliner in Scotch - Bronze with a hint of green khaki and gold micro glitter. Twist up
• RBR Eye Khol in Calypso (030) - The most green khaki of the bunch, subtle shimmer with pink shimmer hints. Sharpened encil
• Chanel Stylo in Santal (100) - Warmer than Bobbi Brown with pink shimmer. Twist up.

Apriocots, Pinks and Oranges

• EH Play 101 in #43 - Shimmery apricot pink with silver micro glitter. Twist up.
• EH Play 101 in #45 - Shimmery orange with sparse silver micro glitter. Twist up.
• EH Play 101 in #46 - Shimmery pink orange with gold micro glitter. Twist up.
• Solone Vivid Fantasy Smoody Pencil in ES-07 - Shimmery orange bronze. Twist up.
• Clio Gelpresso in Beige Shine (1) - Shimmery apricot nude. Twist up.
• By Terry Crayon Khol in Opaline Flash (6) - Shimmery cool silvery pink. Sharpened pencil.
• Chanel Stylo in Amber Dore (911) -Very similar to EH #46, a tad tenser and bronze. Twist up.
• Chanel Stylo in Or Rose (89) - Similar to EH #43, less pink. Twist up.
• Armani Eye Pencil #04 - muted shimmery gold. Sharpened pencil.

Definitely need to clean house and purge a bunch!

If you happen to have access to Etude House, do check these pencils out, there are some close colour dupes of a few of the high end pencils, and in many cases, better in quality and wear.

xx
Noodles