So as you may or may not know, L’Oreal has a diverse portfolio of brands under its control. They own some high end names that you would be surprised about, but also some drugstore ones aside from the eponymous L’Oreal, but also Maybelline.
When I first started playing with makeup like a child learning how to do my makeup, I decided to try a gel liner. Pencil liners always seemed odd to me, and liquids were too prescise – gel seemed like a happy medium. After a good bit of research into the gel options, I was torn between Maybelline and L’Oreal – both are well-reviewed. I happened to have a coupon for the Maybelline one and a sale was running (yes, why pay retail?) so I went with it and was content.
Later (aka recently), once I was on the verge of running out of usable product (my own error caused it to dry out prematurely), I decided to purchase both and do drugstore gel liner comparison. Here, you have the L’Oreal Infallible Gel Lacquer Liner 24 Hour on the left and the Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner.
Drugstore Gel Liner Comparison
This post is pretty photo-heavy, so please continue after the jump.
As you can see above, the outer packaging isn’t wildly different. Cardboard back with the product and included brush secured with plastic. They both claim to offer 24 hour wear. How different can they be? They’re made by the same company, after all but prices vary.
Both are called Blackest Black (though they do have different product numbers).
And here’s the back, because I’m like that. You’ll see that there is a square cut into the cardboard on each to show you the lot/batch number each pot came from. The Maybelline product (right) offers basic instructions whereas the L’Oreal one (left) does not.
The pots are similarly sized, but the amount of product inside differs – L’Oreal only has 2.3 grams of product, whereas the Maybelline pot contains 3 grams. Pardon my smudgey fingerprints.
L’Oreal side view with brush. It looks a little more luxe (L’Oreal’s packaging usually pretends to be, anyway. I don’t care, personally) with its gold-colored cap and ferrule on the included brush.
Maybelline side view with brush. Functional!
The L’Oreal and Maybelline brushes, respectively. They are very, very similar. Handles are the same length and weight. The bristles feel the same to me and are generally similarly-shaped, with the L’Oreal being slightly narrower than the Maybelline. In reality, they’re both very mediocre brushes and I recommend something completely different for applying gel liner.
Pots open from above. The L’Oreal reflects a bit more light and looks glossier in the pot. Just from this shot and the shot below, you can see that the product is at least slightly different.
Having seen them in person, I definitely think the formulas differ. I look forward to trying them out and reporting back on how the formulas themselves compare.