These Eye Sticks Trick People Into Thinking I Know What I'm Doing With Makeup

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market's most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are truly worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, completely uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors' honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we'll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors quite literally can't shut up about. This time around, I'm highlighting the Nudestix Magnetic Eye Color ($27).

I've worked in the beauty industry for over a decade, so you might think that I'd have major makeup skills by now. But while I have a deep love for all things makeup and skincare (I particularly love testing and writing about products), I'm extremely lazy and shockingly terrible at doing my own makeup. So you can't really blame me for crushing hard on the Nudestix Magnetic Eye Color ($27)—the pencils that help me trick people into thinking I know what I'm doing with my makeup.

My crush on Nudestix has spanned almost nine years. The entire collection is all about easy and fuss-free products in "crayon" form, which are easy to use anytime and anywhere. I never want to spend more than 10 minutes doing my makeup, and I feel extremely intimidated when I have to use multiple brushes. The Magnetic Eye Color is the epitome of a low-effort, high-result product, so if you want to trick people into thinking you're way more experienced in the makeup department, you should absolutely give it a try.

For starters, the Magnetic Eye Color comes in more than 20 versatile shades in matte and satin finishes. It's impossible to pick a favorite, but for the purposes of this article, I focused on the satin finishes because I prefer a hint of shimmer. Night Dweller is this perfect blue-green; Lilith is the prettiest champagne cream; Queen Olive is the ultimate green with golden shimmer; Angel is a light gold; Twilight is a perfect shimmery taupe; Gilt is a true gold; Rustique is the perfect autumn copper; Bright Eyes is a super-shimmery, cool taupe; Spirit is a cozy mauve; and Burnish is a dark, shimmery gold. There's really something for any mood or time of day.

*Editor's note: Shades vary across retailers depending on what's in stock. Swatches only include the shades mentioned above.

I've tried a lot of eye sticks over the years, and I'm often disappointed by the amount of rubbing and pulling that needs to happen in order for the shadow to stick. These are easily the best I've tried. They're creamy and actually glide onto my eyes like butter. There's absolutely no resistance, and it shocks me every single time. Here, I applied a few swipes of the shade Queen Olive directly to my lid, blended it in using my finger, and finished it off with an eye-light using the shade Lilith. It's the perfect look for those feeling the martini makeup trend.

It doesn't matter if you're a novice or a self-proclaimed makeup artist—anyone can master these pencils, and my look above is proof. They're super easy to blend, you can use them on the go, and they have incredible staying power.

What was the inspiration behind Magnetic Eye Color?

Taylor Frankel: We felt that traditional powder eye shadows and palettes were intimidating for those who aren't makeup artists, challenging to travel with, and messy. Our goal was to create high-performance eye shadow sticks that were multitasking, on-the-go, and most importantly, easy to use.

What makes the formula unique?

TF: The formula is cream-based and easy to blend, highly pigmented, and multitasking. It's a three-in-one eye shadow, eye liner, and eye primer. 

Should you prime your lids before using this product?

Kevin Kodra: There is no need to prime your lids beforehand as these cream formulas are all-day wear and waterproof.

What are your best application tips?

KK: I like to apply them directly to the eyelids and blend with a cream-shadow brush. You want to blend quickly as they set within 30–60 seconds! For maximum pigment, I love to apply a sheer layer and continue to build from there… These pencils are so easy to use, so my go-to tip is that you don't need a ton of tools or precision. The application tips are simple: draw and blend.