Please read:
I boldly claim that everyone who is into makeup, is on social media platforms and loves to wear winged liner has at one point heard of the widely beloved Tattoo Liner from KVD Vegan Beauty, a cruelty-free brand formerly known as Kat von D Beauty but luckily now without any attachment or financial support to Kat von D herself. Luckily? Yes, because a ton of people, including me, started to boycott the brand a long while ago because of Kat von D’s links to anti-semitism and the other “mishaps” that resurfaced due to her public support of the anti-vaccination movement – a terrible thing in itself. It’s anti-science and I (and you should) oppose that heavily.
In the beginning of 2020, the brand Kendo announced that they basically bought Kat von D out from the brand to start new – surely in hopes of gaining back customers and redeeming their financial loss. Kendo, cruelty-free themselves, has been the owner of the brand previously and now runs it solely.
Yes, boycotting works! Use your voice! 📢✊♥️
Post structure
- Background story to this post
- Basic product information: Pricing, ingredients etc.
- Consistency & finish
- Video: Swatching & testing the durability
- Wear test with eyeshadow, smaller liner
- Wear test without eyeshadows, bold liner
- Precision compared to other eyeliners that I own
- Conclusion
For years, I have been a big fan of the Tattoo Liner due to its precision. While it’s suitable but not the most ideal for thick winged liner, it is perfect for creating a really sharp wing or just tiny details like small graphic elements. It’s rich in colour and wears really well. I still used the liners I had but haven’t been promoting them ever since the drama with Kat and the boycotting happened.
I could not find any dupe that met my standards: Cruelty-free brand with a cruelty-free parent company, vegan, waterproof, opaque, a brush tip that allows super precise application. Oh, and it should be accessible to me here in Germany. Maybe I overlooked something, but it was just frustrating how hard it was to let go of it. But then…
At a similar time that Kat von D Beauty turned into KVD Vegan Beauty, Catrice published their new product launches. And amongst them: The suspiciously named »Brush Ink Tattoo Liner«. For a quarter of the price that the KVD liner is sold at per unit. This sounded too good to be true, so I HAD TO do a comparison as soon as possible! I was so curious. So, let’s start with the basic infos:
KVD Vegan Beauty
Tattoo Liner
- 19.95
- 0.55 ml
- 6 months
325 bristles, high-pigment, all-day long wear, waterproof, smudge-resistant, ultra-precise brush tip, super-easy application, ultimate precision, »the perfect tool«. 😀
Sources: katvondbeauty.com, sephora.de
I coloured ingredients and similar sounding components that can be found in both liners in dark red.
AQUA (WATER), AMMONIUM STYRENE/ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, ALCOHOL, BEHENETH-30, PHENOXYETHANOL, ACRYLATES/OCTYLACRYLAMIDE COPOLYMER, METHYLPARABEN, POLYGLYCERYL-3 DISILOXANE DIMETHICONE, PROPYLPARABEN, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, DISODIUM EDTA, CI 77266 (BLACK 2) (NANO).
Catrice Cosmetics
Brush Ink Tattoo Liner
- 4.99
- 1 ml
- 6 months
More than 270 bristles, deep black, lasts all day, waterproof, super flexible brush tip, effortlessly glides along the lash line, fine and even lines, extreme precision.
Source: catrice.eu/en
I coloured ingredients and similar sounding components that can be found in both liners in dark red.
AQUA (WATER), STYRENE/ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, LAURETH-21, PENTYLENE GLYCOL, PEG-40 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL, AMMONIUM ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PPG-2-DECETH-30, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, DISODIUM LAURETH SULFOSUCCINATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, SODIUM DEHYDROACETATE, CI 77266 (BLACK 2) (NANO).
Consistency & finish
Both eyeliners have a light-reflecting finish. The KVD liner (top swatch) is very subtly warm-toned whereas the Catrice liner (on the bottom) appears to be a bit darker and very subtly blue-toned. In comparison, Catrice has a more liquidy, thin formula and the brush tip doesn’t get dry and clogged as quickly, if at all – time will tell. But since more flows out of the brush tip due to the consistency, it does pick up less of the products/eyeshadows underneath than the KVD liner does, so this makes totally sense to me.
Video: Swatching & testing the durability
Check out my Instagram page @thevegancoffer to see this video in a better resolution! 🙂
Check out this post on your desktop to see the video without logging in to Instagram! 🙂
Wear test 1
First time actually using the Catrice eyeliner onto my eyes: I did a simple makeup look – primer, pressed eyeshadows – and used Catrice on my right eye and KVD on my left eye. I tried to make the wings even, but since my eyelids are quite different it was a bit of a struggle. I don’t mind it in any way though! Just know that the different shapes weren’t intended. The thinner formula of the Catrice eyeliner makes it much easier to glide over the eyeshadows and create a really saturated crisp eyeliner. But it also reacts more intensely to pressure differences which asks for a slightly steadier or at least more confident hand. – Swipe to see the look at a different angle:
After 9 hours: Basically nothing has changed. The liners wore off on my inner corner but that just might have happened because I was rubbing my finger on there during the day. So it might be coincidence that the Catrice liner wore off a bit less there. I The eyeshadows obviously faded due to my oily eyelids but there were no dark smudges at all.
Wear test 2
The positive outcome of my first wear test made me confident to try a really thick eyeliner without eyeshadow or primer on my top lids. I did the light dusting of a translucent silca-based face powder all over my eyes which doesn’t feel particularly oil-absorbing and is just used to mattify. My semi-hooded eyelids makes it difficult to do a bold eyeliner look that looks smooth from all angles, so I had to layer the eyeliners more and more until I was happy. It worked well with both eyeliners, but easier with the Catrice eyeliner as the bristles stay way more saturated than the KVD one. – Swipe to see the look at a different angle:
After 11 hours: Again, almost nothing changed. I’m so happy! You can tell from the reflected light that my eyelids got oily and still there are no smudges. I stared at both eyes for a really long time and then noticed that the Catrice eyeliner looked very slightly less dark than the KVD one although starting out as the very slightly deeper one. You wouldn’t notice it as it’s still a nice black. – Swipe to see the look at a different angle:
Precision compared to other eyeliners
I swatched all eyeliners that I currently own and that are not dried out (at least not fully :D) in two ways: The first one (left row) had the goal to create the thinnest and most even line possible. This is a rather slow movement. The second row shows how thin the end of a quick flick of the eyeliner can be – using continously less pressure to taper it out. I actually did three lines with the Catrice liner in the left row because I tried angling the pen differently to achieve a thinner line – didn’t work here. However the end of the line from that liner in the second row is very tapered and thin. I hope you can see that in the photos, but maybe not – so trust me or check out my wear photos again!
I used brush tip applicators (tapered as well as straight ones), foam/felt tip applicators and a roller disc applicator for the comparison.
Conclusion
I would not have imagined actually finding a dupe in this Catrice eyeliner, but here we are. Based on my experiences so far I’d like to officially award it with the TVC Beauty Award in the categories »dupes« and »best value for price«!! 😀 😉
Keep in mind that I don’t know yet how the liner performs after months of use and how quickly it runs out. But since it almost contains TWICE as much product than the KVD Tattoo Liner so I wouldn’t be concerned about that.
I’m in no way, shape or form an expert regarding ingredients and dermatology, so I can’t tell if one overall actually has better or more skin-friendly ingredients than the other one. The KVD one prides itself on being oil-free but it lasted the same as the Catrice one. I’m wondering why the Catrice one contains some SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) – maybe to make it easier to remove? But does that match the results I had from the tests I filmed? Umm… as I said, no expert here, but if you are, delight me with your knowledge! 🤓
Lastly, I think neither of both are super beginner-friendly or great for people with a heavy hand. Generally, I tend to prefer the way this kind of brush tip moves and reacts to pressure though, so if you never tried that, I think it’s so worth giving the affordable Catrice liner a shot and go practicing: Don’t press down too hard or don’t move too slowly. Maybe practice at night before taking off your everyday makeup. Yet again, it’s worth mentioning that the KVD one is easier to control since less product flows out at once. It’s more forgiving if your hands are rather shaky.
I hope you will experience the same durability that I had with either one of them! In the end, eyeliner types are all personal preference, as makeup is, and there are great and awful products in every category.
