Makeup Revolution have such a quick turnaround for their products and have the ability to create products quickly following trends, whereas the larger beauty brands generally take longer with lip kits being a great example. Revolution were one of the first drugstore brands to create lip kits with matte, gloss and metallic lip kits and some of the larger brands such as Bourjois are only just launching their own version. Everyone remembers the multicoloured clickable pen from their school days where you’d push down a mini plastic tab to use that colour pen and Clarins were first with their own makeup version; the 4 Colour All In One Pen which they launched early 2017, and now I Heart Revolution have created three of their I Heart Revolution Multi Liner Pens which are £5, similarly Benefit have just launched their Brow Contour Pen which is £28.50.
I chose the I Heart Revolution Multi Liner Nudes as it’s a multicoloured lip liner pen whereas the other two pens contain eyeliners and I didn’t fancy using super firm liners on my eyes as the skin is so delicate and I’ve read reviews saying they’re too firm.
The packaging is quite cute with a bright pink box, and the pen inside is held inside a flocked plastic insert with holographic writing on the box. The I Heart Revolution Multi Liner Nudes is a nude coloured pen with a matte finish, whereas the Multi Liner is pearlised and the Multi Liner Eyes is a metallic blue.
“One compact retractable style pen featuring four nude lip liner shades. Click and twist to reveal the colours Natural, Mauve, Nude Brown and Pale Pink. A smooth crayon formula that allows you to effortlessly line your lips or fill them in.
Its lightweight design makes it the perfect travel companion, ideal for on the go or those who don’t have much space. Why carry one lip liner when you have four to choose from?“
The I Heart Revolution Multi Liner Nudes is a retractable lip liner pen with four different nude lip liner shades, and to use a shade you simply push down that specific coloured plastic tab and the liner appears as the nib of the pen. When you first get the pen you have to twist the barrel multiple times to get the lead of the liner to appear, and again should your nib become blunt you twist the barrel for more liner.
The nib of the liners is very small and precise due to the nature of the pen packaging and thus I wouldn’t recommend using these liners for filling in your lips as it would take a long time and you don’t get very much product for your money.
I know a lot of bloggers don’t mention the weights and volumes of products but to me it’s very important as a product might look like great value but in fact it’s a little misleading with the Revolution Conceal and Define Concealer being an excellent example of that.
For £5 you only get a total of 0.40g of product with each of the four shades having 0.10 grams so not even half a gram of product which is such a tiny amount of product. So yes it’s convenient having four shades in one unit but one of the Revolution Lip Liners are £2.50 but they contain 1 gram of product so for £5 you’re getting LESS than half the product of a full size Revolution Renaissance Lip Liner, which in my opinion is very poor value for money.
According to Revolution the shades are; Natural, Mauve, Nude Brown and Pale Pink, but I would describe them differently. The first shade is light brown, the second a deep brown toned nude, the third a warm toned deep pink and a warm tone beige.
All four shades are very warm toned and although they’re nude shades, they’re not as nude as I expected them to be especially on my super pale lips. Each of these swatches are one swipe of the pencils except the second shade which needed two but they are pigmented and matte in terms of finish.
I had read the liners were firm but they were firmer than I thought they’d be and I felt as if they dragged across the skin which isn’t necessarily an issue with the lips, but I certainly wouldn’t want to use liners as firm as these on my eyes so I definitely won’t be purchasing the other pens.
I like how precise the tiny nib is as you can really perfect the lip line but the scratching sensation is quite uncomfortable and to be honest I’d prefer the super smooth, creamy and soft formula of their Renaissance Liners as they don’t pull or scratch the skin whatsoever.
Another issue to consider with these retractable pens is how fragile the lead is. If you were to drop it and break the leads inside the pen, when you twist them up to use they just crumble and I ended up wasting a lot of the lightest shade as it just shattered and I only dropped it onto a fluffy rug.
I really like the concept, and love how fun and convenient it is to have four shades in one but for me it’s a false economy as you’re getting such a tiny amount of product and they’re just so fragile that I ended up wasting so much from the lead being broken. Instead I’d highly recommend their Renaissance Liners as they’re super cheap, you get a decent amount of product and they’re not at all scratchy but for me, the I Heart Revolution Multi Liner Nudes is a pass.
I’d love to know your thoughts on the retractable beauty pens? Are you a fan?!
All products featured on Gemma Etc. are PR samples or gifted items, unless otherwise indicated. This post may contain affiliate links. If you wish to find out more, please see my Disclaimer within my navigation bar.