Etude House Play 101 Pencil in 4, 17, 35 and 38

I was a late adopter in this one… simply because, I thought I have too too much eyeliners. Of course, I was wrong! No one in this world would ever have too much eyeliners… (or lipstick, or shoes, or bags…)

Oh well.. then I said to myself… this one is gonna be value for money, as it promises 101 use! Off I went to order four colors… 4, 17, 35 and 38. Etude House offers way more colors than what I ordered… see it in my previous post here. 

Play 101 is a gel type pencil which promises me vivid colors and various texture. I wont doubt on the various texture part… looking at Etude’s official swatches… there’s tons of colors…  of course… it can be used anywhere too… eyes, lips, cheeks… 

First of all, I love the packaging. The pencils has differently colored ends… corresponding to the colors inside the pencil itself. Making it easier for me picking up the color I wanted. Plus… it has the color number printed in cute fonts on the pencil ends. I am happy to share with you too… that this is a twist up pencil. Easy peasy for someone lazy (and unskilled with sharpeners) like myself… 

Let’s go one by one… 4 is warm off white with oyster glitter. Glitter is quite big and obvious, but not gritty when applied. It is blendable, if you blend it just after you applied it. I can see myself using this often in my bottom lashline to ‘open’ my eyes more. Also in my centre eyelid to create ‘3D’ effect on my daily eye make up. 

Number 17 is a cool magenta-pink with satin finish. No glitter here. The texture is creamy and easy to apply and blend. It sets longer…making it easier to work in the lips and cheek. I cant see how I’m gonna see this as eye color thou… may be as accent color? Nonetheless, the texture is pleasant to work with. The lip swatch below is more close to real life color of Number 17. 

On the lips, the pencil took me some time to get used to. May be because I dont apply lip pencil when I dont really, really need to. The pencil shape gives precise application. the texture itself... the doesnt glide as smoothly as I wanted it to be, and I need to apply it in few layers to get the intensity you see in the third lip swatch (full lip swatch). the partial lip swatch was done in single (but numerous) swipe of the pencil. As you can see, it is opaque. I am actually loving the satin finish of this lip color! not my usual glossy-dewy look... but definitely not drying as most matte lip colors. 

After a few sip of tea the lipcolor got diluted and somehow changed its look to more matte finish. it is not drying nor moisturizing. but since my lips is so dry... I wouldnt be using this too often on its own- most probably I will top it with my favorite gloss or use my preferred balm as base (currently I am crazy about Apivita lip care with propolis). the swatches and this review is based on application without any base or gloss top coat. Fast forward 3 hours later... I got faded thin veil of color. However, the leftover color has the tendency to settle in liplines... making it rather unsightly.

As blush... 

Number 35 is dark navy with subtle navy shimmer. Reminds me of my favorite MAC inky liquid eyeliner from yesteryear….  It is intense with single swipe. As you can see in the swatch, it is easily blended too, but you have to work as soon as you apply it… else it will appear patchy. This color is less forgiving than number 4 when it comes to late blending. 

Number 38 is pretty dark cool dark moss. Texture wise and blendability is pretty much similar to number  35. however, I found 38 to apply more patchy then the smooth-and-evenly-applied navy 35.

Number 35 and 38 stays the whole day (that's 9 to 5) without smudging or migrating or fading.... as long as I dont rub my eyes. When I did rub my eyes, the color will somehow pilled... peeled a bit and formed tiny balls. However, it didnt removes fully, some faded color will still be left on my lids ...plus the leftover pigment which didnt pilled when I rubbed my eyes.  So... as long as you dont rub your eyes, your line will stay nice and pristine until the end of the day.

Now comes the removal part… simple cream make up remover wont do it for this one. You definitely need eye-lips make up remover at least. I reckon oil remover works best. Number 4 is the first to go after some massaging with cream make up remover.  Number 17 stained my skin a bit. More gentle rub help to removed number 35 and 38. But I cant imagine doing this kind of rubbing on my face …more on my eye area… the horror! 

Bottomline...
I am loving the concept and the execution of Play 101 pencils. So far, Number 4, 17 and 35 is a win. 38 is a bit too patchy for me to love it as much i love its sisters... But... I wont generalize opinion based on this limited review alone, as each color promises different finish and intensity.