Makeup Review: Etude House Play 101 Pencils (#16 and #50)

If you're a college student just like I am, then you've probably encountered that problem when there's too much stuff to bring and too less space to put everything in. As for me, I deal with that kind of thing every single day. I spend a good fifteen minutes in the morning trying to fit everything into my bag, books and makeup included, and just ditching all of my beauty items just for the sake of big books.

Such a hassle, right?
Fortunately, Etude House has come up with the solution in the form of Play 101 Pencils, which are actually multi-functional pencils released in a variety of colors, textures and uses! There are 50 original shades, with the release of 10 new shades for the holiday season.

These pencils are modeled by the very beautiful Pony! I absolutely am a huge fan of Pony and I loved her tutorials the moment I stumbled upon her videos on YouTube. She's released tutorials using the Play 101 Pencils as well. You can check them out on insiteTV's YouTube channel.

When I first saw her videos, I thought that these pencils might be a little, say, tricky. Don't get me wrong, I love Pony and the tutorials looked great, but the idea of multi-functionality isn't new in the makeup world. We've been dotting lipsticks on our cheeks to use them as blush and using eyebrow pencils as eyeliners ever since. I was also very skeptical because above all, can anyone ever concoct a singular formula that works for your whole face?

Even though I was doubting, I took myself to the nearest Etude House branch to buy the pencils. I bought these two on separate occasions, partly because my wallet is dying. I first bought #50 and then #16 a week later, both with creamy textures.

They come in a long, rectangular box that's in the same color as the pencil. It's the first time I've seen a pencil come in box-type of packaging, actually.

Here are a few close-up pictures of the box. You have the label, the number of the pencil, and a few must-knows printed on it. As usual, Etude House prides itself in girly packaging, which ultimately wins me over again and again.

The pencil itself looks pretty sleek and stylish with black shimmers on the body of the pencil itself. At first glance, it looked pretty normal and nothing out of the ordinary. The tip of the pencil is in the color of the product.

I mainly took photos of #16 because the details are seen better.

The colored tip is actually a mini-sharpener, and the part it's attached to can be twisted to reveal more of the product. That means you don't have to sharpen the pencil just to get more. The manufacturing date is printed on the sharpener as well.

#50 is a flat-out matte dark brown. It's the darkest brown in the bunch, but it doesn't look black when applied. It's proposed to be used as eyeliner and eye shadow.

#16 is an almost neon pink with a matte finish. It's the lightest matte pink out of all the matte pink pencils, and it's recommended to be used on the lips, as blusher or eye shadow. 

After rubbing the product, #50 smudged dramatically. This is how I learned that for Korean products, the setting time is very important. After taking some shots of the swatch, which lasted a few seconds, I rubbed at it, ultimately causing it to smudge. I was kinda disappointed, but after leaving it on for a few minutes, I rubbed again and it did not move.

For #16, I tried to leave it alone for about two minutes on my skin. It took all the strength in my body to not rub it immediately, but the wait was worth it. After rubbing, there was almost no hint of fading at all. 

Generally, these two pencils run smoothly on my skin and #16 only tugs a little on my lips.

By trial and error, I've learned that these pencils set on your skin fast, no matter if you have oily or dry skin. Blending time is crunch time. You can apply this on your skin first to melt the product a little with your body warmth, or you can run it under a blow-drier for a few seconds to make it creamier (as if it's not creamy enough).

I love using #16 on my cheeks for that rosy touch. What I do is that I apply it widely on my finger first before patting it on my cheeks. Dotting the product on your cheeks directly might leave some pink patches on your face if you don't blend fast enough, and it looks really weird that way. I also use it as eye shadow, and it's also great for colored eyeliner if you're feeling funky. It looks a little to bright to be used on the lips, unless you're going for a Barbie or Nicki Minaj look, but using it sparingly like how I did with my cheeks can give your lips a nice, soft tint.

I used #16 on my cheeks and #50 as eyeliner.
#16 can look like an airbrushed blush if blended out nicely.

#50 is my favorite eyeliner. I actually bought it because I wanted to try out how brown eyeliners look on me, and I wanted to play it safe so I chose the darkest brown. It stays on my waterline and only fades after around 6 hours, and it doesn't smudge on my lower lash line even if I fall asleep. I think it's a little too dark for brows, so I use it sparingly. It's too dark for contour as well, but it looks amazing for brown smoky looks.

Rating:
Color: 5/5 - One swipe is all you need.
Quality: 5/5
Price: 5/5 - For Php348, these pencils really outdo themselves well.
Overall: 5/5
Repurchase? YES!
I will definitely look forward to buying more of the set in the future. I hope to buy some colors from other textures as well, especially the glittery ones because glitter!

Have you tried Etude House's Play 101 Pencils? Did you like it?

Thank you for reading.
Bye bye :3

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