Robert Welsh has put 49 eye makeup products through his paces, and his record gives a really clear picture of what he thinks works. He approved 29, had mixed feelings on 9, and gave 11 a skip. His Guru Score for this category sits at 59%, which tells you he holds the bar fairly high.
What does Robert Welsh recommend in eye makeup?
When Robert approves an eye product, the words that keep coming back are hold, pigment, and ease of use. He praised the Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting and Laminating Eyebrow Gel for surviving an 18-hour flight with an eye mask on top of it, which says a lot about wear. He loves the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil for gliding on smoothly while still being deeply pigmented and long-lasting, calling it a staple for both everyday wearers and working makeup artists. For brows in particular, he rates products that hold without looking stiff, sticky, or dusty, and his one named category winner is the Kosas Air Brow Tinted Brow Gel, which he calls one of the best brow gels ever made.
In his words
"I've been using their brow gel. Incredible, insane, amazing. They are tinted slightly, but it's not so much where you get [...] the color on your skin or anything like that. [...] This is a black one, you'll see it's not black black. [...] It's just like a tinted gel. You can actually run your finger over this gel and it does not move. I've done an 18-hour flight wear test for this brow gel where I sleep in it, wear an eye mask, all this stuff, and it lasts throughout the whole thing. It is really really really strong. So I would absolutely recommend it."
"If you haven't tried this pencil, you have to try it. They have the smoothest, creamiest texture. They glide on with ease, but they are so, so pigmented, and they last a really, really long time. So if you want a good pencil for the waterline, they're the ones to go for. [...] This liner became a staple, not just for everyday consumers, but makeup artists would be adding it to their kits. [...] It was a really good product and showed up all the other kind of eye pencils at the time."
"Kosas Air Brow is one of the best brow gels ever. It is so beautiful. It just holds. It's not sticky, it's not crumbly. It doesn't look like little white dots. It's just incredible."
"My first ever naked palette was the Naked 3 eyeshadow palette that my fiancé got for me. And it was my prized possession. When I was doing bridal makeup, I would take it out my kit and sit there like it was some kind of, like, golden egg. Yes, I have a Naked palette. And I still have it today. Not in my kit, but I keep it for sentimental value. These palettes, as the name suggests, naked, featured, like, a selection of neutral shades. And they all had a kind of, like, rough theme around them in terms of the main color. To have these Naked palettes and to have them stack nicely and all work together and be all slightly different in a way, revolutionary."
"This is the Tower 28 Make Waves Mascara. I do have a lash lift, so my lashes were already curled. So what you see me applying right now is kind of the level of makeup that I am comfortable with when it comes to doing a really kind of natural, fresh look for every day without using the Demi Method. So this is kind of my everyday, just getting out the door and looking my best."
"Their iconic Dip Brow Pomade was like the thing to have. It started a whole trend of how we do our brows back then."
How many eye makeup products has Robert Welsh reviewed?
Robert Welsh has reviewed 49 eye makeup products, for a Guru Score of 59%. 29 approved, 9 mixed, and 11 skipped.
What has Robert Welsh skipped in eye makeup?
Robert is not shy about what he skips, and his biggest frustration with eye products is powder formulas that look dry or ashy on the skin. He was particularly blunt about the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette Trio, saying both look dusty and ashy on people, and that you can almost see the powder particles sitting on the skin. He also skipped Dior eyeshadows more than once, describing the Dior Eyeshadow Palette as pigment that cannot grip the texture underneath and just moves around the eye. For anyone drawn to high-end prestige palettes, his takes are a useful reminder that price and packaging do not always match performance.
"Everyone always loves everything Dior does. Hate hate hate their eyeshadows."
"It's like someone lay down a white powder in each pan and then coughed the color into it. This on deeper skin tones, even the ones made for deeper skin tones, terrible. Ashy, dusty, volcanic mess. I do not like it. I think these palettes are awful. Even the powders themselves. When I bought them and I was like, I'm not going to use these on people. I tried to use one on myself. Dry. The dryness of them. People love it, but I just think it looks ashy on people. It looks like powder, which I know is a crazy thing to say. You can almost see the powder particles on the skin. I do not like these. I don't know why they're so expensive and I don't know why they are so loved. Horrible, horrible."
"Hourglass Ambient Light Highlighter palettes, right? Dusty, crusty, fusty on anyone. Hourglass isn't a brand that I like to talk about on my social media. I just think they don't do well in terms of inclusivity, in terms of color options, all that kind of stuff. And it's my choice and my decision to not support them to that extent, where I would be like, oh, these products are really nice, which I'm definitely not going to say right now. These are $66 bear in mind for these palettes, the small ones."
"It's not the best, put it lightly. The black is a waste of time and money. It's so pigmented, you only need to use a little bit, which is great to have that option of controlling that pigment. But it can't sit on itself. It's really struggling to grip to the texture underneath. It's just constantly moving around. I give it a little tap and the whole eye goes crazy. I tried it. I gave it a second chance. I'm not even going to try this one."
What should you take from Robert Welsh's picks?
Robert Welsh's eye makeup record is useful precisely because he calls out the expensive misses as clearly as he calls out the wins. If you are shopping for brow products, his enthusiasm for the Kosas Air Brow Tinted Brow Gel and the Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting and Laminating Eyebrow Gel is hard to miss. And if you are eyeing a luxury eyeshadow palette, his takes on Hourglass and Dior are worth reading before you spend the money.
Watch Robert Welsh say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Kosas Air Brow Tinted Brow GelNamed a winnerWatch at 12:55
- Dior EyeshadowSkipped itWatch at 17:32
- Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked PaletteSkipped itWatch at 19:15
- Hourglass Ambient Lighting PowderSkipped itWatch at 13:22
- Dior Eyeshadow PaletteSkipped itWatch at 12:12
- Patrick Ta Major Dimension Eyeshadow PaletteSkipped itWatch at 4:19
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Micro Stroke Detailing Brow PenSkipped itWatch at 6:09
- Glossier Brow Flick in BrownSkipped itWatch at 12:00
- Maybelline Express Brow in Shade Deep BrownSkipped itWatch at 12:16
- Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette Limited Edition Golden CaseSkipped itWatch at 7:34
- NARS Clouded Eyeshadow PaletteSkipped itWatch at 2:15
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer PotionSkipped itWatch at 5:51
- Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting and Laminating Eyebrow GelRated itWatch at 0:40
- Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye PencilRated itWatch at 3:11
- Urban Decay Naked 3 PaletteRated itWatch at 5:55
- Tower 28 Make Waves Lengthening and Volumizing MascaraRated itWatch at 32:43
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow PomadeRated itWatch at 11:31
- NYX Micro Brow PencilRated itWatch at 3:51
- Glossier Boy BrowRated itWatch at 36:32
- Hourglass Eyeshadow PaletteRated itWatch at 11:36
- Diorshow Maximizer 3D Lash PrimerRated itWatch at 7:12
- Dior Highlighter PaletteRated itWatch at 3:47
- ColourPop Super Shock ShadowRated itWatch at 0:19
- e.l.f. Cream Glide EyelinerRated itWatch at 13:11
About this expert
See everything Robert Welsh has reviewed
Related guides
This guide reflects what Robert Welsh said across their videos about 49 products in eye makeup, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly they talk about them. It is general information, not medical advice.