Say “hello” to the destroyer of every single decent makeup bag I’ve ever owned, and the poltergeist that haunts the inner pocket of my current mom purse, which, once upon a time, housed six pristine lipstick tubes and an asthma inhaler.
*waves hi* ?
Since this makeup pencil sharpener exploded, everything — and I mean everything — all of the lipsticks, the inhaler and the lining of that inner pocket — is now smeared with chunks of black eyeliner, glitter and nude lip crayon, and everything else I ever sharpened in this sharpener since the dawn of time.
This particular makeup pencil sharpener happens to be from Make Up For Ever, but ya know…it doesn’t appear to matter what brand they are, because if I’m carrying around a makeup sharpener, rest assured! — it’ll explode in my purse.
You might think that after all the years pencil sharpeners have existed, some intrepid makeup-loving inventor out there would have discovered a way to improve upon the seemingly simple technology, or at least figured out a way to keep sharpeners from opening unexpectedly in your makeup bag.
Why, makeup gods, why!? Why hasn’t someone built a better mousetrap?
Oh, sure, I’ve tried workarounds — wrapping them with rubber bands, placing them in a clear plastic bag BEFORE sticking that bag into my makeup bag. Inevitably, however, those little bits of liner and crayon end up on everything and everywhere.
I saw in one of her videos that Sam from Pixiwoo keeps her Urban Decay sharpener (the purple one, which I have, and which is very good, but it still opens…) in the box it came in to prevent it from bursting open, which is GENIUS. But even she said the method isn’t foolproof, because hers still opens.
Shoot, even while I’ve been sitting here typing at my desk with my pencil sharpener beside me, little pencil shavings have fallen out over the last few minutes.
HOW? WHY?
Oh, and does anybody actually clean these things? They always get so dirty, but even when I try to clean the brown or black eyeliner bits from the blade before, say, sharpening a pink lip liner, I still get dark bits of liner on everything.
The misery of makeup pencil sharpeners is one reason I’m all about “the twist-up life” these days… You know why I love the Chanel Stylo Yeuxs so much? Yup, because I don’t ever have to sharpen the tip with a sharpener!
I need to know if anyone out there has ever found the mother of all makeup pencil sharpeners, because if you have, PLEASE do us all a solid and let us know.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Hi Karen! I have the NARS pencil sharpener and it never opens but honestly, do you really need to have a sharpener on you at all times in your bag?
Shavings everywhere ugh – that’s definitely annoying!
D.
I do! I always have one in my makeup bag, and when I do bring a pencil with me that needs to be sharpened, I like to have one on hand just in case.
And they ALWAYS break off the tips just at the point when they’re sharpened just the right amount. You pull the pencil out and there’s the tip stuck in the sharpener.
I thought I was the only one who put on in my everyday make up bag!! I just empty mine out every time I use and I have put tape on it so it stays shut but that does wear off too. I feel like the twisty liners (eye or lip) don’t last as long and break off a lot.
How about going old school – you know, empty out the sharpener before tossing it in the makeup bag.
(Used to work great when I was back in school with regular pencils that needed sharpening)
Hi Neha,
Someone mentioned this too here in the comments. I’m going to try it! (And hopefully not be too lazy about it, haha.)
So frustrating to need a sharpener and not have one with you.
Right? I always like having one handy in my makeup bag, otherwise I feel like I’m missing something.
I like the Urban Decay Grindhouse sharpener, but since I prefer to use it with the lid off (so I can see the blade as it sharpens the tip) it’s easy to knock the shavings into the trash before I put the sharpener away. Maybe that would be worth trying?
Hi Lexica,
I have the Grindhouse too. Thanks for the idea; I will try tossing the shavings in the trash after sharpening!
I keep one in my makeup bag it’s a necessary. Charlotte Tilbury lipliners work so much better sharpened. It’s a pain but I empty every 2nd use and its ok. Now my Bobbi Brown art stick sharpener gets so yucky no way i will keep those in my bag. Never can get it totally clean ugh
Hi Diana,
Someone mentioned in the comments today to rinse off the sharpeners! I’m going to try that, although I figure I’ll have to accept that eventually it could rust.
I recently got the Muji sharpener which a, sharpens eyeliners beautifully (honestly, it’s like they’re made of butter), and b, is permanently open. I just drop the shavings into the bin and rinse it after use!
Hey BW,
I have a few open ones, too. Never thought to rinse it out after using it (or perhaps maybe using a makeup wipe or a baby wipe to wipe it off?). Thanks for the idea!
I usually try to empty my sharpener every week, but lately I’ve gotten so bad. Nothing can clean out that black eye liner bits!
Hi Jamie,
So true! Once those black liner bits are there, they never go away.
Sharpener glued in a small jar.
I hate when I just sharpened something and it breaks off! :/ I don’t carry mine around though. I’m usually good about emptying it.
Hey Karen! I’ve been using Ulta’s sharpener for the last 6 months or so, and every time I look into my makeup bag I have yet to see any mess! I’ve been pretty pleased with it and it’s super inexpensive. See if it works for you! I might just be on a lucky pencil sharpener streak 🙂
Put the sharpener in a small platic bag with ziplock. If sharpener is full, take it out and dump content along with dust collecting in the bag. If sharpener full while on the road, just dump savings it in the bag and empty everything together once a bin is in sight.
I don’t travel with a sharpener but have one in my makeup bag, of course. The lid was hinged and ended up breaking off so now it’s just an open sharpener. Still, I’m terrible about cleaning it out.
Oh nuts! Now I find out I’m supposed to be carrying a makeup bag too? Let’s see: phone, sunglasses, reading glasses, spare contacts, 2-6 lip products, tape measure, bandages, earbuds, pens, small notebook, Altoids, Halls throat lozenges, wallet (with credit cards, cash, lottery tickets, sentimental photos, insurance cards, library cards, loyalty cards), gloves, eye drops, contact lens drops, panty liners, pocket rosary, house keys, and car key fob. No wonder I’m exhausted at the end of the day – look at what I’m hauling around! All I want for Christmas is a butler!!!! I’m leaving my eye liner pencil sharpener at home in the drawer with the rest of the makeup.
Karen, I normally empty my NARS sharpener every time I use it and I clean it with the pointed cotton buds from Target. That usually helps with color transfer from products.
Hey Karen!
Ugh… I hate this! I am such a neat borderline-OCD freak and this gets to me every time. Everytime I use the sharpener I have to clean it out. And when I say clean it out… I mean with water and wiping the leftover eyeliner smudges off. Why? Because if those stupid slivers! I’m getting bugged thinking about it. ??
Christine xx
So I know this is a VERY old post… But I just happened to stumble upon and wanted to share just in case some comes here looking… I have a double sharpener by NYX. I LOVEEE IT! Mainly, because it’s got this little indent in it and then there’s a notch on the lid that kind of locks it into place… However, I think they may be discontinued. But I’d definitely suggest finding one that has this little notch where the lid locks into place. It’s the only one where I’m not constantly losing the lid thing. Also, the bottom opens up too! This is an ABSOLUTE MUST for cleaning them! It comes with the little stick thingy, which I do use to get the big bits then I go in with pointed cotton swabs like someone else said. Then I go back with one and some rubbing alcohol (I’ve also used makeup sanitizer and witch hazel too) just to make sure I’ve gotten it all. Sounds like a hassle but I promise you it’s easier than it sounds with this sharpener. And it was pretty cheap too! Definitely a win win!