Just a few years ago, Japanese beauty was all the rage among skincare enthusiasts. That's how we were introduced to the double-cleansing method and the multi-layer evening skincare routines. In the past couple years, however, attention has shifted towards Korean cosmetics, with brands becoming so mainstream that they ended up at mass retailers such as Target or local drugstores.

I've tried my share of Korean skincare products, face masks mostly, but I realized I don't know much about the makeup. For my first experience I decided to go with a brand I already know and love, Tony Moly, and picked their Back Gel Eyeliner in Brown. Let's see if it was a hit or a miss!

The Back Gel Eyeliner comes in a little plastic pot with a lid that looks like an upside down funnel, and an included brush that clips into the tube-shaped opening on top. Tony Moly isn't the first brand to use this design, I've seen it a few times before, the most recent being the Benefit Ka Brow brow gel. It looks pretty good and it's always nice to have a brush with your gel liner, but of course it takes quite a bit of space in storage.




The liner itself has a very thin yet creamy texture that glides on really well on the skin and seems quite forgiving on texture (good news if you have dry or crepe-y lids). It's also super pigmented! I picked the shade 02 Brown because I already have a bunch of black liners, and I'm really glad I added a brown gel liner to my collection.

The color is very cool with slightly gray undertones, so it's more of a bark brown than a chocolate brown. It's deep enough to make your eyes look brighter, but not as harsh as a true black, so I find it perfect for those days when I want to define my eyes with liner but I'm not looking for anything too dramatic.




Application is easy for the most part, although I do have to re-dip the brush for a perfectly even line. One thing I'm not a fan of is the included brush. I feel like the bristles are not firm enough so it's a little difficult to make a thin, crisp line. The bristles will also clump together as soon as they get coated with the gel liner, so I basically had to clean the brush after each use and even between the eyes. I preferred to use this liner with my own slanted synthetic brushes!




Once dry, the Back Gel Eyeliner won't budge on me. With the texture being so creamy and feeling like it melts on contact, I was a little worried it would smudge all over the place, but my lines stayed fresh and sharp all day long. I even went for a run wearing it, and it still didn't move.



Tony Moly's Back Gel Eyeliner is a pretty good product! It's easy to apply, although I preferred to use my own brush rather than the one it came with, it lasts all day, and it's really affordable for under $10. It also comes in a few different shades, some being shimmery, but I would definitely recommend Brown for everyday looks.


It's not sold at the big US retailers that carry some of Tony Moly's skincare line, but you can easily find it online, for example at this Korean beauty store.


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