Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eyeliner Review: £3 and 40,000 Opinions Later

Why 40,000 People Have an Opinion on a £3 Pencil

Rimmel's Soft Kohl has been around for years. It's the kind of product your mum probably used, and her mum before that. The appeal is dead simple: it's a soft, blendable kohl pencil that goes on smoothly, delivers solid black pigment, and costs practically nothing.

The formula is dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested, claims up to 12 hours of smudge-proof wear, and weighs in at just 4 grams. It's manufactured in the UK by Coty, and the ingredient list is straightforward: hydrogenated palm oil, mica, talc, and the usual pigment suspects. Nothing exotic, nothing alarming.

What makes it interesting isn't any single feature. It's the sheer volume of loyalty. Among the recent reviews, we found people who've been buying this pencil for 10, 15, even 20+ years. As one reviewer put it: "Rimmel never really disappoints, their products are excellent quality at a low price. This eyeliner pencil is no exception, it glides on smoothly and really good colour." That kind of repeat custom over decades tells you something no marketing claim can.

On Your Eyes: Application and Formula

The selling point of this pencil is right there in the name: soft. And when it works as intended, reviewers are very clear about what that means. The pencil glides along the lash line without tugging or dragging, which is a bigger deal than it sounds if you've ever tried to apply a dry, scratchy liner first thing in the morning.

For smoky eyes, this is where the formula really shines. The soft texture makes blending with a fingertip or brush almost effortless, and multiple reviewers specifically mentioned using it for quick, everyday smoky looks. One mature reviewer wrote: "Brilliant, I'm a mature lady and this framed my eyes perfectly without me looking like I had 2 black eyes." She was using the brown shade, but the principle holds across the range.

Waterline application gets positive marks too, though with a caveat. The pencil applies nicely to the waterline initially, but several reviewers noted the colour doesn't hold there as long as on the lid. One reviewer described it as "very soft when sharpened it melts but it goes on great perfect for water line" - which captures the trade-off nicely. Soft enough to be comfortable on sensitive areas, possibly too soft to stay put all day.

Rimmel describes Jet Black as offering "a warm, attractive alternative to the edgier Black" and recommends it especially for fairer complexions. For everyday wear, the consensus is overwhelmingly positive. This applies easily, looks good immediately, and doesn't require advanced makeup skills to get right.

What Nine Different Skin Tones Look Like

One thing that stood out in the reviews is how differently this pencil performs depending on who's wearing it. On fair to medium skin tones, the Jet Black delivers strong pigmentation and a defined line. On deeper skin tones, the story changes. A couple of reviewers with darker complexions found the pigmentation underwhelming, particularly on the waterline where the colour didn't show up as intensely as expected.

This isn't unusual for budget kohl pencils, but it's worth knowing before you buy. If you have a deeper skin tone and want that intense, dramatic black on your waterline, you may need to layer up or look at a different product entirely.

The shade range helps here. Rimmel offers this pencil in five colours beyond Jet Black, and several reviewers specifically praised the brown shade as a softer, more natural option. For lighter skin tones, brown creates a subtler frame around the eyes without the harshness that solid black can sometimes bring.

A few creative reviewers also mentioned using the pencil as a lip liner and brow pencil in a pinch, which says something about the versatility of the formula even if Rimmel probably didn't intend it.

The Packaging Problem Nobody Expected

If there's one issue that dominated the negative reviews, it wasn't the formula. It was what arrived in the post.

Roughly 8 out of 100 recent reviews mentioned receiving pencils that appeared to have been opened, used, or damaged in transit. Lids off, tips broken, seals missing. One reviewer was blunt: "Arrived with top off and pencil tip broken. Looks like a used item." Another received what they described as a clearly pre-sharpened pencil with no protective cap.

This isn't a Rimmel quality control issue, it's almost certainly an Amazon fulfilment and third-party seller problem. But it's happening frequently enough that it's worth mentioning. If your pencil arrives looking suspicious, return it immediately. Nobody should be applying something near their eyes that might have been tampered with.

For what it's worth, 98 of the 100 reviews we checked were verified purchases, and the vast majority of buyers who received intact products were perfectly happy. But the packaging complaints are too common to ignore.

The Soft vs. Hard Debate

This is the most polarising thing about the Soft Kohl, and it came up repeatedly. Some buyers found the pencil beautifully soft and creamy, exactly as advertised. Others received pencils they described as rock hard, requiring warming up with a lighter or between their fingers before they could apply anything.

One reviewer wrote: "I purchased 3 of these I found them very hard and not soft at all. I had to heat it very quickly to soften them." Meanwhile, others in the same batch of reviews called it "so smooth" and "glides on like butter."

What's likely happening is batch variation, or age. Kohl pencils can dry out over time, especially if they've been sitting in a warehouse. The formula contains hydrogenated palm oil and coco-glycerides which soften at body temperature, so a pencil that's been stored cold might feel harder on first use. A few seconds of warmth from your hands or a quick scribble on the back of your hand before applying to your eyes usually sorts this out.

Still, if you're a beginner looking for something forgiving, this inconsistency could be frustrating. One newer makeup user noted: "Really good for beginners such as myself, however I found that it doesn't last very long and it is VERY dry." The pencil is beginner-friendly when it's working properly, less so when you get a drier batch.

Staying Power: 12 Hours or 2?

Rimmel claims up to 12 hours of smudge-proof wear. Reviewer opinion on this splits roughly into two camps.

Camp one: the pencil stays put through a full workday, doesn't migrate into creases, and looks decent by evening. These reviewers tend to mention using primer underneath or setting with eyeshadow, which obviously helps any pencil liner last longer.

Camp two: the colour fades within a few hours, transfers to the upper lid, and needs reapplication by lunchtime. These reviewers are generally applying directly to bare skin without any prep.

The honest answer is somewhere in the middle. On its own, without primer or powder, you're looking at maybe 4-6 hours of solid wear on the lid, less on the waterline. With a bit of eyeshadow primer and a dusting of matching shadow to set it, you can push it closer to the 8-10 hour range. Full disclosure: "up to 12 hours" is marketing language, and at this price point, expecting true all-day wear without any help is optimistic.

That said, for the price of a meal deal, getting 4-6 hours of decent wear from a pencil you can touch up easily is not a bad deal at all.

Five Shades, One Sharpening Problem

The Jet Black gets the most attention, but Rimmel offers this pencil across a range of shades. The full lineup gives you options from the dramatic Jet Black through to softer browns and greys, and several reviewers specifically bought multiple shades.

One thing that came up across all shades: sharpening. This pencil requires a standard cosmetic sharpener, and the soft formula means the tip can crumble or break during sharpening if you're not careful. A few reviewers lost significant product this way. The fix is simple: use a sharp, clean sharpener (not a blunt one that's been kicking around your bag for three years) and turn gently. Some reviewers also recommended popping the pencil in the fridge for 10 minutes before sharpening to firm it up.

It's a minor annoyance rather than a dealbreaker, but if you go through a lot of pencil sharpening and it drives you mad, a twist-up or retractable format might suit you better.

So Who Is This Actually For?

After going through all 100 reviews, a clear picture emerges. This pencil is ideal if you want a quick, everyday eye look without spending much money. It's great for beginners who are still learning to apply eyeliner because the soft formula is forgiving and easy to blend away mistakes. It's perfect for anyone who likes a smoky, smudged look because that's essentially what this pencil was built for.

It's less ideal if you need your liner to stay razor-sharp all day without touching it up, if you have a deeper skin tone and want intense waterline pigmentation, or if you're the sort of person who loses their patience with pencil sharpeners.

The sweet spot is the everyday wearer who wants something reliable, cheap, and effective for a 5-minute morning routine. The kind of person who keeps one in their handbag, one in the bathroom, and doesn't think twice about the price when it runs out. That's exactly the customer base that's kept this pencil at #1 in kohl pencils on Amazon, and based on the reviews, most of them aren't going anywhere.

At £2.99, or £2.69 on Subscribe and Save, it's the kind of purchase where even if you're slightly disappointed, you haven't lost anything meaningful. And if you're one of the majority who loves it, you've found your everyday pencil for less than the price of a coffee.