Urban Decay 24/7 pencils are soft, which is exactly why they snap in a sharpener. A firmer core and a sharp, clean blade solve most of it. If a pencil keeps breaking on you, leave it in the fridge for a while, then turn it with light pressure until the tip is rounded.
The Glide-On and Waterline pencils don’t twist up, so a sharpener is the only way to get more product out. Urban Decay’s own answer on Ulta points to the Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener or any quality cosmetic sharpener and never mentions chilling. That part comes from other brands’ instructions and community reports.
Which Urban Decay Eyeliner Pencils Need Sharpening?
Two of them. The 24/7 Glide-On pencil and the 24/7 Waterproof Waterline pencil are both sharpen-only.
- Retailers list the Glide-On under that name or as the 24/7 Glide-On Waterproof Eyeliner Pencil. Urban Decay describes it as a versatile lid formula that blends as a liner or a shadow before it sets.
- The waterline pencil is a demi-matte formula made for the inner rim of the eye.
Because the waterline pencil goes on the inner rim and gets used for tightlining the upper lash line, it needs a smooth, rounded tip that won’t scratch. A lid pencil you plan to smudge can live with a blunter point.
For the waterline pencil, Urban Decay’s answer on Ulta recommends the Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener or any quality cosmetic sharpener. Its reply on the Macy’s product page confirms the Glide-On pencil needs to be sharpened too.
Why Does Urban Decay Eyeliner Crumble in the Sharpener?
The core is soft by design, so the blade tends to push it sideways instead of cutting through. The waterline pencil is softer still, since Urban Decay’s own copy calls it creamier than the original Glide-On Eye Pencil.
Urban Decay’s position is simple: use the Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener or any quality cosmetic sharpener. Reviewers tell it differently. A desertcart reviewer ran the waterline pencil through multiple eyeliner sharpeners and the lead broke off every time instead of sharpening, and an Ulta reviewer called the gel-like texture impossible to sharpen.
Both can be true. The brand is talking about the tool, and the reviewers are describing what happens when a soft pencil meets a bad blade.
Members of Sephora’s Beauty Confidential community mostly blame the sharpener and the person using it. A blade clogged with old eyeliner and too much pressure come up a lot, and a warm, soft core gets mentioned as well.
A Beautylish commenter said in 2014 that she sharpens her Urban Decay pencils only a little, since she doesn’t want a sharp point and just needs enough product exposed.
Best Sharpener for Urban Decay Eyeliner
Urban Decay recommends its Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener, but any quality cosmetic sharpener with a sharp, clean blade does the job. Quality matters more than the logo on the barrel.
| Sharpener | Documented strength | Documented limit | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener | Slim barrel for 24/7 Glide-On pencils, steel blades, cleaning pick | Costs more than a generic sharpener | Anyone whose current sharpener snaps tips |
| Any quality cosmetic sharpener | Urban Decay’s own alternative answer on Ulta | No spec defines “quality” | A pencil that already sharpens cleanly |
| Very cheap sharpener | Easy to find | Grinds pencils down and jams, per one Temptalia commenter | Hard pencils, not soft liner |
Urban Decay’s Grindhouse product page, as of October 2026, lists these details:
- A dual chamber, with a slim barrel for 24/7 Glide-On Eye and Lip Pencils and a larger one for concealer, shadow and Super-Saturated pencils
- Blades made of steel infused with 1% carbon to prevent rust
- A plastic pick for scraping shavings out of the blades
- A tight-fitting lid that keeps shavings contained
- Compatibility with most other brands’ pencils
Buy the Grindhouse if your current sharpener snaps tips or leaves a ragged cut. If it already shaves clean, keep it.
The slim barrel also fits the 24/7 lip pencils, and the habits for sharpening a lip liner carry over to them.
Should You Freeze Urban Decay Eyeliner Before Sharpening?
A short chill helps. A cold core is firmer, so the blade shaves it instead of snapping it, and every brand page and community thread reviewed here agrees on that much.
The method is where they split. Natio’s sharpener page says to put the pencil in the fridge for 20 minutes, and Laura Mercier’s sharpener page, as listed by Bluemercury, says to refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
Community posts run shorter and colder. A 2014 Beautylish commenter chilled Urban Decay pencils in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, while Sephora’s community recommends the refrigerator.
Urban Decay’s own sharpening answer on Ulta names the sharpener and says nothing about chilling, so the timing here is borrowed from other brands and from user reports.
One commenter in that Beautylish thread reported a pencil turning dry after the freezer, though it had also melted in a car first. Another said they had never seen dryness with a 24/7 pencil.
My rule would be cold and firm, not frozen solid. Fridge for 20 to 30 minutes or freezer for 10 to 15, then sharpen straight out of the cold. If the pencil already sharpens clean, skip the whole thing.
How to Sharpen Urban Decay Eyeliner Step by Step
Start with a clean sharpener, keep the pressure light, and stop once the tip is rounded. Pull the pencil straight out and check it before going again.
- Chill the pencil briefly if the core feels soft or warm.
- Empty the sharpener and clear any old eyeliner from the blade.
- Seat the pencil straight in the narrow barrel, without forcing it.
- Turn with short, steady twists at a moderate pace.
- Pull the pencil straight out and look at the tip.
- Stop once the tip is exposed and rounded. Extra turns mostly create shavings.
- Empty the shavings before you put the sharpener away.
Laura Mercier’s sharpener instructions call for short twists to prevent oversharpening. A Temptalia tips thread says to turn at a steady, moderate speed, neither crawling nor rushing.
If the tip snaps, stop turning. Re-chill the pencil and take one shallow pass instead of grinding past the break.
Cleaning the Sharpener Between Uses
Clean the sharpener after every use, not once it starts to jam.
The Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener directions say to empty the container after each use. Laura Mercier’s pencil sharpener page adds that the blade should be cleaned each time with its removable tool. A plastic pick or a plain toothpick will clear stuck shavings, according to a Temptalia commenter, and emptying the container beats letting shavings stack up.
A fresh cut also removes the outer layer that touched your skin. The News Minute’s 2014 report on Optegra’s eye health research recommended sharpening eye pencils between applications, and it is one of the simplest ways to sanitize pencil makeup between uses.
That advice pulls against product loss, of course. Keep the pass light so you shave the surface instead of rebuilding the point every time.
How Sharp Should the Tip Be for the Waterline and Tightlining?
Rounded for the waterline, slightly finer for tightlining, and blunt for anything you plan to smudge. No 24/7 pencil holds a needle point for long, so aim for the tip the job needs.
| Application | Target tip | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Lower waterline | Rounded point | Urban Decay waterline instructions, short gentle strokes |
| Upper waterline | Soft point | Same instructions, longer gentle strokes toward the lashes |
| Tightlining | Fine, not needle sharp | Urban Decay suggests darker shades like Legend for the upper lash line |
| Thin lid line or wing | Finest the pencil holds, or use a brush | Reviewer: not a precision pencil for intricate wings |
The official sources differ slightly on tip shape. Urban Decay’s own waterline page leaves it to personal preference, while the instructions copied by retailers such as LookFantastic specify a rounded point. I’d take the rounded point as the default for a soft waterline formula.
Waterline and smoky looks call for less sharpening. Urban Decay says to blend smoky waterline looks before the pencil sets, and a blunt tip deposits color fast.
Thin lid lines are the only place you’d sharpen more, and even there the point won’t last. A Beautylish commenter reported the tip was already a blunt circle before the waterline was finished.
For a crisp wing, a gel liner with a brush gives better control than any pencil tip, which was a Beautylish commenter’s advice for thin, precise lines. Anyone chasing a clean winged line will get further by switching tools than by sharpening harder.
When Sharpening Is Not Worth It
Quit when a chilled pencil still snaps in a clean sharpener, or when the core has dried out. Some product loss comes with any soft pencil, and past a certain point you are paying for shavings.
- Dr. Susan Massick, an Ohio State dermatologist, says makeup that is drying out should be thrown away (Fox 4). A LookFantastic reviewer said their waterline pencil dried out partway through even after more sharpening, so they replaced it.
- A desertcart reviewer said they end up discarding pencils that still hold usable product, because a clean tip gets harder to keep as the pencil ages.
- A Macy’s reviewer said sharpening wastes a lot of product. Urban Decay replied that the Glide-On pencil does need to be sharpened and that it passed the retractable suggestion to its product team.
Age is where the guidance splits. Ohio State University’s health guidance says to discard pencil cosmetics, including eyeliner, after 1 year, while the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association said in 2014 that pencil eyeliner can last up to 2 years.
Check the period-after-opening symbol on the pack, and for the breakdown by eyeliner type see this guide on how long an opened eyeliner lasts.
| Option | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Keep sharpening the pencil | Same formula and shade range, defined tip for tightlining | Product lost to shavings, needs a clean sharpener |
| Switch to a twist-up pencil | No sharpener, no shavings | No sharp point, per a Sephora community member |
| Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner Stick | Retractable, needs no sharpener (Sephora Middle East listing) | Liquid-style payoff, so not the creamy pencil formula |
If the pencil is fresh and sharpens clean, keep it. If you keep binning pencils that still have product in them, try a twist-up.
FAQ About Sharpening Urban Decay Eyeliner
How often should you sharpen Urban Decay eyeliner?
Whenever the tip goes blunt enough to affect the line, not on a schedule. The Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener directions say to sharpen until the tip reaches the length you want, and short passes keep product loss down.
Can you use a child’s pencil sharpener on Urban Decay eyeliner?
Not reliably. One desertcart reviewer tried a child’s sharpener on the waterline pencil after two other sharpeners had chewed it up, and it did not work either.
Urban Decay’s own recommendation is a quality cosmetic sharpener.
Can the Grindhouse sharpener handle a thick 24/7 concealer pencil?
Yes, through its larger barrel. Urban Decay lists the thick-barreled 24/7 Concealer, Shadow and Super-Saturated pencils for that side, while the slim side is for the Glide-On Eye and Lip pencils.
Where can you buy the Grindhouse Double Barrel Sharpener?
Urban Decay sells it on its own site, and Sephora, Kohl’s, Feelunique and Escentual list it. Price and stock differ by retailer and region, so compare before you buy.
Can sharpening save a dried-out Urban Decay pencil?
Rarely. Urban Decay’s sharpening guidance covers the sharpener only and says nothing about reviving a dry pencil, and the one reviewer who sharpened further reported it still failed on the waterline.
Replace the pencil once the core dries through.
What to Change First When the Tip Keeps Snapping
Go in order from free to paid. Clean the blade and empty the sharpener first. If the pencil still snaps, chill it and sharpen it cold. Only after that does it make sense to replace the sharpener.
The sequence stops working when a chilled pencil still snaps in a clean, sharp sharpener. At that point the dry core is the problem, and no tool fixes it.
Urban Decay told one reviewer it passed a retractable request to its product team, and a retractable Glide-On pencil would change this advice. These positions were checked in October 2026.
Once the point holds, the next step is learning how to apply eyeliner with it.
She started writing on the site after fielding the same questions from clients and friends often enough to just write the answers down: which red won't turn orange on a warm undertone, how to keep lipstick from feathering into fine lines, why a "12-hour" formula rarely survives dinner.
Every review on the site follows the same rule she uses with paying clients: wear it first, then decide if it's worth recommending.
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