UZ by Flowflushi Eyeliners debut in U.S. with New York City Flagship Store

I’ve never heard of UZ (pronounced Oo-Zoo) eyeliners before but I’m definitely familiar with Mote branded eyeliners and mascara that hail from Japan. Flowflushi also makes a 38 °C Lip Treatment that looks like a lip gloss. You may notice that UZ liquid eyeliners look almost exactly the same as Moteliners. They have the same metal, hexagonal design, brush tips crafted from experts and same imprinted Flowflushi logo right on the pen nib. The big difference is that UZ eyeliners come in a variety of bright, bold colors made for statement-looking eyes. Moteliners normally have not ventured outside of Brown Black aside from a Cherry Red and Navy Blue I spy online. UZ held a pop-up shop with mysterious phone booths this past summer but it is confirmed that their SoHo location will be a permanent NYC Flagship retail store. Look ahead to see my experience at the pop-up (and what I had to do to get a free eyeliner!).

Location

All The Colors

You walk through these towering phone booths and in the back are the liquid eyeliners on display. There were plenty of makeup removers and tissues for testing. I couldn’t help but test a white eyeliner because it was trending this summer! I actually like the look a lot and it even surprised me that I was going to buy a white eyeliner. It reminded me of a white-out pen but hey, this is so hot right now.

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Cryptic Phone Booth Message

The store only sells one thing, colorful liquid eyeliners from Japan yet the store is huge for many experiential moments to make your visit through the subway worthwhile. From their Instagram Stories, I was able to see phone booths that lit up but I had no idea what they were for. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

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The sales associate said to make sure I participate but didn’t say anything more. I picked up the phone and dialed the number it had on the screen and there was a creepy baby voice that narrated the brand’s mission. My participation was to talk into the phone about how I like to “unframe the beauty.” The phone recorded what every participant has said (with permission) and aggregated comments for whatever future use. My participation was rewarded if I looked at their email before I left the store…

So I opened the email but it was the most cryptic message ever:

“Thank you so much for visiting us. We appreciate your curiosity in UZ and our mission to UNFRAME THE BEAUTY.
It’s a wild ride and we’re so excited you’re on it with us.
This email is your ticket. It allows you to move to the next step. Please show this to one of our UZ staff members to receive your next surprise.

For what it’s worth, we feel that value isn’t measured by cost. For us, the highest value is happiness. As you’ve discovered, our goal is to restore balance in the world – to do this, we will share beauty with you. In turn we ask you to take some pics during your UNFRAME THE BEAUTY experience at UZ 19 Howard and share them on Instagram. Now you’re truly on the journey with us.”

Just. What?! Whatever, I went to the staff with the two eyeliners I intended to purchase and she was also cryptic AF. I can’t remember what her exact words were but I had to clarify and ask, “So I get one eyeliner for free?” She charged me for my two eyeliners and I just looked at her and asked if she wouldn’t mind just charging me for one eyeliner and then gifting me the second one since I already chose that color.

Check-Out

After that weird transaction of getting a free eyeliner, I paid $16 + tax for one eyeliner. For the pop-up shop, they also offered free customization on a vinyl pouch. I, of course, wanted my blog name on it. They used this cool electronic gun-type thing to print my name over it. It also came with a strap where you can mix and match the colors.

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UZ Eyeliner Review

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If you didn’t notice, I’m backdating this blog post to July during the weekend I attended but I’m writing this up in September because I am perpetually late in posting. I’ve had about a month using both the White and Black-Brown liners and I can say that they are pretty good for the $16 price. They are both not opaque with the first swipe. It takes about 2-3 swipes to the colors to be really opaque. They do stay on all day, however I don’t have oily lids so results may vary. They also claim that you just need warm water to remove. I tested it and yes, you need to rub with a bit of friction with your hand, but removal with just water is true. I wouldn’t recommend it however because you’d need to rub your eyes pretty hard; you might as well use your cleansing water/oil cleanser to do that job. Overall, I would re-purchase.

More In-Store for UZ by Flowflushi

They re-opened in September with the launch of 7 new shades of black! This brand is just always keeping me on my toes! I’m going to bank that the store took out those phone booths and re-modeled a bit to give it a more flagship feel. Hope you guys get to visit!