Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel CreamLiner

While on the short home visit back in late September early October, I saw quite a few interesting things at my local Target, one of which is the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel CreamLiner (urgh, what a mouthful!). There were several choices, but the Glam Collection in particular caught my eyes due to the metallic colors and I walked out with Glam Hazel Eyes, Glam Blue Eyes, and Glam Green Eyes. I wanted to get Glam Brown Eyes too, but it had sold out so I guess that's for next time ^.^

Just 2 words "Gel CreamLiner" in the unnecessarily long name is enough to explain this product in whole. A series of cream liners to enhance eyes with a certain color is a lovely concept, but by now I think it's safe to declare poor packaging a permanent character for Physicians Formula's products. I'd ranted on how much I hated the compact for the Mineral Wear Mineral Correcting Powder, and unfortunately the packaging for these cream liners aren't any better. These look like square stackable cubes of cream liners, don't they? Nope, they're actually not stackable at all. Trust me, I've tried unstacking them, and they didn't budge. The metallic colored sections are actually twist caps, and crappy ones at that. Some will twist close nicely, some don't. So they actually don't line up into a nice and neat square cube like this if you really want to close each cube tightly, and you will, because otherwise the cream liners will dry up! So yeah, my cubes are all twisted funny with sharp corners sticking out here and there. Grrr...

Glam Hazel Eyes. All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

As for the actual cream liner, there is a lot of room for improvement, but over all decent stuff for a drugstore item. For each trio, there is 1 black and 2 metallic colors. This black color is smooth and swatches very pigmented, though it does thin out a bit when applied. Its consistency is thinner than Kate Powder Gel Liner as well as the cream liners included in the later T'estimo palettes (Frame Impact Eyes and Grande Shine Eyes), but is thicker than Benefits Cosmetics Creaseless Cream Shadow-Liner. It is not a matte black, and unlike other supposedly shimmery black liners that show up virtually matte, the shimmers in this black liner is dense enough for it to go on shimmery. Gorgeous!

Glam Blue Eyes

Sadly, the other 2 metallic colors are hit and miss in both pigmentation and consistency. More often than not, they are on the sheer side. I haven't actually used all the metallic colors to line my eyes yet, so all I can tell you is that doing a swatch for them was a frustrating experience. The sheerest metallic colors are pretty much just a bunch of colored shimmers swimming around in a clear gel-cream base. When applied with a brush, they just shift around in a mass on the back of my hand and I ended up having to use my fingertip for a more even swatch. That means applying these with a brush will also be as blotchy and troublesome, as I have learned. 

Glam Green Eyes. Don't ask me why the Glam Green Eyes are in metallic brown packaging :P

Anyway, over all these have great staying power. They dry very quickly to a smudge proof line, and the swatches on the back of my hands were kind of tough to remove even with a cotton pad soaked with makeup remover. I actually tried a couple of the metallic colors as a wash all over my lids using a brush, but due to their quick drying nature they were difficult to spread evenly and I ended up with a blotchy mess every time ^.^ I will probably attempt this again using fingertip application, as the fingertip swatches yielded a much more even finish, even with the sheerer colors. 

- Glam Hazel Eyes: I picked this combo for the metallic gold liner, and ended up getting just that and then some :) I love pleasant surprises, don't you? ^.^

- Left: metallic ashy gold that's on the cooler side. It's not as pigmented and less opaque than the silver in the Glam Blue, but still pretty nonetheless.
- Middle: a purplish taupe that's the sheerest shade in this trio, though no where as sheer as the blue in the Glam Blue or the silvery lilac in the Glam Green. It looks a lot better and turns more taupey when swatched with a finger instead of with a brush. I tried this as a sheer wash all over my lids with a brush and wasn't fast enough to spread well before it dried. So yeah, that didn't end too well ^.^
- Right: a yellow based black that's more translucent than the other 2 blacks in the Glam Blue and Green trios, thus sheers out a bit more when applied. It also has larger gold shimmer particles that results in a more sparkly finish. 

See how the fingertip swatch (bottom middle) looks more distinctly taupe than the brush swatch (top middle)? Also, there are gold shimmers in that black. I try to avoid direct sunlight when I take swatch pictures and don't use flash, so while the shimmers aren't visible here, trust me they're there and they are very obvious. 

- Glam Blue Eyes: I hate this blue, but the silver and the black more than makes up for the lacking blue, so I'm happy :)

- Left: a very pigmented and opaque true metallic silver that's fortunately does not turn frosty on me. It does gain a tad of translucency when applied with fingertip, though I made the mistake in swatching lightly with my fingertip, then assume it would be the same way when applied with a brush. Yes, I tried to apply it as a sheer wash on my lids using a brush, and the result was -holy crap- foiled (but blotchy) metallic silver eyes. Woo wee!
- Middle: not exactly a royal blue but not really cobalt either. This color is the sheer shade in this trio, though still not as sheer as the silvery lilac in the Glam Green.
- Right: a blue based black with very fine and densely packed silver shimmers that results in a gorgeous shimmery silvery black finish. It is identical to the black in Glam Green, but I love it, so I appreciate having more to love :P 

See how the color just shifts around when applied with a brush? It was so frustrating and I ended up just using my finger for the bottom swatch, which turned out a lot more even. And yes, there are silver shimmers in that black.

- Glam Green Eyes: now this particular trio has a truly unique color I've never ever seen before in any powder, gel, or cream shadow/liners, and though I didn't know this before buying, that color alone merits the trio. Throw in the gorgeous shimmery silvery black and the pretty but sheer silvery lilac and this trio quickly beats out the other 2 to become my favorite. And no, I don't have green eyes :P

- Left: a silvery lilac that's the sheer color in this trio. Actually, it's the sheerest metallic color in all 3 trios. When applied with fingertip, it also turns more purplish taupe.  

- Middle: the star of all 3 trios, in my opinion. It's a complex blue-green slate with gold shimmers that reminds me of Ottoman embroidery in that they mixed cooler elements with the warmer gold shimmers and somehow made them get along. It has the same pigmentation level as the gold in the Glam Hazel, but I so wish it was more like the pigmented and opaque metallic silver in the Glam Blue! I guess I'm asking for too much ^.^

- Left: a shimmery silvery black that's identical to the one in the Glam Blue. Love this one too!

My swatch picture just doesn't do that middle color any justice, sorry! It looks so much more amazing in natural light! But at least you can see how sheer the silvery lilac is. And again, there are densely packed fine silver shimmers in that black.