MakeUp Addicted

My absolute favorite gel/cream eyeliners are the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips.  I've reviewed several colors/versions here, from metallics to the basics, and every one of them is fantastic.  The black in the Green Eyes set is my go-to staple black eyeliner every day.  When I saw that they were on the 75% clearance for CVS, I had to snag a couple backups for those I have, and I ended up grabbing the base set for Hazel Eyes since I didn't have it to begin with.     

Like the other sets, this is three colors meant to enhance the color of hazel eyes.  I actually do have hazel eyes, so I was excited to swatch these and see how they looked on.  Also, this set comes with a brown/bronze, which I am out of my Smashbox liner so I needed something to back that up - perfect!

The three colors are brown, a cream/matte plum and black with plum and purple shimmer.  Unfortunately I had a hard time capturing the shimmer in the brown and black below, but the colors are accurate. 

The pigmentation on these are very nice, just as the others have been.  The brown/bronze is gorgeous.  It has just enough shimmer, but is still very pigmented and actually very rich and dark on.  The black is great, just as the others.  I like the plum shade too, and will most likely use it as a lower lashline color. 

The original price on the sets are around $11.99 a three-piece set, so $3.99 a liner.  At 75% off I paid $2.99 for the three-piece set, or $.99 a liner - AMAZING!  I cannot stress enough how much I love these.  If you love cream/gel liners, get to a CVS and pick one up.  You won't regret it!  I'd put these up against any of the high end liners for pigmentation, lasting power, color selection, etc.  They are great!

Every year Avon comes out with mini-sets of some of their best selling products: nail polishes, eyeliners, lip gloss, etc.  Of all the products I've tried from Avon over the years, one thing I haven't purchased are the Glimmersticks, and I've read some pretty nice things about them.  I figured the holiday mini set of these would be a good way to test them out.  The collection is called Draw the Line, and it is a set of four of the retractable, 12 hour wear, self sharpening eyeliners. 

The four colors in the set are Sapphire Blue, Purple, Bronze and Smoky Grey.  Only the Bronze has any shimmer.  The other three shades are what I would consider a matte pencil.  Swatches of the four pencils are below.

This collection is called a mini-set, and it truly is.  The pencils are very small, and actually are a nice way to try out the Glimmersticks for the first time.  The set of four costs $7.99 regularly, but I'm sure it will pop up on sale at some point, especially as we get closer to the holidays (or after).  Because of the size, I find they would be good to keep in my purse, especially the Bronze or Smokey Grey, simply because they don't take up a lot of room and those two colors are shades I wear a lot and could touch up my makeup easily if needed. 

Onto the product itself.  The pencils have a nice, fine point, which is good for precision application.  Overall, the consistency of the pencils were smooth.  I found that Bronze and Smokey Grey were the creamiest and easiest to apply out of the four (Bronze being the best followed by Smokey Grey).  Purple and Sapphire Blue were a little drier and a bit more difficult to use on the eye - there was some tugging, but overall the application was fine.  I found it easier to apply on the lower lashline because of the size (or lack there of) of the pencils.  Overall pigmentation was OK.  These certainly don't have the pigmentation or ease of application like the superSHOCK Gel Pencils did (for the record, I still absolutely love these!), but they aren't terrible either.  Again, the Bronze and Smokey Grey had the most pigmentation, where Purple had the least.  I think you can see that by my swatches above. 

So, bottom line, would I buy these again?  Honestly, probably not, simply because for the price and quality, I have better products in the same colors or shades.  Now, if you are looking to explore and enter the world of colored eyeliners, this might not be a bad idea for you - for $7.99 you get four colors that are a bit outside the box to play with.  On the other hand, for those of your seasoned veterans of the eyeliner world, this is not a "must buy" by any means. 

For those of you who have this, or any of the other Glimmersticks, what do you think?  What is your favorite color?