The Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Eyeliners had me intrigued immediately; they come in a standard collection and a ‘glam’ collection. The glam collection is metallic. The standard is not. They last 24 hours and are supposed to be water resistant. Physicians Formula is a drugstore brand I believe.
These are blocks of gel liners that come in 3 colours and they stack one of top of the other. The shimmer strips ranges are made to compliment different eye colours (Brown, green, blue, hazel) although of course you don’t have to follow the rules!
I chose the stack for green eyes:
I found myself drawn to the Green Eyes collection the most!
The packaging is interesting and shows you how it’ll look:
Matching green liner with green eyes? A bit odd perhaps, but it does look pretty. Also I like how it counts green liner as the ‘natural’ option!
You push these on top of each other not screw, so for me, I’d be a bit concerned about them coming apart on a long journey (ie. on a plane flight where they chuck your bags around!). The packaging is somewhat cheap and plastic – I’d prefer them in glass pots but then I guess they wouldn’t be stackable.
There’s a bog standard brush that comes with it. I never use these and they always get lost!
It looks like a blue in the pot but swatches as purple.
Texture wise, it’s like a soft cream. It’s not as buttery soft as the best gel liners to be honest, it’s more firm than Bobbi Brown. It is pigmented but not perfectly opaque in that, I needed 2 strokes for the colour to cover up evenly – I don’t need to do this with most of my other gel liners.
These gel liners set after a few minutes then last quite well but they’re not bulletproof. I don’t know why it says 24 hour wear – you wish. We’re talking about 4-5 on me before it starts to flake off but I do have watery eyes. Japanese gel liners are more bulletproof then these I have to say but it depends if you want that.
These gel liners remind me of those cheapy ones you can buy from eBay – they’re not the best at anything (durability, pigmentation, texture) but they do the job and they’re affordable and come in fun colours. It’s a really good way to own a few shades without breaking the bank and to be honest, you shouldn’t need to spend loads of gel liners – they just dry out in a few months anyway.
Swatches:
See how the colours are there but not quite ‘amazing’? Natural is a moss green, playful is a aubergine and dramatic is a black.
I may get another one of these again if I ever visit the states – probably a set from the metallic collection.
What do you think of these?
*Purchased from Canada
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
thanks for the review! Another lemming crushed. Good thing too, as I’m probably going to buy way too many magazines next month
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Would you say these are better or worse than the ELF cream liners?
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Hi Jen!
I’d say they’re very similar come to think of it. A tiny bit worse!
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I’ve never tried these. I always pass them in the grocery store but have been hesitant cause, well they look cheap. I do like the look of the green in this collection though.
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Thanks Row! That”s the first thing I thought when I saw this review, that they were so similar to the ELF ones lol I do like the combo of that purple and green together though…it’d make a nice colour scheme for my living room!
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They look fine to me… Not great but still OK…
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