Loose Powder

After reading Saucebox’s review about gel liners I decided I should give it a try. Being a fan of Physicians Formula’s cosmetics I decided to pick, up their gel cream liner for brown eyes.

The brown eyes gel creamliner comes with three colors: brown, purple, and black. The three colors come in three separate stackable containers that stick together or can come apart if you only want to carry around one color. The set also comes with a liner brush. The brush could be a bit on the thick side, but I found it a good size since I need a thicker line for my monolids.

The colors in the set complement brown eyes very well. I did not think that I would use the purple color liner much, but the color of the purple is a dark purple and works very well as a liner if you want bold color that isn’t black or brown.

I’ve always had been a pencil liner girl, since I have horrible hand coordination when it comes to using liquid eyeliner. It always turns into a disaster.  But gel liners are the best comprise for someone, like me, who is horrible in drawing a straight line without it smearing the liquid all over her eye lids.

Gel liners give you the bold lines of a liquid eyeliner without the mess, and I love it.

This gel cream liner goes on very smooth and does not smear or crease. It also lasts all day with a primer. Lastly, the gel liner cleans off very easily. There is no need to scrub your eyelids raw to remove this.

I may be disappointed Physicians Forumlas mascaras, but their Gel Liner has definitely not disappoint. However, they might be a bit on the prices side since the containers are a bit small, but then again you do get a sample of three colors that you can mix and match for the look that you want.

Eyeliner is my main man when it comes to makeup. I can go without anything else, but I have to line my eyes and I’ve used just about everything: powder, pencil, liquid, and gel.  On my latest drugstore run, I bought L’oreal’s  High Intensity Pigment Color Rich Cream Crayon in Perfectionist (i.e. black).

Once you use it, you'll never get back the nice, sharp tip it had when it was new.

I think “eyeliner” is loosely applied here. Marketed as a versatile eyeliner and shadow product, what it really delivers on is the high intensity. The product’s thick and creamy texture make it a poor eyeliner. It’s hard to control and easy to smear, especially once the tip becomes blunt from use. It does have a conveniently-placed “sharpener” at the other end, but the crayon is so soft the tip just keeps breaking off and making a mess all over my fingers.

I wouldn’t recommend this as an eyeliner, unless you’re about to play football or single-handedly annihilate a dictator and his army for kidnapping your daughter.

It does, however, make a great eye shadow base, especially for the sparkly, bright colors in my palette that I couldn’t otherwise wear to work. So far I’ve tried the black HIP Crayon under greens and purples, with great success. I applied the black base all over the lid, then patted the desired color over most of it, starting at the outer corner, blending out the edges, and working my way in. The effects depend on the composition of the eye shadow, but the variety of the Color Rich Cream Crayon colors seems like a great way to tone down a bright shade or make a sparkly shadow pop.

Pros: Long-lasting, bold color that makes a great base.

Cons: Too sloppy to be practical as an eyeliner.

I feel like there’s a use for every kind of eye liner, but gel liners are really my favorite so far. So aside from the crayon that wished it was an eyeliner, I also bought the Maybelline EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in blackest black.

Mac Fluidline

I’ve actually been using Mac’s Fluidline eyeliner since I first saw it a few years ago. Not every day, but it’s a very good liner. Gel is easier to control than a liquid liner, and I think it stays put a bit better. At the very least, you can layer more on and it won’t fade or flake, or dry with that weird plasticky sheen that some liquid liners unfortunately have.

Maybelline Lasting Drama

But after trying  Maybelline’s gel liner, Lasting Drama is my new daily must. It’s every bit as good as  Fluidline for half the price. It lasts all day and has passed the sweaty work-out test without smearing at all. I will definitely be buying more of this liner and trying out the other colors.   But here’s the bonus:

It comes with a brush—a  small tapered brush that comes to such a fine point, you can really control what you do. That’s not to say it’s 100% mistake-proof, but I’m getting really good at doing fine lines at the outer corners, which I could never quite pull off with the angled eyeliner brush (sold separately) I used with the Fluidline product.

Pros: Easily manipulated, waterproof, long-lasting gel liner paired with a great brush. It’s a conveniently-packaged duo of eye-defining perfection.

Cons: I haven’t found any yet, but I will keep you posted.