Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow Review & Swatches

The Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow and Liner Trio is a new set of shimmer eyeshadows that are launching for Spring 2015 in two shade variations! I thought I’d review and do a few swatches of these after using them the last few weeks and spread the joy about them because I really am liking them. It’s a shame they didn’t release them in more shades as I’d totally be on board with grabbing a few more.

I admit part of the appeal is each set includes three individual pots of eyeshadow! There’s something terribly appealing about getting three eyeshadows in one packaging. These apparently can be used as an eyeshadow or an eyeliner. They also happen to give eyes an “extreme shimmer” finish so I was all hands on board when I heard that.

Take a look!

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow proved a little difficult to track down in stores but I finally located them at Ulta.com and quickly snatched them up as none of my local drugstores are actually carrying them as of yet.

Each set includes three complimentary shades of shimmer shadow and are available in Shimmery Nude Eyes (pinks) or Shimmery Smoky Eyes (blacks/grays) color variations. Each shadow pot has a screw top lid and weights in at 0.056 oz each. The pots are quite cute with a shimmery top and a mirrored bottom. I experienced some issues with my smoky set though as the bottoms kept popping off and made it irritating to screw the lids on. This could be a fluke through since I didn’t experience any issues with my Nude Eyes set.

The three shades in the Shimmery Smokey Eyes Sets are silver, charcoal, and black with the Shimmery Nudes Eyes set having nude, champagne, and mocha shades. I do find the shades sometimes blend together and aren’t easy to tell apart, this is particularly obvious with the nude set but the smoky set isn’t as bad and contrasts well without merging into a single shade.

These are indeed SUPER shimmery but they don’t have the fall out and super chunky glitter that the Milani Fierce Foil Eyeshines did. That’s not to say they don’t have major shimmer, they do, but at least it’s not fall all over your face and under your eyes as you apply glitter! These have a dense cream texture that applies best using fingers. They kinda remind me of a harder textured version of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow. They blend very easily using my finger but I find them challenging to use with a makeup brush of any kind. So if you hate the idea of using your fingers these might not be for you! Personally I don’t mind applying with my fingers and I feel I have a lot more control with cream shadow when working this way.

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow (Shimmery Nude Eyes)

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow (Shimmery Smoky Eyes)

The texture is dense yet they still have a certain creaminess that blends easily onto lids. No doubt, they are shimmery as hell and have a cool metallic look to them but thankfully that shimmer doesn’t translate into messy fall out. They cling well to my drier eyes and I saw very minimal creasing in an eight hour wear. Unlike the Milani Fierce Foil Eyeshines these have a far better wear. On my drier eyes, without primer, I saw a little creasing at hour six but color remained intense and didn’t fade. At hour eight I saw more creasing across the lid but nothing too dramatic and still color remained very intense.

These have excellent pigment but as I mentioned above the shades in the nude set did seem to run together into a singleshade when applied together. I got more definition and contrast from the smoky selection. I didn’t feel like they worked great as liners. They seemed to smudge easily on my lash line and also I felt the need to go over the line over and over and over to get the best finish as they applied unevenly with every pass. They just didn’t seem to set when applied on my lash line either but as a shadow they worked great.

Not everyone is going to love Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Gel Cream Shadow especially those who aren’t keen on a ton of shimmer in their eyeshadows. But these are really great for use alone or on top of your favorite eyeshadows if you do love shimmer! They have a nice, easy to apply formula and a beautiful shimmery finish that lights up eyes.

Do like!

These are available now at Ulta.com (or drugstores if you can find them, I wasn’t successful sadly!).