Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Cream Shadow - Extreme Shimmer (Nude Eyes)

Physicians Formula has released their new line-up and it consists of some brand new goodies. I'm excited to show you these gel shimmer pots which have flashy new packaging and a different consistency. I'm so happy to see glitter and shimmer come back with a bang for Spring 2015. These are a little pricey, retailing for $14.99 at my local CVS, but you are getting 3 pots which makes them roughly $5.00 each.

The outer packaging is a rose gold shade with a glittery cap, which couldn't possibly appeal to me more than it does. At first glance the shade on the left and the one in the middle looked awfully similar, but under studio lighting I could tell that the nude shade in the middle was more pinkish and beige, with the leftmost one clearly being more of a highlighting shade.

The shades have names on the exterior product packaging but it is not printed anywhere on the gel shadow pots. The consistency of these Extreme Shimmer gels is almost like a cross between a gel and mousse but they don't "sink in" when you dip your finger in but they do seem to have some bounce.

For full opacity, I ran my fingers through the gel shadow pots and swirled them around about 3 times to get the most full coverage swatches. These are packed with shimmer (just as the packaging states) but it is in the way of a mostly metallic base and chunks of glitter throughout the product. The worst color payoff came from the lightest shade "Champagne" which was more predominantly glittery and the base shade didn't show through as well as the others.

I wouldn't suggest this product for those with oily eyelids as it is a gel product which makes them stay rather creamy and it can cause creasing and slippage. You can use a thicker eyeshadow primer to help increase the staying power and minimize the creasing of these.

My favorite way to use these Extreme Shimmer Gel Cream Shadows is by using regular powder eye shadows as my transition and crease shades and then accenting my eyelids with a pop of glitter by using 1 or 2 of the Extreme Shimmer Gel Cream Shadows.

Eyes of the Day & Product Review: Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1

Similar to the Nude Wear Glowing Blush compact, this new Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1 compact (in Warm Nude) is buttery, well-pigmented and I experienced absolutely no fall-out or powdery texture. I think this is the best product I have tried out of the whole Shimmer Strips like (and I own quite a few of their eyeshadow palettes). I think the pigmentation is much better on this compact though, so I whole-heartedly give this compact a 5/5 rating!

I swatched the entire palette on my arm, without any primer, no flash and just natural lighting, check out the awesome pigmentation - these were all one swipe and no extra build-up!

I think this is a great product for someone who likes golds and nudes, obviously you're not getting much color variation, it's only gold, bronze, copper, some shades are slightly taupey. That being said, you get a very seamless look regardless of how you combine these eyeshadows. You can achieve very wearable, everyday looks with this, or glammed up party looks - I would vary it up by either using a little bit more of the darker colors or applying more or less eyeliner can do the trick.

Here's how I achieved the look with a quick guide so you can follow along on your very own palette! Be sure to take advantage of the 40% off sale going on right now at Rite Aid to pick yours up!

Let me know what you think about this product!

Huge sales! 40% OFF Physician's Formula at Rite Aid!

Rite Aid is having some amazing deals right now. 

All Physicians Formula Products are 40% off. Specifically the display states Foundation, Powder, Concealer, Blush or Bronzers but most of their products can double as eyeshadows or are meant to be used more than one way (even if the display doesn't say you can apply the discount to something you want just go up to the cashier and they will make anything from the brand 40% off for you). 

Maybelline is $2 off *any* purchase! 

AND Wet 'N Wild is BOGO (buy 1 get 1 free). 

The great thing about these sales is that they apply to anything that isn't on clearance (and in my local store, none of the items were on clearance)

For myself I picked up the Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips All-in-1 Custom Nude Palette (in Warm Nude), Physicians Formula Nude Wear Glowing Nude Blush (in Rose) and a Maybelline Color Tattoo (in Pomegranate Punk). I was very happy that my grand total was under $20.

I'll have swatches and reviews on these products for you very soon! So far I can tell that the powder products are extremely smooth and buttery and I'm excited to put them to the test.

Product Review: Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Custom Eye Enhancing Eyeshadow

I'm super excited that I can bring you a review of these products. I've been a long fan of the Physician's Formula line as they are more focused on hypoallergenic, good-for-you products with an organic twist. I happened to be perusing through the makeup section of Ross Dress for Less the other day and I found a mind-blowing deal. It was definitely not a fluke and they had many of these kits laying around, but the originally $10/each Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Eyeshadow sets were selling for $7.99 for a 3-pack!!! I know! It was a $23 savings!

Since I had been itching to try these anyways, I immediately scooped up the set that seemed the most colorful and fun to me. Now, I'm not going to lie, they're billed as Eyeshadow and Liner 2-in-1, but since absolutely any eyeshadow can be used wet as a more intense color or as an eyeliner, I'll only be reviewing them for their eyeshadow properties. You can, certainly, use these wet for a more intense color (as you can with any other eyeshadow you may own from any other brand). 

Each 9-color Shimmer Strips pack comes with an applicator with an angled liner sponge. As with every other brush that "comes with" drugstore eyeshadows, although they are better than most eyeshadow applicators, these are not particularly adept at lining eyes or eyeshadow placement and you'll want to use your own set instead.

Now, I don't have blue eyes, but they didn't have anymore of the "brown eye" sets and even if they did, I probably still would have chosen the blue. Regardless, you don't *have* to wear the colors they suggest, depending on how you wear them, any shade can look great on all eye pigmentations. This set looked the most varied and fun!

Enhance Blue Eyes - Smokey Collection

The first kit is a Blue Eyes set from the Smokey Eyes Collection and the swatches came out decently.

I did notice and you can tell by the swatch, the dark grays (the one in the middle and the one on the bottom) look almost identical, and the second-to-last color was only about half a shade lighter).

I think this set could have used some more variety. I do appreciate the inclusion of a slightly purple navy as the third color down.

This one was definitely a splurge at the original $10 price tag, but for the $2.66 I paid for it, I was more than pleased. The size of these is small and they are lightweight so you can easily travel with them. For an on-the-go set, these colors are creamy (the darker ones tend to be a little more chalky) and very easy to work with and blend.

Enhance Blue Eyes - Eye Candy Collection

Now, I know what you're thinking, this set looks extremely repetitive in terms of shades (blues, blues and more blues). However, the colors are more varied than they appear.

The first trio of blues are more green-hued and I definitely appreciate the inclusion of these in the set. However, I definitely bought this for the cherry red color. Which is superbly pigmented and swatches exactly the same way it looks in the palette. I'm excited to use it and I'm very grateful that they included one of the larger sized rectangles full of that color!

You get a lot of product in these palettes and truth be told, the color payoff is very good, I really only had to run my finger through the color once or twice and get those very vibrant swatches. Unlike the previous set, this darker colors in this set were not chalky but very smooth, the quality was very high, on par with much more expensive companies like Urban Decay and Mac Cosmetics.

Fashionista En Vogue

This palette is my favorite of the trio. Mostly this is because of my love for purple eyeshadow, but also because there is a brow/highlighter color that is very wearable as the first shade in this palette. There is also no recommendation as to which eye color these shades are for, so they must be for any eyes.

Let me also state the obvious and that the golden neon green is another reason why I was drawn into this set set like a moth to a flame. I actually wore this as my eyelid color yesterday and it had extremely long lasting power (I even used it without a primer) and only came off when I scrubbed and washed it.

Each of the colors in this set is unique and there isn't shade overlap as with the previous 2 sets. Out of the three, I think this set is the only one I would actually pay the full asking price of $10 for. The colors are highly pigmented and there is a good variety of looks you can achieve, from light to dark. You can put together a sweet look or a smokey look with this palette, I think the possibilities are endless.

In conclusion, I would definitely look out for these if they're on sale at your local drugstore or at a discount store (such as Ross, TJ Maxx or Marshall's). I think rhe colors really have to be a good mix to pay the full asking price, but for the insanely awesome price of $2.66 each, I would easily pick up the whole collection of these. I think they're easy to work with, great for travel, a good variety of shades, and my only real problem with them is that you do have to pay attention when you're rubbing your brush or finger in the colors because it's easy to accidentally pick up more than just one shade. For this reason, I suggest using a medium sized eyeshadow brush for application, and maybe a thin blending brush for some of the smaller rectangles of color. I have seen rave reviews about the "Nude" colored set of shimmer strips and I'll link it below.

All in all, I give this product a very respectable 7.9/10 for the drugstore!