Physicians' Formula Sexy Booster Cat Eye Liquid Eyeliner

Hi! A couple of months ago, I won a contest held by Physicians' Formula to win their new liquid eyeliner. To enter the contest, each participant was asked how they get a good cat eye every time, and the best 500 answers would receive the new liner. I don't enter contests unless there's a possibility to review something new (and I actually have the chance to win something, Lord knows I enter these often enough and never win a damn thing lol), so when my answer was one of those selected I wanted to follow through with my thoughts on the product. I've never tried a Physicians' Formula product before but I've heard good things about the company, so I was interested in trying out the liner. Honestly, I'm kind of split on how I feel about it. 

What is it? Physicians' Formula Sexy Booster Cat Eye Liquid Eyeliner

Price: $9.95

Where can it be found? PF Retail Outlets

How does it swatch?

I wanted to get a close-up of the wand, but I wasn't able to get a good shot without it looking blurry with zoom. The insert photo is how the liner swatches with both thick and thin lines. The thick line is much darker and intense, but it skips a bit as you finish the line. For thin lines, one swipe of the liner produces the line on the right. It's quite a bit lighter than the line on the left and not as intense either, so in order to avoid the liner building up like at the bottom of the left line, I'd have a steady hand and just build up the intensity of the liner. Let the liner dry first though, or you'll run into one of the cons I'm going to mention in a bit. 

Pros:

--Cute container

--Felt tip isn't flimsy

--Easy to remove

I love the detail that went into the look of this liner. The little heel charm dangling off of the front was really cute. A cute package will get me every time. lol

Even though I've been using liquid liner for years now, if I don't use a firmer applicator I'll have liner all over the damn place. This liner has a firm felt tip and hasn't begun to flake on me, which I appreciate. I've had that problem with a couple of felt tip liners; they start flaking and shedding after awhile, which drags liner everywhere. I'd recommend this style of applicator to beginners because the applicator isn't a brush, so it allows for more control over the lines you draw. The lines aren't terribly sharp once you start using the liner on a regular basis, but I'll speak more on that later.

Finally, the ease of removal is both a pro and a con, the latter of which I'll also get to in a moment. I like my liner to stay put all day without me needing to reapply it, but I don't like having to scrub the skin off my eye to remove it when I'm finished. I don't have to do that with this liner at all. I use a CAS (cheap as shit) eye makeup remover and it still doesn't require a lot of effort on my part to get it off so imagine how much easier it would be if you use a great makeup remover. 

Cons:

--Not very dark

--Skips when going back over a line

--Smudges easily

--Doesn't create sharp lines

As for things that I could certainly live without, this liner isn't very dark. It swatches dark enough but sets your expectations a little too high, as it often isn't that dark once you start lining your eye. This might just be a complexion thing though. I usually have to reinforce this liner with another one on top of it, which brings me to the second con.

When I draw my lines, if I go back over it too soon the tip usually skips through my line so I'll have to use another liner to fill it in. If I have to rely on another liner in order for the first one to look good, there really isn't much point in using the first liner, right?

Even though the liner is easy to remove, this isn't really what I want mid-day if I even attempt to scratch my eye. The slightest bit of poking or scratching starts smudging the liner, so I have to be extremely careful with my eyes should they itch. I have to poke at my eye with a Q-Tip and even then, the liner still comes off a little bit. I don't mind being careful with my liner, but good grief.

Finally, the other reason that I have to go back over this liner with another one is because this liner doesn't allow for very sharp, precise lines. No, the felt tip isn't flimsy and I appreciate that, but it also isn't very sharp. The lines I draw with this liner are usually wider and a bit less precise because of the tip. (There's no way I can clean up that sentence, I promise. LOL) I struggle enough with making my lines even and the tip of this liner doesn't make my life any easier.

Overall, I'm not crazy about this liner but I do like it and intend to finish what I have. I think this is a great choice for those who don't go overboard with their cat eyes (unlike yours truly here) and don't need a thick or very dark line. It's probably a bit darker on lighter skintones though, so the color might be a personal gripe. If you're a pro with liquid liners, you'll be fine here too. Is it worth $9.95? For me, no. I've heard tons of great things about Physicians' Formula and I'm still open to trying out other products, but this one was a bit underwhelming for me, especially for the retail price.

Have you tried this liquid liner before? If you have, what'd you think of it; were there any pros or cons that I left out?