Smashbox x Donald Robertson: Photo Angle Pure Pigment Gel Liner in Plum

During the spring Sephora VIB sale, I picked up something new since I am a sucker for purple eyeliner. This is my first gel eyeliner since I started to seriously get into makeup, so I was excited to try something different.

Plum is a cool-toned deep purple. It definitely reads "purple" on the eye, which I think is hard to come by with deep or "blackened" shades of purple.

PIGMENTATION: Good-- in one swipe you get a relatively opaque line.

PRODUCT: Eh... I'm not sure if it's because I'm not used to gel liner or if this is a special case. This liner is very dry so it was difficult to produce a clean line on my eye (yes, my swatch line is clean, but it was on the inside of my forearm, which is a flat surface). During application to my eye, it was a bit crumbly. I could also feel it on my eye throughout the day whenever I blinked or did normal eye things, which only ever happens if my eyes are irritated (they definitely weren't that day).  The packaging boasts a claim of "36-hour wear" but the liner was a very uncomfortable wear for the 5 hours it was on my eye, so I can't imagine wearing it for an insanely long period.

PACKAGING: As for the outer packaging, I think that the Donald Robertson part is limited edition, but it's only a sleeve that goes on the outside of the regular box the liner comes in. As for the packaging of the liner itself I really like the screw top cap. My guess is that it might keep the liner from drying out. The applicator is less great. It's a flexible foam tip that dispenses the liner through a slit at the top. It was really difficult to get a thin line with this, so I ended up with a giant wonky cat-eye.  As one who has aced the crisp cat-eye, this is a travesty in my book.

Sorry for the semi-blurry picture. Hopefully you get the gist.

PRICE: $24 for .03 oz

All-in-all, I'm not a fan of the Photo Angle liner. I really want to love it since it's SUCH  a gorgeous color with great color payoff, but the formula is so, so dry.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it! The Smashbox x Donald Robertson Photo Angle Pure Pigment Gel Liner is available now (in several colors!) at Sephora.