Clinique Smoke Grey (03) Brush-On Creme Liner Review & Swatches

A little background... last week I did my friend Tanya's makeup as a trial run for her wedding in June. Of course, being extremely nosy, I dug through her makeup bag to see what she brought with her... which, ultimately, ended in me running to Macy's to make a purchase to get the gift with purchase.

One of the things I picked up was the Clinique Brush-On Creme Liner in Smoke Grey (03). Before this I had no experience with a gel liner made by Clinique. It just looked SO taupe and SO gorgeous. I'm a sucker for a taupe.





The next day I put it on just using UDPP and MAC Grain Eyeshadow, since I wanted to be able to photo the full prettiness of the shade.



Please note, I normally don't do my liner THAT thick... but here's why it's like that. I found this liner to be extremely soft. TOO soft. (For reference I'm used to working with MAC Fluidlines and Bobbi Brown Gel Liners.) It was hard to get on evenly without it wanting to move, so I had to do it thick to even it out. You have to watch and wait for it to dry (which is not instant) because when it IS that thick, if you open your eyes it will transfer to the top of your lid.

It did stay on all day on the upper lid, on the shadow side AND on the side where it was not set with the Satin Taupe. However, it flaked a bit from the waterline during a tear fest in the evening (if you follow on Twitter you may have read how my daughter likes to smear poop.. third time in a week gets to you! But at least it was good timing for wear! lol). So I do not recommend this if you're trying to go waterproof for a funeral or other sad event.

And the brush it comes with just does not work. I feel like it's too tiny to maneuver well. My primary brush for a gel liner is the MAC 209. However, the 266SE actually worked the best for this product.

How did I fix it? Blended some MAC Satin Taupe in, of course!


And, for good measure, an arm swatch:


All in all... dry time too long... flaky... no bueno. Darn, too... because the color is totally gorgeous and exactly what I'm looking for in a gel liner. Basically, if you don't mind it flaking if you get misty eyed and you have the patience to wait for it to dry and to work with it so it goes on evenly, buy it. I don't have that kind of time.

Does anyone have any recs for something similar in color that is an awesome product?