Eye Stories 04 : Collection Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner (8 Dancing Queen)

Hi everybody :D.

OMG it's been more than a year since that Collection event and since then i've used most of the crazy loads of products i got from them but i haven't even reviewed one of them. WTH. Horrible horrible... Anyway, i took the pictures long long time ago with my Pinko so the quality are... As you know. At least i can still blog about it, yeah (too lazy to retake the pics :(...).

The first (of many) Collection products that i'm going to review is their famous (Dona said it's one of their most popular products) Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner in shade number 8, Dancing Queen.

Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner shade 8 Dancing Queen

I have no idea why in all of the promotional pictures this shade looks hot pink when in fact it's more red than pink. Let's take a look of the real product (again, apology for the fugly pics and angling, i was a total rookie when i took them..)

Got blurry some more zzzz

It's a red liner with red, gold and silver glitters (GLITTER, not shimmer)

Collection's Glam Crystals come in a transparent (sturdy) plastic tube with black top. It's long and slim like the typical liquid eyeliners.

It has a long wand

And sharpish brush

According to the description here, it's actually tiny glitter particles suspended in a clear gel, so not red-based as i thought it was. But the main color is definitely red (or fuschia, like they stated) and i disagree with the word "tiny" coz the glitters are actually quite pronounced!

I think i've mentioned this before, but i am most comfortable with marker type of liquid (or gel) eyeliners. I am quite scared of the wand type because i don't have the steadiest hands in the world and i am simply not confident enough to use them in the past. I've since used Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liquid Eyeliner and actually not half bad at applying eyeliners that come with wands, but i still 100% prefer the marker type. Plus i found the Maybelline Hyper Glossy to be easier to maneuver because they have a short and snuggly wand.

This Collection Glam Crystals' wand, however, is what my eyeliner nightmare is made of. It has a very long wand, for me it makes it that much harder to adjust my fingers (i like to hold my wand/marker as close to the tip as possible for precisions).

Fortunately, this is not a black or any opaque colors so even though i applied not super neatly, it was not very obvious!

Looks pretty neat, if i may say so myself hahahaha

When i close my eyes then it's not that neat afterall... *LOL* (it doesn't dry very fast as well, you can see my upper lid stained with red glitters because i have tapered eyelids and they stick together when i open my eyes)

The consistency of this eyeliner is a bit hard to explain. It doesn't feel particularly gel-ish, more like... wet with loads of glitters. It's totally packed with glitters (that's why i think Donna said Collection's targets are mainly teenagers and young girls coz teens love glittery eyeliners, right? I myself do love glitters, especially silver and gold but red, not so much) and feels quite gritty.

Application is quite easy but since it has a clear base, i found it hard to make a clean line with just one swipe. I had to go back and fill in the obvious spaces between the glitters.

And when i used my eyelash curler as usual :

And a blob stuck to the curler!

Moral of the story? Wait for a while (5 minutes or so) until the eyeliner's completely dry before using eye curlers (because i had to go back a few times for a neater line, the eyeliner piled quite thickly so it took longer to dry) . When i waited until it completely dried, i had no problem with the eyeliner sticking to the curler anymore.   

How it looks like on my eyes with only mascara : 

Hmmm... Yea... It looks okay... But i am too fond of my black eyeliner and i feel kinda naked going out like that! I think it's a great alternative for a bling2 and colored lids if you want a quick alternative to eyeshadow (just slick it on, no need to blend or whatever). 

I am personally quite oppose to red (or even hot pinks, i just think that lip and blush colors are not really for your eyes *LOL*) eye shadows/liners so it was quite a step outside my comfort zone. 

Then i tried it on top of my normal black eyeliner :

I filled in my entire double eyelid so it was more like eyeshadow hehe

Because of my eye shape, you can barely see it when i open my eyes, just a flash of red blings whenever i look down/to the side/close my eyes, which i like!

I love it even more with full eyeliner and other makeup ^^

A few claims for this gel liner is :

- It includes precision brush for easy application 

Yes, the brush is quite small and pointy so it's quite easy to use. However if you want a more opaque finish (not like there are a lot of empty spaces between the glitters) then you have to go back and forth a few times so it's not THAT easy. Plus you need to be very careful when putting the wand back to the tube, my fave Glam Crystal is the silver one (amazing for inner lower water line! Especially for parties) and i wasn't paying attention when i shoved it back to the tube, next thing i know... the brush is totally ruined. Looks more like a water fountain now and it's not fixable *cry*. Any tips to revert back a ruined eyeliner brush's shape???.

-Quick drying 

I find it dries fairly but not that quick, as i told you earlier it stain my upper lid when i opened my eyes, but then again i did apply quite a thick coat so maybe it is fast drying with one thin coat?

They also say that the color is fuschia, but i stubbornly see it as red and i cannot unsee it! 

The Collection website stated that you can use it over eye shadow or alone with mascara. I have yet to use it with eye shadow because when i wear eye shadow, i like to wear black eyeliner to accentuate my eyes. For me personally using strongly colored glitter eye liners with eye shadows (except very soft, neutral colors) would be too much, but that's just my preference. I also feel like colored eye liners that are not dark colored make my eyes look smaller and sleepier.

I prefer to use it as a substitute of eye shadow or for under eyes as an accent. But with makeups you can wear it in anyway and any style that you like, of course!

You can also use it for a more daring and creative eye makeup

Yes,  i am aware of how bitchy i look in this pic, thank you *LOL* (and yes, i went to the mall with this eye makeup haha)

You can also use it to draw stuffs on your face, glitter tattoo style!

Staying power of this gel liner is actually quite superb! Once it is set, it won't budge (not even when i cried watching a movie) and stay perfect until i remove them. Removing them is a bit of a pain though! I have no problem removing them when i use them under my eyes, but for the lid-when i use my eye makeup remover (i soak my cotton pad with the remover and press it on my eyes for a few secs to loosen up my eye makeup), the glitters often gets in my eyes and it's super annoying and uncomfortable!

I don't have a lot of experience with glittery gel/liquid eyeliners (so far i only own NYX's other than Collection's, i love the NYX's consistency better but Collection's a lot more pigmented) so i cannot comment on whether this is a fantastic glitter liner or not, but for me it's quite decent and performs well enough and as Collection is a budget drugstore brand, it's very affordable and totally worth the price.

I would recommend Glam Crystal to anyone looking for a nicely pigmented, very glittery gel liners that stays forever once they set. Would recommend Dancing Queen for those who has daring personalities and like to experiment with unusual colors for eyes.

Would not recommend this for those who hates glitter (OBVIOUSLY), wants a neat and opaque color with one swipe and not patient enough to wait a few minutes until it dries off. 

I personally am not a fan of red eyeliners, so i hardly ever touch this eyeliner. I do love the silver one (and very sad that i didn't get my hands on the gold one!), but i am not crazy about other colors of glitter liners (or i'm just old haha).

Would i buy this with my own money? I would the silver and gold one, but definitely not for this particular shade. 

Unfortunately Collection cosmetics is not available in Indonesia yet (dunno if they ever will :(...) but you can get them in other neighboring countries like Singapore or Malaysia, so maybe you can grab some on your oversea holiday!

Have you ever tried anything from Collection cosmetics? And are you a fan of glittery eyeliners?

#Pink