Review: CLIO Gelpresso Pencil Gel Liner Mini Set

CLIO has been in Singapore for quite some time but I have yet to try any of their products because the CLIO booths at Watsons were always so heavily vandalised! Poor Lee Hyori! I felt the sudden urge to get one of their eyeliners (highly raved!) but couldn't decide on which to get, so I settled on the CLIO Gelpresso Pencil Gel Liner Mini Set. You get 5 mini gel liners in one neat packaging for S$25.90. 

I heard great things about CLIO eyeliners so I was extremely looking forward to trying the pencils out. 

Packaging: The metal box is nicely designed. It's not outlandish, but simple and straightforward. I was quite disappointed when I opened the tin though. A cardboard thingy was inserted on the left (see photo below) to fill in the empty space. Can't they just give us more mini gel liners instead?

Colour variety: This CLIO Gelpresso Pencil Gel Liner Mini Set consists of a nice highlighter liner colour in Beige Shine. Of course, there has to be a universally-flattering black eyeliner (Golden Black). For those who prefer a softer approach but still want some dark pigmentation, there are Dark Choco and Golden Khaki. Finally, the set also includes one purple liner (Star Purple) for those who fancy a pop of colour. Overall, it's a good mixture of colours. The set included more wearable colours than fancy ones, so that's always good for the women who are not so adventurous in terms of makeup application.

Beige Shine No. 1: pinkish beige colour with silver and gold sparkles. Great for inner eye application.

Golden Khaki No. 2: dark navy green with fine gold sparkles. Gives a bit of colour but still verging on the neutral side.

Star Purple No. 3: standard purple with pink-gold shimmers. Great for days when you feel like you need oomph!

Dark Choco No. 4: brown with a wee bit of brick red undertone. Bronze shimmers add more dimension to the otherwise boring shade.

Golden Black No. 5: Love this alternative version of a black eyeliner. The gold shimmers really give it much more character!

Swatches taken with camera flash.

Swatches taken under normal sunlight.

Swatches after one finger swipe - basically no smudging.

Swatches after being swiped under running tap water - smudge-proof and waterproof.

Swatches after one swipe with a makeup-remover-soaked cotton pad. 

Swatches after a few gentle swipes using a makeup-remover-soaked cotton pad. 

Pigmentation: Great pigmentation for all 5 gel liners. I have no complaints whatsoever regarding the pigmentation of the liners.

Smooth application? Not really. I thought maybe because the liners were new, that's why the application wasn't so pleasant. I thought wrong. Basically, application is not smooth and you have to draw the line on your eyelids quite strongly. When I compare this with Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners, the difference is too huge to ignore. The leads in the CLIO Gelpresso Pencil Gel Liner Mini Set are not as soft and smooth, hence application can be a bit tough.

Smudgeproof? Definitely. I tested the swatches after around 5 minutes of swatching, and swiping them to and fro for a few times still didn't cause any smudging. Two thumbs up for this!

Waterproof? Yes. I'm quite impressed by how waterproof the liners are actually. Even swiping and rubbing to and fro under running tap didn't ruin the swatches!

Content: Each liner has only 0.3g of product, which is quite measly. I know it's a MINI set but to be honest the auntie in me expected a wee bit more product. 0.3g of gel liner can be used up within weeks, even faster if you are a religious eyeliner user.

Will I buy it again? Even though the gel liners are amazing in terms of smudging and being waterproof, I wouldn't buy the entire set again. Instead, I will either just get the Golden Black or just invest in another Urban Decay eyeliner.