Three wishes!

I've never been able to get my eyeshadow or eyeliner to sit where it should. If I put eyeshadow on in 2-3 hours it will have disappeared - I only end up finding it in the creases of my eyelids hidden from all to see!
The same goes for eyeliner - off it pops into the crease of my eye when it's supposed to be on my upper lash line and worst still - tumbling down my face when it's supposed to be on my lower lash line - making me look like the Sweeney Todd!

I'd been reading tonnes of rave reviews about Urban Decay's Primer Potion so I had to see what all of the fuss was about. It's won a few awards as best cosmetic product by many magazines and retailers.
Ever since I can remember Urban Decay's counters have always got me excited, they have awesome names for their products (Asphyxia and Acid Rain to name just a couple)! Their packaging is quirky and very pretty with lots of gorgeous colours of lipglosses, eyeliners and eyeshadows to boot!

Their Primer Potion, as you can see from the piccie on the right, comes in a cute little purple bottle with a silver lid. The packaging has been designed to look a little like a genie's lamp with the swirly details etc. The lid acts as an applicator, and when you open the bottle you'll see a brush attached for application.

It's approx. £11.50 for a bottle, but I got hold of a full size bottle included in the Ammo Eyeshadow box set - which is to celebrate Urban Decay's 10th birthday! (Go get it now!) The first thing to note with this product is very little goes a long, long way - a product feature that I ALWAYS love! In fact if you use too much you won't get begin to notice adverse effects, such as it can either cause crinkling in your eyeshadow (which makes your eyelids look aged) or it creates a layer that's hard to work with and causes difficulty when trying to blend the shadows. So go easy with it. What comes out on the applicator will be enough for one eyelid! Also make sure to blend it in with your fingers or a brush before you apply your eyeshadow!

The primer promises three benefits: more intense colour, no creasing and eyeshadow and eyeliner that stays put all day! I can certainly vouch for all three! The difference between eyeshadow used with and without this product is amazing! I even noticed it on the back of my hand when I sampled some in-store and that was with the sample bottle of Primer I'd used having only the dregs left in it!

No creasing is certainly guaranteed, each time I had a look at my eyelids during the day, I couldn't see any shadow creeping into the creases of my lids. And finally yes, the eyeshadow stayed where it was meant to, by the end of the day my eyeshadow looked the same as it did when I first applied it in the morning! I was very impressed! My sister can also vouch for this as I did her make-up using the Primer for a special occassion and she said it did not budge!

The only down side is its packaging, which is a common bugbear of many a make-up lover! The bottle is pretty but also pretty small - however I know that this stuff will last me a long time because I only need to use very, very little at a time. Due to the curves in the bottle, a lot of primer hides away. So when you think you've ran out, in actual fact you have a lot more left than you think! I've been hearing from other users that you can even get another 6-12 months' worth of use out of the remaining primer that sits in the curves.

The only way to get to it is to get a junior hacksaw or knife and and cut open the bottle at both beneath the bottle's neck and half an inch above the bottom to empty the contents out. You can find tutorials on how to do this on YouTube. Be sure however to empty the primer into a well-sealed container or the primer will dry out and become useless! If you're a bit worried about cutting the bottle yourself I'd suggest getting someone to help as you don't want any nasty accidents!

Overall I think it would be a good idea for Urban Decay to reconsider their packaging for this product, however I can see where they're coming from, as it does communicate the unique genie in a bottle message! But it might be worth them making it so you can pull out a stopper at the bottom of the bottle or something similar so customers can get to the remainder that hides!

It's all about building on great foundations!

Well this is my first post for my blog - how exciting! : ) You might have guessed from the title that this post is a review about foundation - well one in particular! I thought I'd start with foundation because usually that's the base we work on!

The foundation I'm going to be reviewing is Mary Kay Full Coverage Foundation. I had it recommended to me by a friend and I honestly haven't looked back! I'm also speaking as a person who has never before worn foundation much, usually because I could never find the right coverage or the foundation would 'white' me out.

Please note you won't be able to buy this in-store, as you can only purchase from Mary Kay consultants (much like Avon). This isn't a problem however because if you go to the Mary Kay website http://www.marykay.co.uk/ or http://www.marykay.com/ you can find your local consultant (if you don't already have/know one) and get in touch with her directly.

You'll find the product comes in a white 29ml tube with a pink lid at a price of £12.50 (£12.00 now VAT is at 15% at the moment). This may seem quite a lot for what you get but this will easily last you a good 4 months as a little goes a very long way! You really don't need to apply that much to get a good all-round even coverage.

There are two types of coverage on offer - Full and Medium. Full coverage is for those of you with normal to dry skin, like mine, if you suffer from dry patches, flaky skin or just generally skin that seems thirsty for moisture then this is the one for you! It not only offers you great coverage but it also hydrates the skin for up to 6 hours!

Medium coverage is best if your skin leans towards the oilier side such as if you suffer from a T Zone etc. It too offers great coverage and controls excess oil for up to 8 hours. Both products are hypoallergenic (and not tested on animals!) and what I found useful is that they're also non-comedogenic which means they don't clog the pores. If you're anything like me this is a miracle because I have extremely blemish-prone skin and very few products on the market offer this benefit which means I came up in break-outs frequently.

The best thing to do is to start off by visiting your Mary Kay consultant as she can match the ideal shade of foundation for your skin tone. The great thing about this stuff is it offers buildable coverage, so you can start off by applying a light application and build up if you want more coverage. Or if you have a blemish or spot you'd like to conceal you can concentrate the foundation in that specific area by dabbing a bit of foundation onto the area (saving on buying concealer which is great!).

You can either apply using your fingers (some people recommend this as your fingers are warm which allows for better distribution over the face and eases blending). Or you can use a cosmetic sponge which helps to blend in the harder places such as the creases of the nose and around the eyes. This foundation is great as it sets after about 10 minutes and lasts the whole day. It doesn't go cakey, or peel or crumble like many foundations can nor does it smear off and transfer onto fabrics (unless you fiercely rub of course!). I only tend to need to reapply at the end of a hot or tiring day if I want to head out in the evening but have no time to freshen up at home.

In addition I've found my skin has improved since using this product - I don't get half as many blemishes as I used to and thought I would considering I'm covering my face in foundation every day now!

The final cherry on the cake, believe it or believe it not, is that if for whatever reason you're not happy with a product that you may buy from Mary Kay, you're entitled to a 100% full refund! Yes, that's even if you've used it and opened the packaging and everything : D

Overall this product is highly recommended. If you're tired of your current foundation not lasting the mile or working how you would like or fancy a change then I think you should try this next!!