Under Review: Too Faced Primer

Last week I was asked if I could review a face primer - the new Urban Decay Complexion Primer Potion that minimises the look of pores in an instant... Well I did some research and I thought it would be a hit considering the success of their Primer Potion for eyes! Slowly but surely I realised that maybe that wouldn't be the case...

As it's not so easy on the wallet as well I didn't want to burst in and buy this stuff without a few decent reviews... I haven't tried this stuff on my face so I can't vouch as to whether it minimises the look of pores, but instead I did try it on the back of my hand and I can tell you this:

I wasn't a fan of its texture - this stuff is very greasy and it takes a while to soak in. In my opinion a good primer should be easily absorbed into the skin and needs to be light - you don't want it to create a super greasy sheen or your foundation will slip-slide all over the place. That's the whole point of foundation primer - to act as a barrier between your skin's natural oils and your foundation so it lasts longer - not to create oil! Funnily enough, this is unfortunately one of the bad things I'd heard about this product before I even tried it for myself.

Plus anyone with large pores usually has the skin characteristic of combination to oily skin. You don't want oily, greasy products going on your face if you suffer from this skin trait. It might be okay for those of you with dry skin of course, as it may provide a barrier for your skin to stay nice and moisturised especially during the colder months. But I can't see this withstanding the heat in summer and I can't see it agreeing with my skin - which leans toward the oily side.

Second of all, it's not colourless - it's white. Because it doesn't absorb very easily it ends up leaving a white cast on your skin when you've spread it over your face. This isn't a good look. Primers need to be discreet - they either ought to be transparent so that they don't affect the colour of your skin at all, or they can have a peachy/creamy hue to enhance the job of your foundation without making it look darker. My skin is pretty fair so I don't need to have a white wash over it haha!

All in all I found it to be too thick and greasy - the white sheen it created on my skin wasn't flattering so I wouldn't dare put it on my face. Sadly I think Urban Decay have unfortunately missed the mark with this one, which is a shame because I think a lot of us had high hopes for this product considering its predecessor! There is also a brightening version available but from the product description I can tell that this would be better suited to anyone with drier complexions...

But I never like to disappoint - my work here is not done! My aim was to find a winning product, so instead I'll be reviewing a close contender to Urban Decay's face primer - Too Faced's Primed & Poreless Face Primer.

So watch this space as I'm going to buy some of this and give it a go - I'll get back to you with the results very, very soon!...

Hello Kitty FOTD :-)

As far as the hype goes I'm waaaaay behind on posting about this! I heard about MAC's Hello Kitty range 4-5 months before its launch... Pretty much like the rest of the makeup fanatics around the world! I came along to the counter on the second day of it being available only to hear from the MAC girls that nearly EVERYTHING had sold out online and that other stores within the area were calling their counter to get hold of more stock.

I know that some people however have felt that despite the hype, this range has very little to offer in terms of anything new or different. But I still feel that the colours, the packaging and the designs are oh-so-cute! Plus the looks developed for the face charts of Mild Kitty and Wild Kitty are fantastic - I got me some work to do :-D

On my little haul I managed to bag a fair few goodies (I wanted so much more, but really couldn't justify the expense!):

Wild Kitty Glitter in Reflects Very Pink
Beautiful pink glitter - makes me think of dusky roses!

Wild Kitty Lipstick in Fashion Mews

A very sassy lavender colour in Glaze, and if you look further down the stick you'll see a Hello Kitty face imprint into the lipstick *squeeeeeee*

Mild Kitty Lipstick in Cute-ster

A lovely pinky neutral shade in Lustre, once again with a Hello Kitty face imprint in the lipstick

Mild Kitty Glitter Eyeliner in Girl Groove

I nearly went for the pink eyeliner but the girl at the MAC counter showed me this one and I fell in love with it. It has transparent teal reflects with multi-dimensional pearl. It's very yummy and I highly recommend for nights out on the town :-)
I've tried everything but the Glitter so far - just trying to think up a look that will incorporate it, but that shouldn't be too hard as I lurrrrve ze sparkles! :-D

The other day I created a nice and easy night-time look and my piccies are below. I gotta say this look is one of my favourites so far - the glitter eyeliner goes really well over black kohl eyeliner.

What I used:

Face
Mary Kay Timewise Moisturiser
GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer
Mary Kay Signature Concealer in Ivory
Mary Kay Medium Coverage Foundation in Ivory 300

Eyes
Eyebrows - Mary Kay Eyebrow Definer Pencil in Brunette
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Mary Kay Signature Eyeliner in Steely
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Polyester Bride for the highlighter shade
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Grifter for the lovely pink on the eyelid
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Oil Slick - for the gorgeous smoky outer V!
Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara in Brown

Lips
MAC Wild Kitty Glaze lipstick in Fashion Mews

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!