What The Spoolie?! And Other Adventures in Beautyland: July 2014

Friday, July 18, 2014

Primed To Perfection: Why Primer Matters

What's the point of primer?

If you plan on wearing eyeshadow, primer is a priority. It makes a difference in ALL eyeshadow from no pigment to highly pigmented. It helps the cheap stuff along and gets the most out of your expensive eyshadows.

I want to show you how much it matters. I have higher quality shadows but I want to show you the difference it can make for your less pigmented or cheap shadows. It can transform your shadow. I picked a Ulta brand shadow that tends to have a lot of fall out and only sheer coverage to really set an example. I chose a bright blue for visibility. I even slept in it to show the longevity. You are welcome. Let's get right to some photo evidence.

Left: No Primer

Right: Urban Decay Primer Potion

As you can see it went on so much brighter and pigmented with the primer. It might not show as well in the photos but without primer it is very sheer. The color in the container is really what you are seeing on the primed eyelid. The eyelid without primer doesn't have as much vibrancy.

And lets talk about overnight evidence. There is hardly any left on the eye without primer. The primed eye has a lot more left and has not creased. What is there is really still truer to color and has vibrancy while the eyelid without primer is much more pale. Primer really helps keep the COLOR. Part of my reasoning in my overnight testing is that while sleeping I am not being careful and feel like it won't skew my results. Also, lets be honest, I don't want to walk around lopsided all day with my eyeshadow.

Have I convinced you? I hope so.
Do I wear primer every single time I use eyeshadow? No.
Do I regret when I don't? Yes.

In Summary: Yay, Primer! But just like any other type of makeup its not just that easy... there is an endless variety of options with different colors and finishes. Even the UD primer has 4 other options.

Now my frugal friends, you are wondering what this will do to your pocketbook. The Urban Decay primer I used in this example is 20 bucks. Yeah, thats a lot. But it will also last you a long while. I have been living off a small sample amount for months. Here are some other options that I own in action:

The no primer? I had to really pack it on to try to get it to show up in this picture. Eden is the matte version of primer potion, and Sin is a champagne shimmer of the primer potion.

After wiping one time with a makeup remover cloth you can see that the Urban Decay really has staying power.

Urban Decay Primer Potion:

Urban Decay really is quite the primer. I love the Sin version which is a shimmery champagne. Eden is a nude matte version of the original. They also have an anti-aging and a shimmery golden yellow called Greed. It is worth the money if you like to wear eye shadow. If you hate wearing eye shadow because it comes off, this is your answer.

Nyx Eyeshadow Base

I bought the pearl Nyx base because I love a little shimmer in my life. It has sort of a funny texture from the shimmer but it is also available in white and skin tone as well. They also have a primer in a tube called Proof It Eyeshadow Primer. All of the Nyx primers run about 7 bucks. I do notice some creasing after a 13 hour work day but so I often use this for short term engagements like an evening out. I love the way the eyeshadow in my comparison photo looks over the Nyx Base.

BareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Eyeshadow

I love the 5-in-1 BB eyeshadow by bare minerals. I love that it can be worn alone and it gives my eyes a nice brightened appearance. The shade I own is soft linen and has a slight yellow undertone that brightens my eyes right up without being obnoxious or sickly and hides any veiny or redness to my eyelids. I've been hitting this one up for my 5 minute face and then just a smidge of eyeliner. It runs 18. I got in a kit on sale but I would buy it again. If you are lucky enough to have an Ulta store go in to check out the different shade options ON your skin. When I use this as a primer I like to apply eye shadow while it is still a bit tacky and not completely dry for a extra staying power. Again, the longevity and "staying" power might not be quite that of the UD Primer Potion but I still love how the eye shadow looks with it as a base.

Other Options to Try:

Thats just the tip of the iceberg.... I like to give you options! You might have a favorite brand and chances are that the brand has a primer. Prices are subject to change but as you can see there are options for any budget:

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick: It's Legit!!

I'm sort of meh on long wear lipsticks and stains. What happens is that I have this ring of color around the outside and the color in the middle has faded when I eat. Super annoying. It's always sort of drying so I don't want to reapply even though I have an ombre look that is unintentional and unpretty.

I got this sample from?!? I can't remember and I guess this is how we know I have a problem. I kinda think Ulta? I digress... I got the color Beso which is an awesomely vibrant red. It is not too blue and not too orange but does lean on the warm side. I'm in love with the color. I'm also beyond in love with the wear. I thought I'd test it out for you by going to lunch and then taking a nap. No, really, I do these things for my blog readers.

Here I am in my sisters sunnies that I borrowed and want to steal. I'm too cool for school. Bad case of bitchy resting face here! My attitude aside, I love the velvet finish of this lipstick.

Beachy Hair Look Courtesy of Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray

Are you ready to see the scary after? Here I am AFTER going out for lunch, hanging out, then going home and taking a nap. Okay okay. I'm kind of a mess, and you can see that my eye makeup is a hot mess, and the lipstick isn't perfect. What in the world is going on with my eyebrows?! Someone get me a spoolie! The point is that my family even asked me if I had reapplied after lunch because it still looked awesome. Perhaps one might choose to reapply after waking from a nap.

But seriously- that lipstick is pretty stay put for all of that! I did find that the buttery corn on the cob I had for 4th of July picnic dinner made it rub off more easily. Avoid the butter ladies, and that's probably good advice anyway.

It retails for 22 bucks. Would I spend that much on it? Yes. Absolutely. I'm telling you, this lipstick is the real deal. It isn't overly drying for a long wear, it stays put like it says (including the center!!) 8 shades to choose from including a bluer red if that's what you need. Based on how much I love this I can't wait to try Stila Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss! If you don't want the matte look you might just go straight to the Vinyl Lip Gloss (but I can't vouch for it!).

Monday, July 14, 2014

Revealed 2 Palette: A Review

Revealed 2 * Coastal Scents

I've been coveting the Naked 3 palette for some time! I really love the look of the rosy pink and golden tones. I have a hard time shelling out so much money for one palette. While the Urban Decay palettes seem to hold the hearts of so many the fact is they are costly. I had purchased the original Revealed palette when I heard it was a good dupe for MANY of both Naked 1 and Naked 2 colors.You can my post on the Revealed palette here. When I saw this Revealed 2 palette I immediately thought it would be a great dupe for Naked 3! I pulled the trigger as soon as I heard this existed!

The quality of coastal scents is amazing. Very highly pigmented at a fraction of the price. Revealed 2 is no exception. I did notice that the colors have a more purpley brown undertone than the more vibrant pink I was seeing in some of the Naked 3 palette tutorials. However, you can see in the swatches that there are some good pink colors. The two on the top right of my swatches are very rose gold in person. It may not be perfect dupe but it definitely is something to add to your arsenal. It retails for $20 and you get 20 colors! If you are interested in seeing swatches of how they stack up to UD you can check out this Harlot Beauty blog post.

It has a lot of shimmery shades but does include some matte shades. That super shimmery pink (Top row, 4th from left) has a ton of a fallout because it is very shimmery/glittery. The fallout is no more than any other glittery UD shade so I don't feel like it is a quality issue, just an issue with glitter in general. The shades on the skin are very different than how they look in the container so I'm definitely in the getting to know you phase of this palette.

So where can you get your very own?! I am very excited to share that Amazon has both the original Revealed and Revealed 2 available and are both Prime eligible! Free Shipping!! I purchased mine through Birchbox, and you can also watch for sales through Coastal Scents.