Beauty Obsessed

Hi-ho everyone!!!  Tomorrow is the big day – we get our keys to the condo!!  I have to admit that as easy as the whole process has been, it’s hard to fully focus on much else!  All I want to do is move in and get settled and make the place look like home.  On that note, this will be a relatively brief (which just means, less chatty!) post – a reprieve which I’m sure some of you will wholeheartedly appreciate

I confess that I am by no means an eyelid primer connoisseur – most days I tend to skip it as I don’t really mind if my makeup has faded throughout the day (which actually sounds kinda weird…I don’t know what that’s all about).  Actually, maybe I’m not that twisted – I think its more that most shadows/liners tend to adhere to my lids fairly well, and I only think about wearing primer either when I know I’m wearing a less-than-stellar product (wear-wise), or if I’m going to, shall we say, glisten more than usual (running on my lunch break, going dancing, wearing makeup on a particularly humid day).  My past experiences have not taken me very far; I’ve tried Urban Decay’s Primer Potion ($24CAD for 0.37oz), which seemed to be the be-all-end-all since it was my first shot at lid primers, and then NARS’ Pro-Prime Smudge Proof  Eyeshadow Base ($29CAD for 0.28oz), which is in my current rotation.  After trying NARS, I realized I far preferred it to UD’s lid primer, which gave my lids a slight whitish cast (NARS’ blends to be translucent), was more difficult to blend (though by no means seriously problematic), and made my shadows much harder to blend.  It did intensify my shadows more than NARS’; but this quality falls flat on me as I don’t quite appreciate that aspect.

Make Up For Ever, which by now seems to be synonymous with long-wear, waterproof makeup, has now come out with their very own eyelid primer, called Eye Prime ($25CAD for 0.18oz), which the brand states ‘reinforces eye shadow hold and intensifies its color.’  It’s enriched with waxes and mineral powders, and claims to have a ‘lightweight, non-drying texture’ that ‘blends seamlessly into the skin allowing a true-to-color eye shadow result that will not crease or fade.’  That sounds like it follows the pretty standard goal of all eyelid primers – so how did it pan out?

The delivery of Eye Prime is quite similar to NARS, with the same doe-foot applicator, though it’s a bit smaller which I find somewhat easier to use.  The texture of the two are more alike than different, but NARS’ is more sheer and cream-like, while MUFE’s has more opacity and is somewhat drier.  While Eye Prime does blend out to be almost undetectable on the eye, it still has some color, as it’s considered a ‘nude shade,’ while NARS’ truly blends out to completely invisible.  I didn’t have any issues with the shade of Eye Prime showing up on my lids, but someone darker than I might be able to see it more.  However, overall the color will suit the majority of skin tones.

Make Up For Ever Eye Prime

Make Up For Ever Eye Prime – blended

I tried Eye Prime with one of my notoriously smudgy liners, Black Violet by Laura Mercier – a creamy near-black pencil liner with a lovely violet tone, but that smears within hours every single time.  I applied Eye Prime around my eye area before using Black Violet, and wore the two for approximately 12 hours with the color still going strong and only the very slightest dull shadow of a smudge under the corner of my left eye.  I would say that while wearing this primer with any other typical eye product (that doesn’t have extreme smudging issues), one would get 12 hours of wear and potentially more without experiencing any problems whatsoever.

Top to bottom: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, Make Up For Ever Eye Prime

Overall, I’m quite pleased with Make Up For Ever’s foray into eyelid primers, and feel it’s a compliment to the line, and upholding their high standards in terms of long-wearing products.   Though I must admit, from my experience, all of my MUFE products are designed to be long-wearing, and none of them have failed me in that regard, so the design of this product is sort of a moot point, no?  At least, it’s really not required with any of the MUFE eye products I own, unless I felt I needed that extra insurance I guess.  Nonetheless, for all my other, less tenacious eye makeup, this has been a great product to add to my slowly growing eyelid primer experience!

*Product provided by the brand/PR company for my unbiased consideration.