The Urban Decay Primer Potion: Review

I said I would not. But I did. I bought a kindle. The kindle Paperwhite. I almost regret it. But it was bought out of necessity rather than preference. I still prefer to read from an ACTUAL book. I still prefer the smell in between the pages of a fresh new book. I still prefer to feel the thickness of the book I'm holding. Nothing feels more therapeutic and satisfying than flipping through the pages of a book and reaching its final page, and with it that feeling as if you've lost a friend. But it had to be done. With a collection of over 400 books, and the lack of space to store more, I had to resort to the kindle with complete reluctance.

However, every now and then I will purchase a real book and read a real book, for my sake and for the sake of Baby Bee, whom I want to grow up seeing me reading and hopefully instil the same passion in him.

One purchase I never regret is buying the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. This is the most popular eyeshadow primer out there, and it deserves the cult following it has. It's a beauty legend!

I have oily eyelids, and without primer any eyeshadow just melts away. This felt heaven-sent to me when I discovered it almost 7 years ago. I loved wearing eyeshadow but I hated that it would always disappear within an hour or two. The Urban Decay Primer Potion is simply amazing! It brings out the colour of any eyeshadow, and the colour lasts forever! Literally, I've slept without removing my make-up, (I know tut tut, but this was during uni days! I know better now!) and my eyeshadow would still look as good as new the next morning!

I absolutely looooveee this product and would recommend to everyone! The full sized product is £16 but it is so worth the price tag, as it lasts forever! One tube lasts me well over a year! Bargain!

RATING: 11/10

Benefit The POREfessional Pro Balm: Review & Swatch

Do you ever walk into a shop and find something that is too cute to resist, so you buy it but have no idea what you will do with it? You may not even use it at all! I do this allllll the time! Mostly, it's in gift and card shops like Cards Galore, Clintons or my favorite- PaperChase. I'm always picking up random bits and bobs that look alluring, even though I don't need it.

And that's exactly what I did when the latest issue of 'Glamour' magazine came out this month. They are giving away free sample sizes of Benefit products: 'That Gal' brightening primer (check out my review of it  here), 'Bad Gal' mascara and 'Porefessional Pro-balm'. These products have been appearing everywhere in beauty blogs for the past week and half. Since I already own the original sizes of the first two products, I bought myself three copies of the same magazine which included the 'Porefessional' samples. The packaging was too cute to resist!

You know the feeling you get when you pick up an adorable baby, and you just want to squeeze its cheeks and give it a tight hug...until it pukes all over you? I had a very similar feeling after using this product, although I guess it wasn't so bad as being puked on. What a waste of £4- I should have just bought one copy (as I enjoy reading this magazine) and used the £4 to treat myself to a frappuccino at Starbucks. Hmmmphh.

Benefit describes Porefessional as a balm which 'Quickly minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines'. It also says that it helps makeup stay put- so it's a primer as well? Now I don't have any fine lines, or large pores on my face so I won't be commenting on that, but I can say one thing for sure- if this is a primer then it's a rubbish one at that. It failed to keep my makeup on for just a couple of hours- I felt like I was a teenager again who didn't know how to keep her makeup from disappearing, unlike Benefit's 'That Gal Brightening Face Primer' which keeps my makeup lasting all day. I really tried to like this product, I really did. (I know what you're thinking- 'Of course you tried to like it, you bought three of the same magazine for the same product thrice!') But it did nothing for me.

The product comes out as a beige, lotion-like texture, but once rubbed in it becomes completely translucent, leaving behind no tint. Once rubbed in, the skin does feel really silky but this effect does not last long. It does not make my skin glow or anything (and you all know how much I love to glow), and neither does it keep my skin feeling smooth. Lately, I have been getting slight dry patches on my cheeks, but once I apply a moisturising cream after cleansing, these patches disappear. To my dismay, Benefit's Porefessional only enhanced my dry patches, which was made to look worse once I applied makeup on top.

Many bloggers have rated this product highly, but I just don't understand the hype. I would not recommend this product to anyone, however, it does seem to work for many others out there and it may work for you. Also, I do not have fine lines or large pores (yet) so perhaps this product was just not for me, but if you do have these problems then Porefessional may benefit you. If you're living in the UK, I would suggest you grab yourself a copy of the latest 'Glamour' magazine and try out a sample before purchasing- and please do not buy tons of copies like I did until you've actually decided whether you like it or not!

I will most definitely NOT be purchasing the full-sized version of this product, and at the cost of £23.50 I'd be crazy to even think about it! Twenty-three-pounds-fifty-pence for a balm claiming to be a primer which does nothing but get rid of my makeup quicker and gives me dry patches...no thanks! I'm happy to stick to That Gal who is a lot more professional and does what she's meant to do.

If I had to say one good thing about this product, it would be that as with all Benefit products, I love the fragrance of Porefessional. It has a fruity scent to it which lingers on the skin for quite a while and smells absolutely delicious! But yeh, that's about all the pros I have for this product. Do let me know of your experiences with this product!




RATING: 1/10

Benefit That Gal Brightening Face Primer: Review & Swatch

Firstly, apologies for not posting for a while! I was down in Bedford for the week, spending time with cousins, eating endlessly, and chattering (ok, gossiping) away through the nights with no sleep...

Anyway, do you remember when you were at school or college, and there was always THAT GAL who had the most amazing complexion; with her makeup looking flawless and lasting all day, as though she was the walking-talking personification of glowing skin? And you would stare at her with ever so slight envy (or more than just 'slight'- perhaps you secretly prayed she'd have a sudden eruption of acne all over her face and you'd rejoice at the mere thought of it) and wished your skin looked just as great? Well, I certainly wasn't THAT GAL. I had oily skin, with the constant eruptions of blemishes and mini Mount Everests dotted all over my cheeks and forehead (my brother once tried playing dot-to-dot on my face...hmph). Whenever I attempted to wear makeup, it would melt away under all the oil within an hour or two. Sad times.

If only I had met Benefit's 'That Gal' back then...

Things are different now. My skin is not as oily, in fact I tend to get dry patches on my cheeks sometimes. But I do love using 'That Gal'. This is described by Benefit as a 'brightening primer'- and brightens it does. I don't use this everyday; only when I will be wearing foundation or blusher on my face. It really does make my makeup last all day, without requiring touch-ups! I was amazed when I first tried it. It had been my aunts wedding. We went down to Birmingham, where she lived, a week before the wedding. We partied away the whole week, dancing and playing wedding-style games in the marquee set up in their garden. Absolutely no sleep that week. The night before the wedding, my cousins and I did a complete all-nighter with the bride (I WOULD NOT risk eye bags by staying up all night if I was the bride!). That morning was a struggle getting ready. All I wanted was sleep.

So, we get to the wedding hall at lunch, and I'm feeling extremely sick. How was the bride managing?! 45 minutes into the wedding, I grabbed my cousin's car keys and went to sleep in his car. When I woke up, the wedding was over and the bride was leaving... Sad. Just sad. Why am I telling you this? Because my makeup was as good as fresh when I woke up and frantically checked my face in the mirror, feeling like Frankenstein's monster, (that's right, Frankenstein was NOT the monster, he was the one who created the monster- read the novel!) and then oh so pleasantly surprised at what I saw! I was glowing, makeup had not budged and, well...of course, I looked wide awake! Even though I had missed the wedding...what a waste of a £350 sari that I wore... But there was still lots to do after the wedding and my makeup continuously looked fresh! Thanks to Benefit's 'That Gal' face primer.

   

It comes in a glue-stick type packaging, and a few twists of it is enough product to cover the face. It comes out in pink and has a creamy texture, with a lovely, subtle scent to it. I use this straight after moisturising. Once applied over the face, my skin feels super smooth, and soft; appearing more bright and radiant- and simply glowing. I found that my foundation goes on more smoothly once I have this on.

Overall, this is a great product, and does what it's meant to do. It is slightly on the expensive side, as with most Benefit products, but it will last a long time as only a little is needed, and it does keep your makeup lasting longer so touch ups will not be required as much. However, the downside is that you can't tell once the product has run out, until you keep twisting away and no product releases.

I recommend this product to those who have trouble making their makeup last all day, and are tired of constantly having to touch-up their make up. I also recommend it to ladies who want to even out their skin tone and brighten up their skin, as this product can be used alone without makeup, as well. I would definitely repurchase this primer.


RATING: 9/10