Tuesday, June 29, 2010

IT'S HERE! Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer Review!

This post has been in the works for a full month because I absolutely fail at taking photos of my own eye! So how did I finally do it? I figured out that the lamp I was using to provide even lighting that didn't wash out eyeshadow colours actually required a tungsten setting on my camera! All the other settings made the colours go wacky. I found my mini-tripod (in my vintage bowling bag? Huh?), and then shoved my mirror behind the lamp so I could see the display screen. Then I used my non-dominant hand to hold down the shoot button, because my dominant hand kept blocking the light. I utilised the 'continuous shot' function to ensure I didn't move the camera between pictures. Now that I have this figured out, you can expect moar eye pictures!

What I did this morning: I washed my face, applied moisturiser, let that sink in for a few minutes, and then I scooped out a teeny tiny bit, barely a pin-head worth, of Concrete Minerals Electric Eye Primer and smoothed it all over my lids. Sometimes I'll put powder on my eyelids before primer, because my lids get ridiculously oily, but I didn't do that today. I dabbed an even tinier bit of Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy on, blended that out and let it set. I decided to do something really simple today, and different from my usual 'work' look (dark shadow as liner, winged out on upper lid, and Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on waterline). I swept Concrete Minerals eyeshadow in Detox on my lid, into the crease a little, and put my new Nyx's Jumbo Pencil in Black Bean on my waterline. Ta-da!



After the eyeshadow and liner, I applied some Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara (I love this product because it lengthens, separates and volumises AND on top of that, it's blaaaaack and I have stopped curling my lashes because the awesome two-sided brush does it for me). I wiped any fall-out and general mess off my face with some moisturiser on a cotton pad. I then blotted my face with a tissue and put Joppa Minerals Finishing Silk all over. I have just discovered blush, and I'm working my way through a few Sassy Minerals samples. Today I used Curious, which is a soft, cool (matte) pink. I am doing a Sassy review later because they are also very awesome. Anyway. My lips got some Pawpaw ointment; I generally like to have focus on lips OR eyes, and I don't have any nice nude/natural lip products at the moment.


Ok, back at home,


Verdict:
This primer is really soft and smooth when applying. It's a pale, shimmery beigey-peach color in the jar, and doesn't seem to add much colour to my lids when it's on. It holds shadows nicely and blending on top of it is really easy. As I mentioned before, my lids are supermegaomg oily, so I'm really not surprised there's a bit of fading and general creasing after such a long day. These pics are of my left eye, wihch I have noticed tends to get more oily than the right for some weird reason! Keep in mind that I did use Pixie Epoxy over the top of CM's primer, which probably changed the results a little bit.

Detox isn't a super-sparkly eyeshadow, so I didn't notice any massive fall-out, and it still looked really pretty and shimmery at the end of the day. I would reccommend this primer to anyone who is looking for a good, long-lasting alternative to more expensive products like the usual UDPP or TFSI (which by the way are horrendously expensive in Australia! I refuse to pay $35 for a primer, seriously). You can expect far more long-lasting and vibrant results than I got if you have dry or just slightly less oily lids. Seriously, don't let my swamp'o doom eyelids fool you, this stuff is gold.


Special mention: Detox is the most beautiful green I've ever seen, it's like a deep pastel seafoam mint-y freshness. It's a bit washed out, colour-wise, in my photos here. I am definitely going to buy a full-size of this. Concrete Minerals have just brought back their very generously-sized samples, so definitely give it a go if you haven't got it!



I can't believe that took so long! It's definitely a thorough review since I've been using it for ages, haha.
Hope you enjoy!
Jade.

P.S. Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencils are the bomb. The soft, buttery, pigmented, perfect-for-your-eyes type, er, bomb. I love them so much, I don't care that they don't quite last all day on me.

7 comments:

  1. ooohhhh... pretty green! I'll have to check out the samples too! Thanks for the heads-up! :)

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  2. Ooooh, that looks good ... I've been thinking I should get around to getting an eye primer for a while, will definitely look into this. Was their service good?

    I'm also starting to think more about mineral makeup in general ... ordered a foundation from Lily Lolo ('Popcorn' - I'd ordered a sample aaaaaages ago which I rediscovered at the bottom of a makeup bag and realised it was a great colour for me) a couple of weeks ago, so I had it for graduation, and I'm definitely becoming a fan of their mineral powder foundation. It's really, really easy to apply!

    (Now, if only I'd unpacked enough to find it again ... that's my job for today)

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  3. V: it's even nicer in person! CM's shadows have a lovely soft texture as well.

    Eudoxia: CM have really great CS (haha acronym time), they actually brought the samples back because people were asking for them (I may or may not have been one of those people...). There are unfortunately a lot of independant mineral makeup companies out there who are pretty freaking dodgy in the CS department, it's true. CM is definitely not one of those, though, and thus I reccommend them.

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  4. YAY :D I think I shall pick it up eventually, my UDPP is running out but I'm hoping they sell TFSI in Malaysia when I go next month. So um, I may pick it up in like a year's time hahaha

    Great review slapper!

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  5. Thankyou! :) I figured I'd read enough reviews by now to know what should be in one, haha. I'm picking up Sobe's next, it looks good from Phyrra's recent swatches/comparisons, and she says it lasts pretty good on her and I know she has oily lids like me.

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  6. Hello I am also a lover of CM and I thought I would mention that you can also use CM eye shadows as eyeliner!

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  7. Hi Leighanne, thanks for stopping by. As I mentioned in the beginning of my post, I usually line my eyes with eyeshadow when I go to work. My favourite CM shadows for that are Souljourner, Temptress and Seance.

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