Review: Australis Eye Primer and Extender Lash Mascara

Picking these up was a bit of an impulse buy. Due to sweaty summery-ness, my TFSI just wasn’t performing as well as usual, and my beloved Covergirl Lash Blast was starting to get a bit old and clumpy. I don’t remember if I picked these up from Priceline or Price Attack, but these are quite readily available to Aussie ladies and they’re both under $15. Australis does a few other mascaras as well which I miiiiiiight pick up later on.

Anyway! I gather the primer is sort of new, since I certainly hadn't noticed it around before and it's listed under the 'new products' section of the Australis website (ME SO SMART, DO MY RESEARCH HURRR) The primer tube is made of metallic pink plastic in this sort of… serrated parallelogram? It has a doe-foot applicator.

It’s fairly sturdy, but it’s not heavy. The texture of the primer itself is really quite thin and wet-feeling (hence the doefoot applicator; I could see lots of accidents happening with this if it was in a squeeze tube!) It felt strange after using TFSI for so long, which is really creamy and thick. The instructions say to let the primer set for 30 seconds before applying product. I held my watch up to my ear and waited 30 seconds exactly. After that the product had set, it was no longer liquidy and had become transparent and creamy-feeling. My eyeshadows went on quite smoothly – there was ‘grab’ but not enough to make blending difficult.

In terms of wear, I would rate this up there with TSFI for those with oily eyelids. Overall, I experienced no fading and minimal creasing in the inner corners of my eyes. I would even go so far as to say this was a little bit BETTER than TFSI! In terms of price and availability, it is much better for us Aussie girls. A tube of TFSI retails at Kit Cosmetics for $34.95, whereas you can get the Australis Primer for $12.95 on their website (which is the price I paid for it as well).

The mascara tube is a lightweight, rounded-square shape with the product name on the tube in metallic pink writing, the same colour as the primer tube. It clicks shut really nicely BUT never ‘looks’ properly closed, there is always a gap between the lid and the rest of the tube (which in a way is good, since the writing is the only other indication which end of the tube is which…)

Is it definitely an ‘extending’ mascara only. Compared to my Lash Blast, there is a good deal less volume, so I would rate this as a good lengthening mascara, for those who have thick lashes or who don’t want a lot of volume. I always curl my lashes before applying mascara, and it held the curl quite well.

Another great thing about this mascara is the brush – it’s small enough that you can exert a lot of precision and control over your mascara application. To really test it out, I applied it on my bottom lashes for a full day at work. While applying I only smudged my lower lid once, and I was able to very quickly and easily correct my mistake. The formula is really non-clumping, my lashes looked defined and natural.

During the day I noticed my eyeliner did smudge a little bit, but it was definitely ONLY my eyeliner and not the mascara. Usually I would never mascara my lower lashes due to A) difficulty with brushes, especially the giant rubbery Lash Blast brush, and B) smudging due to sweating/oiliness.

If you’re not big on volume (har har, pun) and you’re looking for a nice daytime mascara to get you through summer, I definitely recommend Australis Extender Lash. I did get the waterproof formula so you will need a fairly strong cleanser to get it all off. I've been using Silk Naturals Apricot Cleansing Oil followed by my HG OHWTO Black Magic face soap and it leaves my face super-duper-uber clean, but not feeling squeaky/stripped.

Lid/browbone shade: 'Browbone' shade from Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette.
Crease: 'Eyelid' shade from Comfort Zone.
Primer: Australis
Liner: 'Crease' shade from Comfort Zone.
Waterline: Nyx JEP in Milk
Mascara: Australis Extender Lash
Make-up applied approx. 8am, photos taken approx. 7:30pm (touch-up on inner corners done 3:30pm with eyeshadow palette and clean finger).

Love what it does to my bottom lashes!

Nekky lashes to compare.

Minimal creasing = happy Jade!

If anybody would like to see a more detailed vibrancy and wear face-off between TFSI and Australis EP, please let me know, and I’ll do it when I’m NOT at work and can use something a bit brighter! I also need to test out Pixie Epoxy over the primer. Hopefully there won't be any compatability issues.

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, ten hours later:

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.