FOTD with Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows in Chestnut and Pale Barley

After my purchases of Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows in Pale Barley and Chestnut, I am finally putting them to good use over the weekend when me and BC head out for lunch cum movie date.

First and forthmost, please pardon the messy brows, I badly need threading. Secondly, please also pardon my lousy application skills as I still think the shadows look weird after looking at the pic for a few times.

After prepping the lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I applied Pale Barley about 2/3 of the lid starting from the inner corner. Using MAC 217 fluffy brush, I tried to create an outer V using Chestnut, blending in. With tonnes of blending, this is the end product.

I am extremely pleased with the lasting power of the Burberry eyeshadows as coupled with a primer, they lasted a good 10 hours on my oily lids while we were out. Not only were the texture smooth and buttery, they are also pigmented and extremely blendable. I have only 1 word for them.... "LOVE"!!

Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in DayDream

One of the product that I purchased from Zuneta.com previously was Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in DayDream. It has received much raves from beauty bloggers who were able to lay their hands on it. Honestly, I did not know what was the rave about until I got it, saw it and swatch it.

The plastic case looks a little bit understated and simple and do not have the statement that Chanel creates even though their product was housed in a plastic case. However, what lies IN the case is the treasure.

The bronzer with slight golden shimmers has 'EB' embossed in it and it looks lovely. When swatched, the texture is smooth and feels satiny. It gives a very subtle glow, which is the effect from the shimmers in it. This is definitely a perk me up especially for ladies who had a long night the night before, it will definitely give you the glow back!

As usual, I tried to do some comparison with my pathetic stash (again!!!) and I only have 2 other bronzers: MAC Pink Power (Wonder Woman Collection) and Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer.

MAC Pink Power, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer, EB Ultra Luminous Bronzer

Swatches taken under lighting

As you can see from the swatches above, MAC Pink Power has a more orangey undertone, whereas Too Faced Chocolate Soleil and EB DayDream is closer in terms of colour (more brown and bronzy).

 

You can also see that the shimmer in EB DayDream is almost non-existent, no thanks to my lousy camera and thus it looks almost the same as Too Faced Chocolate Soleil but trust me, it is different! 

I have never know the difference in my bronzers until I did this comparison and what can I say??? There is a GOOD reason why beauty bloggers rave about EB Daydream! :)

Eyeshadow primers

For many years, I do not know what is the purpose of eyeshadow primer. In fact, I always find the sales assistant over the counter is only trying to sell me an extra item in order to make more money. Then I realise that whatever eyeshadows that I applied on my lids always do not last long and will fade by mid day. It doesn't help that I have combination skin that makes makeup slip off my face (eyelids included) much faster than normal so I have been troubled by HOW the eyeshadows can last longer.

My close makeup pal, T told me that a primer is indeed very important and showed me how the colours on her lids look brighter and lasted almost the whole day with a primer. That's when I started seeing the importance of this small bottle / tube of cream!

Below are the 3 primers that I have tried.

From left: Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Each products does a good job in making my eyeshadow last longer but there are difference in their texture and packaging and this will be what I am reviewing it.

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

This eye primer is the cheapest of the lot, and especially if you can get directly from Korea! My best pal, V got it for me from Seoul and she also cannot remember how much she paid for it then. Several blogshops I found selling this eye primer is selling around $13.50 - $15.00.

The applicator comes in a straight wand which 'scoops' out the primer from the 'vase shaped' container. Among the 3 primers here, Etude House primer is thickest in consistency which makes it harder to blend to my lids evenly. It also doesn't last as well as other primers whereby I can see the eyeshadow fading after 4 - 5 hours.

There is no absolute correct way to apply a primer. Some applies directly on the lids, while others scoop out the content and place it at the back of the palm, before dabbing it on the eyelid evenly. For me, I use both ways, depending on my mood, haha.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

I got the travel size of the highly raved Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion when I purchased Naked Palette from Sephora. There were so much raves about this primer and the only rant is regarding the shape of the container (similar to Etude House Proof 10 Primer).

Urban Decay heard the rants of her customers and changed their wand to be angled which makes it easier to scoop out the content from the side of the container. Texture of this primer is much smoother than Etude House and makes application and blending much easier. Eyeshadow also lasts longer whereby I do not experience fading and fall out until 6 hours later. My only complaint is still the shape of the container as I will not know when I am going to complete this item and I actually read from forums that they SAW this container open to make sure they do not waste anything!

Sephora in Singapore only carry the 10ml primer which comes in this weird shape and retails at $32. It does have a professional size (25ml) that comes in a squeeze tube but I have not seen in local Sephora stores (not sure if I have not been looking at it hard enough, lol).

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Finally, this is a primer that comes in a squeeze tube form which is absolutely more convenient to use and ensure no wastage.

The weird thing about this primer is that whenever I squeeze out the primer, there seems to be a layer of 'oil' as well (you can see from the shiny content in the pic above, which is separate from the beige cream). I tried shaking the tube before use and it doesn't seem to help. Not sure if this is a problem in this product or because this tube I bought is from an older batch. It is extremely smooth and easy to blend (perhaps because it has a high proportion of silicon in it) and similar to Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, it helps my shadows to last a good 6 hours. It is retailing at $28 at Sephora.

To date, I am not sure which primer I will re purchase if I complete the current stash because all of which has their pros and cons. Definitely not Etude House though.......