Primer Parade: ELF Primer in Sheer & NYX Eye-shadow Base in Skin-Tone

Hello beautiful dolls! Today’s post is just to share with you two of the eye-shadow primers I tried out within the last year and how well these worked for me. They are both available locally in Trinidad and you can buy online at their websites too.

My first primer was the ELF eyelid primer in sheer 7501. This was actually another item purchased online from the ELF cosmetics website. This was from my first order with them. A quick note about purchasing online is that they do take a bit longer (about 2 weeks) to deliver the items than other shopping websites such as Amazon. 

From using this with any eye-shadows it does indeed make the colour pop. A little test is to do a swatch of your colour with and without primer (which will shows the popping colour) on your hand and then try to remove gently with your fingers. This shows that the eye-shadow with the primer has more staying power so the longer lasting claim from ELF is true.

From left to right: ELF Primer in Sheer (not blended out), ELF green eye-shadow with ELF primer & ELF green eye-shadow only

 

For me the nude colour is great since it doesn’t alter the colour of your shadow much and blends into my medium dark skin tone well. Just to note it can look off-white if not blended. A little works on the entire eye area.  The primer is not tacky and using your fingertips or the doe foot applicator to blend into the eyelid area makes a matte appearance. I wore the primer under the ELF eye-shadow duo in butter pecan and after 5 hours there was no eye-shadow creasing. Since I have small Asian eyes I usually have a migration of my eye-shadow colour into my crease at the end of my day.

Do I like it, love it, leave it or it’s just OK: Verdict- I like it. It does what it is suppose to do and is inexpensive for this shopaholic on a budget.

Price & Where to get this??? ELF website for 1US$. You can also try sourcing it from the ELF cosmetics Trinidad group on Facebook and other local distributors of ELF such as Magical Makeup in Trincity Mall, The Chic Clique in Chaguanas or even Excellent Stores where they have these ELF booths.

 

Now onto my second primer, NYX Eye-shadow base in Skin tone ESB03. As the name suggests this is a skintone colour. Nyx also has two other colours of this base (white and pearly). This one comes in a small pot that reminds me of the MAC gel liner glass pots but this pot is made of hard plastic instead. There is no applicator here so you can either use your fingers (just be aware of contamination) or find a synthetic brush to apply this creamy product. I tend to use my concealer brushes for this since it has a rounded top so it covers the eyelid area and under brows well.

Just like the ELF primer the colour blends in nicely with my skin colour creating a matte finish. You don’t need a lot of this product or else you may find some difficulty blending some eye shadow colours, especially matte ones and it will end up gathering in the creases of your eye. I’m talking from experience here! It doesn’t bother me but this base does have a plastic type scent. 

From left to right: Green ELF eye-shadow only, ELF eye-shadow with NYX primer and NYX Primer only.

 

Do I like it, love it, leave it or it’s just OK: Verdict- I love it. The pot is super cute and contains enough product to last me a long time even with every day usage. The matte finish is lovely and this primer really brings out the colour of the eye-shadow without altering the tone.

Price & Where to get this??? I got mine at Wonderful World for TT$58 but it is also available at NYX online; www.NYXcosmetics.com

Conclusion: They both work pretty well as primers but I do favour the NYX base more for daily use. It has way more product in the small pot than in the ELF primer tube so I can see this lasting a longer time. Even though I don’t have the MAC painterly paint pot to compare the NYX base looks very close to its colour and of course packaging.

Stay tuned for the white primers in my stash!

XOXO

Naomi