Small Barry M order and about eyelid primers

Hiya pickles!

When Barry M had a 20% off voucher code recently I bought a few bits and bobs.

I thought I'd see if Darling Girl glitter glue works on other loose shadows other than their own (it was the nearest primer to hand) and the answer is a resounding yes. 

You can see you get a more vibrant shade over the glitter glue.

DD102 is a multi faceted burgundy-black colour. Patted on you see more of the burgundy (which they spell burgandy), but swiped on in a circular movement, as I did to swatch, you see more black. To get the most stunning results from this complex colour you'd be best to use DG glitter glue like I did here - or another good eyelid primer - and pat on the shadow, rather than swiping it on, using a flat 'lay down' brush for example. A lay down brush is simply that, a brush to lay down/pat shadow on with. It is not used to blend colour across the lid. You'd need a separate blending brush for that. A primer facilitates being able to pat on shadow to emphasize and bring out complexities, as it has a slightly sticky finish for the shadow to adhere to.

With complex colours like this one, you can actually achieve two looks using the same colour. You could lay down colour over your lid with a flat brush making the most of the burgundy shift in its un-blended state, then you could use a fluffy blending brush (using a windscreen wiper movement) in the crease of your eye which would show up the black tones. As well as Barry M, many indie companies do fabulous multi-toned loose eyeshadow, Darling Girl Cosmetics being the best of the best in that field in my opinion.

Whilst I'm on the subject of primers there are several eyelid primers available. Sometimes they're called eyeshadow primers. Same difference, I say. I use Too Faced Shadow Insurance sometimes, which is another fab eyelid primer. It retails for about £16.50, but I picked my tube up on ebay for about £6. It slightly improves the look of my eyelids (my upper lids near my brows tend to look a bit bumpy from the constant plucking of my wannabe monobrow) and you don't have any immediate rush to apply shadow, like you would with say ELF's eye primer. elf's primer is very effective with a view to longevity (as are TFSI and DG glitter glue) but you have to work fast and it does mean blending well is more laboured. TFSI is a good all rounder. DG glitter glue looks like PVA glue and takes about 30 seconds to dry. You only need a tiny amount of product, literally the tiniest squeeze of the tube will do both eyes.

PROS & CONS

Darling Girl glitter glue Pros - really makes shadows pop, inexpensive ($6.75), a little goes a long way, non-irritating (to me.) Cons - none found thus far. (This is my newest primer so I will report back in a couple of months.)

TFSI - Pros - available in many finishes, non irritating (to me), smooths the lid, a little goes a long way, lasts on the eye all day. Cons - expensive if bought through proper channels.

elf primer - Pros - cheap (£1.50), non irritating (to me), available in many finishes. Cons - dries pretty solid, you have to work fast, blending is a bit difficult.

I haven't mentioned one of the most raved about eye primers yet - Urban Decay Primer Potion, because it irritates the bejesus out of my eyes. I'm cry like a hayfever sufferer within 2 minutes of applying it and it doesn't stop until I take it off. Out of the 3 primers I've mentioned, the elf primer is the most similar in consistency to UDPP. Obviously for the reason it affects my eyes so badly I can't recommend it, but many people get on with it just fine. With all things, personal trial and error comes into play here, so have a try of a couple of primers depending on your budget and see how you get on.

Do you use eyelid primer? Have you tried one you'd like to recommend me?

I'll have swatches of the 3 nail polishes for you soon.

Thanks for reading!