A couple of months ago I jumped onto the whole 'Testing Out Primark Makeup' thang that everyone was going mad for and did a couple of posts centred around exactly that. You may well remember them - here and here - but the other day I fancied going for another peruse around the Beauty department of my local store to see if there was anything else I wanted to give a go. And you know what? There was more than enough for me to put on trial and do a whole new post about. So, here goes...
First up is the Perfect Glow Primer (£3.00) and this claims to 'illuminate and smooth the skin and help to blur the appearance of skin imperfections'. I love a good glowy makeup product, and this one especially appealed to me due to the way it supposedly aids the texture of the complexion at the same time too. I do like to look radiant, but I also like my primer to actually do a good job at being a primer itself, so this seemed a good'un for that. On first application, it certainly has a slight silicone-y feeling to it (as is the norm with most primers), though I was impressed at how it didn't feel as slippery in texture in comparison to some others I've used before. It still had that moisturiser-type quality to it - something I personally look for in a primer - and you could definitely see a subtle shimmer running through the formula. It's not glittery, or chunky - just sheen-y - and this translates very well once onto the skin. It gives a gorgeous glow and my makeup applied and lasted very well throughout the day too - so this gets the thumbs up from me.
Next up, moving onto the 'finishing' aspects of the face. As soon as I got to the stand at my local Primark, I was instantly drawn into the highlighters. What's new, eh? I was intrigued by what Primark's offerings would be like in terms of that department, so of course I picked a couple of items up. First off, I plumped for the Strobing Kit - Highlighting Powder Palette (£4.00). This contains three illuminating powders inside, designed to 'sculpt the face to create a natural glow to dramatic highlight' and I was very excited to pick this up. The whole concept is kinda reminiscent of the Hourglass Ambien Lighting Powders, though obviously at a complete fraction of the price - but I was most intrigued to see if the product itself was as comparable as it seemed. Of course, I have not tried the Hourglass ones myself, but what from I know of them - they're basically setting powders which illuminate the skin, but in a super-subtle way. In this Primarni palette you get three different powders - a lighter one which is the most shimmer-filled, a more bronze-y hue and a mauve-toned shade which is the most natural, least shimmery of them all. The latter is probably my personal favourite of them all, for that very reason, though all of them are very pretty shades and are decently pigmented and don't feel too dusty - given the bargainous price. They're not the best quality powders I've ever tried, but they're definitely not the worst and I think I'll be getting a lot of use of this palette as a whole from now on. To go alongside that, I also picked up the Illuminate Cream Highlighter Kit (£4.00). Inside this little set you get five (yes, five!) cream illuminators and once again, they're all pretty lovely looking shades. I am a big fan of highlighters that come in cream form, as not only do they work well as a highlighter alone, they also work really well applied underneath your base makeup and also making for great bases for a powder highlighter to be applied on top of. As I said, this set is comprised of not just one - but five - different hues and the shade selection made me very eager indeed to give it a go. There's everything from your classic white-toned, icy highlighter, to some pinky tones, to a deep bronze and all pretty good sized pans too. The texture of all of the creams is nice and easy to apply and blend onto the skin and while they may not be the most pigmented out there, I like how you can sheer things out or build them up depending on your personal preference.
Eyes-wise, I spotted the Nudes Eyeshadow Palette (£4.00). I love a good eyeshadow palette - and even more so when it clocks in at such a bargainous price. However, being probably the most affordable out of everything in my current collection, I was intrigued to how it compared. Immediately, the main thing which encouraged me to get this palette was the shade selection. Inside you get eight different hues - and all of them seem very similar to some included in the famous Naked 3 from Urban Decay. Again, I personally do not own UD's offering, but of all the Naked palettes it is the one which I lust after the most and from what I've seen of it, there are definitely a few shades which on first appearance match up pretty well. I like the sleek packaging and how inside there is a proper (though perhaps not the best ever) brush as opposed to a sponge tip applicator. The pans are well-sized and you also get a good mirror inside too - as well as seven shimmer shades and one matte (there's a couple which look matte, but in reality aren't). When placing your brush in the pan, there's little to no kick-back of pigment and all of it seems to translate onto the brush. They're not the most pigmented eyeshadows I've used, but you can build them up to a decent level of colour and the layer and blend fairly well - something which I personally make me have more of a gripe with shadows when they fail to do so. The matte was a really nice shade to work with in fact, though the shimmers I did find to look a little 'flat' on the lid due to low pigmentation and so require some finger action (not what it sounds - promise) to achieve a more rich colour payoff. In the process of doing that, I could really tell how powdery these shadows were, but despite that, I don't think they performed too badly. Yes - they have lower pigmentation - but they're easy to build up and not that difficult to work with. And the colours are rather pretty too. Perhaps a good one if you're thinking of investing in the Naked 3 but want to test out some similar colours first?
Lastly, for lips, I picked up two shades of the Velvet Matte Lipstick Crayons (£2.00 each). This are in theory pretty comparable to the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils and all the other chubby lip crayons/pencils on the market at the moment. They come in a whole host of varying shades and I plumped for 'Mushroom' (a lilac-toned nude) and 'Hustle' (a deep, reddy brown). I couldn't choose between them, although they are both rather unique additions to my current collection - so here we are with them both included in this post. With these being in a pencil format, they double up as a lipstick and a lip liner in one - simply trace round the edge of your lips and fill them in and that's it - you're ready to go. The texture of these is really lovely actually - super creamy and easy to glide onto the lips and with that 'velvet matte' finish which is matte; but not matte, matte and so has decent longevity but without drying your lips out so much they resemble a prune. I really like both of these colours, but I especially love 'Hustle'. It's like a perfect cross between a nude and a bold lip (if that makes any sense at all) and it's got a gorgeous warm undertone which is super flattering on the complexion. Mwah!
All in all, I have to admit that of what I sampled from Primark Beauty in this post, it has once again impressed me. Of course, there are pro's and con's to the range - but considering how affordable everything is, they've done rather well at producing products which are still not half bad at all. I wonder if there's anything else I fancy giving a go...
Next up, moving onto the 'finishing' aspects of the face. As soon as I got to the stand at my local Primark, I was instantly drawn into the highlighters. What's new, eh? I was intrigued by what Primark's offerings would be like in terms of that department, so of course I picked a couple of items up. First off, I plumped for the Strobing Kit - Highlighting Powder Palette (£4.00). This contains three illuminating powders inside, designed to 'sculpt the face to create a natural glow to dramatic highlight' and I was very excited to pick this up. The whole concept is kinda reminiscent of the Hourglass Ambien Lighting Powders, though obviously at a complete fraction of the price - but I was most intrigued to see if the product itself was as comparable as it seemed. Of course, I have not tried the Hourglass ones myself, but what from I know of them - they're basically setting powders which illuminate the skin, but in a super-subtle way. In this Primarni palette you get three different powders - a lighter one which is the most shimmer-filled, a more bronze-y hue and a mauve-toned shade which is the most natural, least shimmery of them all. The latter is probably my personal favourite of them all, for that very reason, though all of them are very pretty shades and are decently pigmented and don't feel too dusty - given the bargainous price. They're not the best quality powders I've ever tried, but they're definitely not the worst and I think I'll be getting a lot of use of this palette as a whole from now on. To go alongside that, I also picked up the Illuminate Cream Highlighter Kit (£4.00). Inside this little set you get five (yes, five!) cream illuminators and once again, they're all pretty lovely looking shades. I am a big fan of highlighters that come in cream form, as not only do they work well as a highlighter alone, they also work really well applied underneath your base makeup and also making for great bases for a powder highlighter to be applied on top of. As I said, this set is comprised of not just one - but five - different hues and the shade selection made me very eager indeed to give it a go. There's everything from your classic white-toned, icy highlighter, to some pinky tones, to a deep bronze and all pretty good sized pans too. The texture of all of the creams is nice and easy to apply and blend onto the skin and while they may not be the most pigmented out there, I like how you can sheer things out or build them up depending on your personal preference.
Eyes-wise, I spotted the Nudes Eyeshadow Palette (£4.00). I love a good eyeshadow palette - and even more so when it clocks in at such a bargainous price. However, being probably the most affordable out of everything in my current collection, I was intrigued to how it compared. Immediately, the main thing which encouraged me to get this palette was the shade selection. Inside you get eight different hues - and all of them seem very similar to some included in the famous Naked 3 from Urban Decay. Again, I personally do not own UD's offering, but of all the Naked palettes it is the one which I lust after the most and from what I've seen of it, there are definitely a few shades which on first appearance match up pretty well. I like the sleek packaging and how inside there is a proper (though perhaps not the best ever) brush as opposed to a sponge tip applicator. The pans are well-sized and you also get a good mirror inside too - as well as seven shimmer shades and one matte (there's a couple which look matte, but in reality aren't). When placing your brush in the pan, there's little to no kick-back of pigment and all of it seems to translate onto the brush. They're not the most pigmented eyeshadows I've used, but you can build them up to a decent level of colour and the layer and blend fairly well - something which I personally make me have more of a gripe with shadows when they fail to do so. The matte was a really nice shade to work with in fact, though the shimmers I did find to look a little 'flat' on the lid due to low pigmentation and so require some finger action (not what it sounds - promise) to achieve a more rich colour payoff. In the process of doing that, I could really tell how powdery these shadows were, but despite that, I don't think they performed too badly. Yes - they have lower pigmentation - but they're easy to build up and not that difficult to work with. And the colours are rather pretty too. Perhaps a good one if you're thinking of investing in the Naked 3 but want to test out some similar colours first?
Lastly, for lips, I picked up two shades of the Velvet Matte Lipstick Crayons (£2.00 each). This are in theory pretty comparable to the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils and all the other chubby lip crayons/pencils on the market at the moment. They come in a whole host of varying shades and I plumped for 'Mushroom' (a lilac-toned nude) and 'Hustle' (a deep, reddy brown). I couldn't choose between them, although they are both rather unique additions to my current collection - so here we are with them both included in this post. With these being in a pencil format, they double up as a lipstick and a lip liner in one - simply trace round the edge of your lips and fill them in and that's it - you're ready to go. The texture of these is really lovely actually - super creamy and easy to glide onto the lips and with that 'velvet matte' finish which is matte; but not matte, matte and so has decent longevity but without drying your lips out so much they resemble a prune. I really like both of these colours, but I especially love 'Hustle'. It's like a perfect cross between a nude and a bold lip (if that makes any sense at all) and it's got a gorgeous warm undertone which is super flattering on the complexion. Mwah!
All in all, I have to admit that of what I sampled from Primark Beauty in this post, it has once again impressed me. Of course, there are pro's and con's to the range - but considering how affordable everything is, they've done rather well at producing products which are still not half bad at all. I wonder if there's anything else I fancy giving a go...
I always hover around the beauty section when I'm in Primark, but for some reason I never seem to pick anything up. I'll definitely make sure I get some pieces when I'm next there!
ReplyDeletelittleworldofbeka. xo
I'd definitely recommend going and having a look, there's some real bargains to be found for sure! X
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