Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Urban Decay Primer Potion VS. Too Faced Shadow Insurance

My very first eyeshadow primer was Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It was shortly after I had seen my first makeup tutorial on YouTube by MissJessicaHarlow. It was a gorgeous green smokey eye look, and I was completely hooked. I've been obsessed by everything related to makeup ever since.
Similar in length

In the video, she used Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Every time I window shopped at Sephora I would stare at TFSI with drool on my mouth. Alas, it made my wallet fearful. So one day, I picked up UDPP on a whim instead because at the time, it was less expensive. I had never even heard of it until after I bought it.

I must say, I fell in love!!! It was my first experience wearing eyeshadow that lasted for any length of time. On one new years eve, I had done my makeup for a family party, and I was booked for a flight to Cuba at 6 am on the 1st. I didn't bother going to sleep that night, and when we finally landed in Cuba that afternoon, my mom asked me when I had done my makeup. When I replied "yesterday", she couldn't believe how flawlessly it had lasted! Neither could I. I have oily eyelids yet my makeup did not crease at all. It never has any other time I used it.
You can see where the bottle chipped :(

I bought it in the original packaging which was similar to a lip gloss tube. This was not ideal because the wand could not reach all of the product on the inside edges of the tube. I ended up wasting a lot of product also because the tube itself was made of a softer plastic and little pieces shipped off. Lots of primer dried up.
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Close-up
Eventually, after watching hundreds of xsparkage videos, I decided to try TFSI out. I liked it more than I thought I would. It was more moisturizing than UDPP, and I felt like it was a bit smoother, too. Maybe even easier to apply and blend it into the skin, and the eyeshadow too. However, it is much thinner than UDPP, and I feel like its barrier between my skin and my eye makeup is not as strong. The oils in my skin wore through it after a few hours, but once it started to crease even a little, that was as bad as it got.

New packaging of Urban Decay Primer Potion
More product...hopefully not to be wasted










So I bore minor creasing for around a year. This is my first tube, and it still has about half the product left in it.

Then, Urban Decay did a Wonderful thing... They redesigned their packaging!!! *APPLAUSE*
Hello!

It is similar to the TFSI tube, but fatter. The hole is larger in the UDPP, so I have to be careful not to squeeze out too much product.
UDPP contains 0.37 oz and retails for 19$. That means 0.01947 oz per dollar.
TFSI contains 0.35 oz and retails for 18$. That means 0.01944 oz per dollar. Urban Decay gives you (hardly) more for your money.
 I have read on Musings of a Muse's blog that the product may dry up faster in the new packaging because air is being pumped into it. Somehow, I think this is more true for a lip gloss-styled tube. Only time will tell which is true. So far, the squeeze tube is very convenient and I already love the product itself.
Victory is yours, UDPP!
Overall, I think Urban Decay wins on this one. My eyeshadow lasts for an obscene amount of time when I use it, and that is really all I need my primer to do. I may continue to use my TFSI in the winter and on other people because it is more moist, but for heavy-duty wear, UDPP is the best for me. For dryer and more mature skin, TFSI might work better.
UDPP is available on Urban Decay's website for 19$.
TFSI is available on the Too Faced website for 18$.

3 comments:

  1. I must be putting my primer potion wrong. I bought the UDPP from ebay (its real I promise) and immidiately when i put it on I crease, so I have to wait for it do dry, blend again away the creasing and put powder on top and despite that I still get a little creasing after a few hours. It is def. better than nothing because wow it has had my eyeshadow lasting for more than 2 hours but still. Am I doing something wrong?

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    Replies
    1. It is possible the formula got a bit separated during shipping. If it's in the squeeze tube, try massaging it around to mix it back up if it's too liquidy. If you're just applying a small dab, not much bigger than the end of a pencil, there shouldn't be a creasing problem. UDPP lasts over 8 hours for me, and I have VERY oily lids, is it possible you may have a bit too much moisturizer on your lids first?
      That's all I can think of... if not, maybe it's not the right primer for you, which surprises me because I've only ever heard of it creasing on one person, easyaccessbeauty on Youtube. Other than that, maybe you got a bad batch?
      Good luck :)

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  2. I also have very oily eyelids, and it's hard to get my eyeshadow to stay in place. I was looking at these 2 primers, but I wasn't sure which one would be best. Thanks very much for the review, it helped a lot :)

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