Primer face-off: Urban Decay Primer Potion vs Too Faced Shadow Insurance

I used to think that there wasn't much point to primer, surely some concealer could do the same thing? When I caved and bought Too Faced Shadow Insurance (TFSI) I was amazed. My eyeshadows looked brighter and lasted ALL day. This led me to question whether the other highly regarded primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP), was of the same quality. 

TFSI (left) and UDD (right). I have the mini sized UDPP that came with the Naked palette. The second picture is to show the difference in applicator - TFSI is a squeeze tube with a tip and UDPP is a sponge applicator. Personally, I prefer the applicator tip of TFSI.

I have labelled which eye has which primer. They are roughly the same amount, in the picture it looks like I have less TFSI on but its more of a large blob - UDPP spreads out more. I rubbed the primer in other my eyelid and up to my brow bone. 

Here is a quick look I've done using the Naked palette (if you're interested in the colours I used, just ask in the comment box below, thanks!). The reason I'm showing you this is to illustrate that the vibrancy of shadows is the same for both eyes. Also, this will be a comparison photo for the next lot of photos.

I'll give you a quick run down of what I did from the time of application until I took the next photos 8 hours later. Quickly went to the shops to grab a few groceries, made dinner and then went to a friends house for a small get together. 

This is how my eyeshadow looks at 11pm, about 8 hours later - still look pretty vibrant right? I've had to use a flash here because of the time.

Hmm...do you see what I see? It may not be that evident but there is definitely a crease on the UDPP lid when you compare it to the other lid! 

I can't say that one is better than the other as there are probably a multitude of confounding factors that could have caused the UDPP lid to crease. I prefer TFSI and from these photos, I think it works best for me.

Tell me about your favourite eyeshadow primer!

Does Naked 2 work for warmer skin tones?

Not as much as the original Urban Decay Naked palette.

I'm not saying that it doesn't work at all, but the original Urban Decay Naked palette is probably better suited for warmer/darker skin tones in my opinion.

I have done some swatches of Naked 2 to illustrate my point...

Here it is! I do love the packaging of it. Urban Decay never fails to impress. Oh, and if you're wondering what nail polish I'm wearing, it's 'Come to Bed Red' by Butter London.

And this is what the inside looks. The mirror is much larger and more practical than the one of the original Naked. Something I've noticed (other bloggers have mentioned it too) is that because of the big mirror, the palette doesn't always sit flat! The weight of the mirror pulls it back. Anyway, I like the double ended brush - the fluffy end I use for blending and the flat end for applying colour. 

Swatches in light - this doesn't really sell the palette does it? You can see that the first half of the palette are the lighter shades.

This picture probably does the palette more justice. Again, the first few shades don't show up that well but there are some really gorgeous colours here. Chopper, the rose gold and YDK are my favourites. Foxy and Bootycall can be used as highlight colours. Tease is what I use as a crease/transition colour, and I use either Busted and/or Blackout for deepening the outer corner of my eye. 

I was actually quite surprised when I did these swatches, the colours are more of a cooler tone. 

This is a look I have done using Naked2. I've used Busted (the purple) for the outer corners and chopper for the lid colour, Foxy as the inner colour and highlight.

If you want to see swatches of the original Naked palette against my skin, please have a look at my post comparing MUA undressed and Naked.

http://allherprettylittlethings.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/mua-undressed-naked-palette-dupe.html

Thanks for reading :)

MUA Undressed - The Naked palette dupe?

If you're not living under a rock, I'm sure you will have heard about the Naked palette by Urban Decay. Aside from it's stunning packaging, the product itself does not fail to deliver with highly pigmented shadows in an array of gorgeous neutrals. 

I'm sold!

Oh, but wait. It comes with a hefty price tag. Not to mention that it is quite difficult to buy if you're living in Australia like myself. You can try sites such as Beauty Bay and HQ Hair (as the UD site does not ship here - as far as I know), or have a gamble and buy one from Ebay, which is what I did. 

Or...

You can opt for a dupe. An excellent dupe for Naked is the Makeup Academy (MUA) Undressed palette. MUA are a UK cosmetics brand, picking up blogger interest everywhere because of their affordable yet high quality products. The Undressed palette retails for 4 pounds (around $6-7AUD), much more affordable than $55AUD (on average) for Naked.

If you are interested in the Naked palette, read this first! MUA is definitely a valid option. 

THIS is what the MUA Undressed palette looks like. It is roughly 14cm x 7.5cm. The Naked palette is about 20cm x 7cm. I included the sizing because I find sometimes when shopping online, the products look deceptively larger in the images. 

This is what the inside looks like. Gorgeous, shimmery shades!

As you can see, they have included a double ended sponge applicator. Nothing special but I do find myself using it to pack on colour. Are you getting excited yet? Time for some swatches...

Please note that I do have an Indian skin tone! This is the first time I did swatches so it is a bit wonky. Anyway, as you can see they are gorgeous pigmented shades, but the matte shades (shade 3 and 5) - not so much.

Now for comparison swatches...

The labels are self explanatory. As you can see, there is a lot of similarity between the first 4 shades of each palette.  Seems I didn't have much luck with Shade 3/Naked (the matte shades) but they are fairly close to my skin colour. Also Shade 4 vs Sidecar are a little different. I would say Sidecar is a little more taupe like whereas MUA Shade 4 has a hint of pink to it.

Again, similar labels. Shade 5/Buck are matte shades and the difference is minimal. Shade 6 and Half Baked is where the difference is noticeable. Personally, I prefer the MUA Shade 6 - look at that gorgeous rich gold! Half Baked is also lovely, but I do enjoy the warmer shade more. Smog it a bit deeper brown than Shade 7. And I think we can conclude that Shade 8/Darkhorse are close enough.

The last 4 shades of each palette. Shade 9 is more pink/purple toned than Toasted. Other than that, the last shades are all very close.

In conclusion, the MUA Undressed palette is an excellent product for the price tag. I use it more than the Naked palette, because I prefer some of the shades. If I had to pick out a negative, I would say I experience more fall out than I do with Naked and it is a little annoying to end up with glittery rings below my eyes. But don't let that stop you!

Here is a quick look I have done with Undressed, shade 4 all over the lid, then shade 10 and 11 to deepen the outer V.

What are your thoughts? Would you buy the MUA palette?
Also, this is my first blog post - any constructive criticism/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!