Naturalla Beauty

For as long as I've been blogging, I've gotten questions about natural eye shadow primers.  Nobody wants to be walking around with creased eye shadow, so it's completely understandable why this comes up so often!  I've heard a lot of quick fix suggestions - using everything from lip balms to oil control powders and concealers as primers - but none of those have worked quite right for me.  It's been a bit of an epic search, with many primers and varied results, and while I don't still have all the ones I've tried on hand, I promised a comparison post of the ones I do, and today I'm finally going to deliver on that!  I wanted to see how these held up in the hotter, summer months, so now that it's officially fall, let's talk about the three primers I've currently got in rotation: Detrivore Cosmetics Original Eye Shadow Primer, Faerie Organic Forty Winks Eye Primer, and The All Natural Face "Magic" Vegan Eye Shadow Primer.



INGREDIENTS
In terms of ingredients, the Detrivore and Faerie Organic primers are fairly similar formulas, comprised mainly of oils and waxes.  Because they're oil-based and contain no water, no preservative is needed, although the Faerie Organic does contain vitamin E and rosemary, which will help extend the shelf-life.

The All Natural Face, on the other hand, is a water-based product, and as such, contains polyaminopropyl biguanide and potassium sorbate.  Potassium sorbate doesn't worry me, but I've had a difficult time finding clear information on polyaminopropyl biguanide, so I'm not sure how I feel about it as an ingredient.

Winner(s): Detrivore and Faerie Organic


APPLICATION
In terms of application, the Detrivore and Faerie Organic primers are, again, very similar.  Both are semi-solid creams that come in small pots and I like to apply them with my fingers.  The All Natural Face primer comes in a tube with a doe-foot applicator and, in that way at least, is more comparable to traditional primers like Urban Decay Primer Potion.  I use the wand to swipe it on, but again, I prefer to blend it out with a finger.  The Detrivore and All Natural Face primers have a slight tint initially, but once you blend them in, both become invisible.  The Faerie Organic leaves a sheer wash of white for you to apply your shadows on top of.

(L to R) Faerie Organic, Detrivore, The All Natural Face

The key for all three is not to use too much product.  What you're going for here is a thin, even layer that's just enough to give your eye shadow something to grip on to.  If you apply too much, everything gets goopy and you're back in hot mess territory.  Also keep in mind that the consistency of all three primers does change slightly depending on temperature - they are softer in warmer temperatures and more solid when it's cooler - so you'll need to tailor your application accordingly.

Winner(s): Comes down to personal preference.  No clear winner.


PERFORMANCE
Detrivore's primer is the tackiest of the three and it definitely makes shadows pop the most.  Most colors end up slightly darker and any shimmery shadows end up looking almost foiled.  It's the best at holding on to anything glittery and does an excellent job showcasing more complex and duochrome colors.  It doesn't fare as well with matte colors, which can end up looking a little patchy.

The All Natural Face's primer does very little.  Once it's blended out, it basically feels like you haven't applied anything.  Colors are unaltered and look basically the same as they would on bare skin.  Fallout can also be a problem with certain shadows, since there's not a lot going on to improve adhesion.

The Faerie Organic falls somewhere in the middle.  It dries to a powdery finish, so it doesn't serve as a tacky base like the Detrivore, but the white color does make your colors appear more vibrant.  I haven't had any problems with fallout.

Winner(s): Detrivore and Faerie Organic, depending on eye shadow color/finish.


WEAR
Faerie Organic blows everyone else out of the water in this area.  Wear time is a bit less in the summer, but in the colder months, I can easily make it through a 14-hour day with perfect eye makeup.  Ah-mazing.  Detrivore lasts about 8 hours in the winter before I start to see creasing, but it only makes it 4-5 in the summer.  The All Natural Face only gives me a wear time of around 4 hours, regardless of the time of year.

Winner(s): Faerie Organic


MOMENT OF TRUTH
Faerie Organic is definitely the primer I reach for the most, and on an everyday basis, that's what's on my eyes.  For more complex, duochrome shadows or anything with lots of glitter, I opt for the Detrivore.  I'd happily repurchase both of these.  While I love other products from The All Natural Face and the primer is a hit for lots of people, it just didn't live up to my expectations.  It's something I rarely use and I won't be buying it again.


Have you tried any of these?  What's your favorite eye shadow primer?

I've already written about how much I love Bare Minerals' Bavarian Cream Lipcolor and it's still one of my favourite lipsticks.  I recently picked up another shade, on Ebay of all places.  I've never purchased cosmetics on Ebay before (or since, for that matter), but as long as you're buying new products from reputable sellers, I don't see any problem with it.  You can certainly find some good deals!  These lipsticks retail for $15 ($19 here in Canada) and I managed to get this one, brand new and sealed, for only $4!


Product Description
Some things are just naturally decadent — like our creamy, long-lasting lipcolors, which are made from only the best all-natural ingredients. That means no artificial dyes, preservatives or irritants whatsoever. Instead, our nourishing blend combines pure bareMinerals, exotic oils, natural waxes and conditioning plant extracts. Think of it as healthy nutrition for your lips.

Ingredients
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Barium Sulfate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Gardenia Tahitensis Flower Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Tocopheryl Acetate, Punica Granatum Seed Oil, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Silica, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Hordeum Vulgare Seed Extract, Tocopherol, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Mica, Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470)

My Thoughts 
In terms of formula and how this feels on the lips, it's very comparable to Bavarian Cream.  It's smooth, slightly waxy, and highly pigmented.  It doesn't dry out your lips and the colour also lasts a long time.  The main difference between the two is that while Bavarian Cream has a creamy/satin finish, Bellini is more of a frost.  It's not so frosty as to be unwearable, but the shimmer is definitely visible.  I also find that Bellini settles into my lip lines a lot more than Bavarian Cream and generally looks heavier on my lips too. I don't know if this is indicative of all the frosts in the line or if it's just Bellini, but there you have it!

FOTD

  

 Face
> Honeybee Gardens Pressed Mineral Foundation in Geisha
> Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar in Light Peach

Eyes
> Detrivore Cosmetics Eye Shadow Primer
> Shiro Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Baker's Boy
> Madd Style Cosmetics Eye Shadow in Secret Sinner
> Zuzu Luxe Mascara in Onyx 

Lips
> Bare Minerals 100% Natural Lipcolor in Bellini
  
Similar Shades
For an extra treat, I've got an embarassing confession for you.  Apparently peachy/pinks are shades I feel the need to purchase repeatedly.  Turns out, I already had several other lip products that are similar to Bellini, and to make matters worse, these aren't even shades I reach for all that often!

(L to R) Bare Minerals Bellini, Honeybee Gardens Innocent Lip Gloss, Zuzu Luxe Sazerac Lipstick, Silk Naturals Berry Crush Kisser Slicker

See what I mean?  Sure, none of them are exact dupes of one another and Bellini is darker and more opaque than the other three, but on the lips, they're all pretty alike.  Yikes!  On the bright side, now that I know, at least I can stop buying such similar colours!

The Bottom Line
In future, I think I'll stick to the less shimmery colours in this line, but that's just a personal colour preference.  I love that a big brand, mainstream company like Bare Minerals is making healthy lipstick without any chemical dyes, and while they aren't the cheapest lipsticks out there, the quality is good and they're pretty readily available.  Assuming you find a colour you like, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. 

Now I'm curious, are any of you guilty of buying duplicate colours or am I the only one? 

I know this post is almost two weeks late, so first off, I want to appologize for letting the blog lag for so long!  I started a new job right before the holidays and I've been working 6 out of 7 days, which hasn't left much time for blogging...or anything else for that matter!  It's been hectic, but things are settling down now, so I hope to be able to keep more on track with blogging again.

2011 was a big year for me in terms of trying new products.  After not using much makeup for the several years previous, I got a lot more into makeup towards the end of 2010 and have discovered a lot of great companies and products since then.  A lot of these I've reviewed before in more detail, in which case I'll link the original review in case you'd like more information.  Now, without further delay, onto my top 11 makeup picks of 2011:






1) Lucy Minerals Lucy Light Foundation in Light - I only discovered this towards the end of the year, but I've been wearing it pretty much every day since then.  It gives a really natural, flawless coverage and hasn't irritated my skin at all.  You can find my more detailed review here.


2) Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar Under Eye Concealer in Light Peach - This does a great job of hiding dark circles and also generally brightens the whole eye area.  I reviewed it here.

3) Detrivore Cosmetics Eye Shadow Primer - After a lot of searching for a natural eye shadow primer, I found Detrivore Cosmetics.  This primer does a great job of holding onto loose eye shadows.  It also decreases creasing and intensifies colors.  Detrivore has since released new primers in black and white that I'm interested in trying, but as of now, I've only used the original.  Full review is here.

4) Jade Esthetics Soothing (Jing) Eye Drops - I'm not sure if Jade Esthetics is still around.  I got these years ago from a naturopath I was seeing and recently rediscovered them.  I don't really use eye drops in the traditional sense, but after hearing about people using Visine as a foiling medium for mineral shadows, I decided to give this a try.  These are water based eye drops that contain only distilled water, aloe vera, eye bright, cineraria, and vitamin C, but I find they do a better job than straight water.  I tend to only foil eye shadows when I use them as eye liner and this makes them less likely to move or smudge throughout the day.

5) Zuzu Luxe The Mascara in Onyx - I tried a couple other mascaras in 2011, but this, which has been my go to mascara for the last several years, is still my favourite.  It's buildable and can create more dramatic lashes than other natural mascaras I've tried.  It also doesn't smudge, run or flake.  More details are here.

6) The Chequered Lily Apothecary Eye Shadow in #15 Neverwhere - You'll notice this is the only eye shadow that made it onto this list.  I'm a bit of an eye shadow junky and since I have far too many to choose from, I really like to vary what I use day to day.  In spite of that, I immediately fell in love with Neverwhere when I bought some samples from The Chequered Lily Apothecary during their Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale.  It's described as a "warm, dirty pinked-grey with pink and gold reflect," but to me it looks more like a medium golden brown with pink sparkles.  I mostly only buy eye shadow samples and I rarely even get through those, but I managed to use up Neverwhere already and was quick to buy a full size.  Review and swatches of The Chequered Lily will be coming up soon.


7) Young Living Lavender Lip Balm - I've tried a lot of lip balms recently and have actually been writing up a big lip balm comparison post that'll go up sometime in the next week or two, but I guess this will spoil the results early by revealing my top pick!  This is a really creamy lip balm with that perfect texture somewhere between overly thick and waxy and too thin or oily.  It does a great job keeping my lips hydrated, even in these dry winter months.

8) Revolution Organics Freedom Lip Gloss in Innocent - I won this a while back in a giveaway from The Healthy Beauty Project and I'm so glad I did!  It retails for $26, which is more than I'd be likely to spend on a lipgloss, so I doubt I would have tried it otherwise.  Ironically, at first I wasn't a huge fan of this gloss because of how sheer it is, but at some point I did a complete 180, because now I love it!  In fact, I just noticed I'm having to scrape the sides of the tube to get anything out and I'm so sad to see it run out!

9) LUVU Beauty Lip Liners in Classic Red, Blush and Candy - I really like using lip liners when I need my lip color to be long lasting.  I use these to fill in the whole lip and then top with a balm or gloss and I know my lip color will still be there hours later.  Blush is the most natural of these three, a mauvy-pink that's great for everyday.  Classic Red is, as the name implies, a classic, bright, pinup red shade.  More than any other lip colour, reds make me nervous, so I especially appreciate that this one won't smear or go anywhere.  Candy is a super bright fuschia.  Review and swatches are here.

10) Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural Lipstick in Soft Kiss - This is another product that stood out in 2011, even though I haven't had it for very long.  It's a beautiful baby pink color that is perfect with a smokey eye.  Soft Kiss is also creamier in texture than the other color I have in this lipstick, Karma.  Review and swatches of both colours are here.

11) Silk Naturals Lip Products - Saving the best for last, these are probably my favourite discovery of 2011.  I decided not to even try and pick specific colours.  Some colours get more use, but I actually use and genuinely like every single colour I have.  Silk Naturals has tons of colors to choose from and several formulas of lip products - kisser slickers, butter creams, vegan lipsticks, and liquid lip gloss to name a few - and I've liked all the formulas I've tried.  I went through a few of the different formulas in more detail here.  If you're in the market for new lip products, I definitely recommend giving Silk Naturals a try!

Phew!  That ended up being longer than I anticipated.  Looking back on these, I just realized almost half of these were lip products.  Oh well!

And because late is better than never - I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and wish you all the best for the new year :)

My favorite source for Zuzu Luxe/Gabriel products, but they also carry tons of other brands including Alima Pure, Priti NYC, and 100% Pure.  Makeup and more on sale November 24-January 1st. 

Photo from www.detrivorecosmetics.com