January 12, 2009

Hooray for Urban Decay!  How can a company with only two products in my makeup drawer have an enormous impact on my daily makeup routine?  I don't have the popular Urban Decay Lounge or YDK Eyeshadows, Greed Lip Envy, Midnight Cowboy Lipstick, or Catfight Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in my stash.  Nothing but two little beauties: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils.  I don't like to say a product is life-changing, but these guys are incredible!

LilSis and I talk all the time about what MAC eyeshadow snobs we are, but without a good eyeshadow base, we'd be cheating ourselves out of a lot that a high quality product has to offer.  A good eyeshadow primer will grab onto your shadow, and enable it to last longer while intensifying the vibrancy of the color.  Fading and creasing will become an instant thing of the past!

Even with a great eyeshadow like MAC, you still have plenty to gain by taking a few extra seconds to apply a base.  I resisted adding another step to my morning routine, but I finally caved and tried some products that were recommended to me as base: MAC Paint in Base Light, Bourjois Survolteel Waterproof Eyeshadow in Beige, and Bourjois Shimmering Shine Liquid Eyeshadow in Beige Metallique.  As far as I can see, these particular Bourjois products aren't available any more.  My experience is that they're all great as long-lasting shadows, and I especially like them for muggy summer days when my chances of creasing climb to 100% along with the humidity.  As a base for other shadows though, I think they're too thick, plus they bring color and shimmer with them so any shadow you put on top of them is going to change.  Maybe for the better, but it's going to change.  Plus, it takes me way too long to get the application even and smooth, and I just don't have that kind of time (or patience) in morning crunch-time.

Urban Decay Primer Potion

I much prefer the invisible Urban Decay Primer Potion.  The Primer Potion goes on clear and you can't even tell you have it on.  You use a very very small amount;  I spread it around quickly with a small concealer brush but you could smooth it on with a fingertip if you wanted to.  Then apply your eyeshadow on top as usual.  You won't believe how much difference it makes!  Today, I put my makeup on at 6:30 am, worked all day, worked out at the gym, did a bunch of errands, took care of the furkids, made dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and at 9:00 pm, my eyeshadow looks like I just put it on!  I'm SO not kidding!  The color is true and there is literally NO creasing!  Try this Primer Potion now!  It may be the best $16 I've every spent on a product.  I agree that the cutesy container leaves a lot of product inaccessible, but you can do what Clumps of Mascara does, and hack into it!  That's what I'm going to do!

The other Urban Decay product I'm crazy about is their 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil.  I like automatic pencil eyeliners usually because I don't like fiddling around with a sharpener whenever the pencil loses it's point,  but I'm willing to make an exception for the 24/7, which is a normal-needs-sharpening pencil.  This super-creamy pencil glides on like butter, and then you have 30 seconds or so to smudge it around or blend it as you wish.  Then it's ON baby for the rest of the day!  No fading, no disappearing, no creasing.  It's totally waterproof, but disappears easily at bedtime with a swish of Lancome's Bi-Facil.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil

I have the Glide-On Pencil in 4 colors and none of them are boring.  I have 1999 (plum with teeny gold glitter), Bourbon (brown with teeny gold glitter), Lucky (brilliant deep copper), and Covet (peacock green).  My favorites are Bourbon and Lucky.  Bourbon is a great snappy bronzy brown, but don't be afraid of the glitter…I wouldn't even call it glitter.  It's just a little pizzazz!  Lucky is a fabulous color for blue eyes!  Try it!  1999 doesn't show up much on my skin, so it needs a deeper shadow color on top of it, which I always do anyway to help set any liner pencil I use.  I'm not sure what to do with Covet, maybe someone can give me a suggestion of how a blue-eyed person can wear peacock green liner without looking like a peacock.  I have my eye on a couple of other colors:  Underground (metallic taupe), and Ransom (deep purple with subtle silver sparkle) or Lust (bright iridescent purple).  At $16 each, you can afford to try some fun colors, even if like me you need a little guidance in wearing them!

You can order Urban Decay through their web site, but you can also find their products at Ulta, Sephora and department stores.

~BigSis