Review: BareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer

I recently gave my sample of BareMinerals Prime Time foundation primer a try and well....

.....it sucked.

The first time I tried it, I used it under Majolica Majorca Skin Remaker Pore Cover pressed powder foundation, and it was a nightmare to use. Everything was gunking and caking up, and I looked like a moulting lizard. Ok...but that's a very heavy coverage foundation, so maybe that was the issue. Let's try with my super easy to use, light coverage Face Shop BB Cushion that always makes me look dewy and glowing!

Well...this is what happened.

What.

Isn't primer supposed to make my foundation apply better, not worse?

Even my best attempt to blend it out isn't that great, and I ended up with stubborn streaks that I couldn't blend out:

Help me.

Oh and look at the difference between both sides of my face at the end of the day:

Mother of creases...

So yes, I tossed this into the bin.

Rating: 0/5

Would repurchase? Only at gunpoint.

Tutorial: Negative Space Cut Crease, Fading Liner

Hi everyone! So this is an entry for Sephora Indonesia's blogging competition, where I'm supposed to create a makeup tutorial for how to use Sephora's Virtual Artist. So with Sephora's Virtual Artist, you can take any pic and test out how different lipsticks would look like on you! No more holding your hand up next to your lips, trying to guess if that lipstick you swatched on your hand would look as good on your lips!

I'm one of those people who'll end up mixing 20 different lipsticks together because I suck at picking lipsticks that go with my eye makeup, so Sephora's Virtual Artist is perfect for me. Let's get on to the tutorial!

So here's the tutorial for the eye, it's super simple:

1. Apply purple eyeshadow  in a rough wing shape above your "eye line" and then blend in a purple eyeshadow underneath. If the idea of blending 2 colours together is too intimidating for the first try,  you can stick to 1 colour.

2. Soak a cotton bud in eye makeup remover and erase out a "crease". I like this erasing method because the swiping motion also creates a super sharp wing tip!

3. Line your yes with eyeshadow..this look is super dramatic so eyeshadow is softer and less jarring than liquid liner.

4. Grab a cotton pad soaked in eye makeup remover, fold it in half, place it where you want the base of your wing to be, and swipe up. And that's it!

Now for the face. This is the order I do my makeup, and I'm going to explain why I'm doing it this way...

Undereye Concealer

I like applying this in light feathering motions to avoid caking it up. I apply it in a triangular shape underneath my eye because this is more flattering than on just my dark circles. I end up looking more awake! Blend this out with a beauty blender!

Foundation

I apply foundation next since this helps match the undereye concealer with my skin, and I don't end up with a stark, white triangle under my eyes. I'm also applying this before concealer so I can see what my foundation can cover on its own before I start going nuts with concealer. The more concealer you use, the more your face can look cake-y. I'm also using one of those BB air cushion puffs to apply this, and this gives me such a skin-like finish, just like when I'm using a beauty blender!

Concealer

Only apply on the spots your foundation can't conceal and blend it away with a beauty blender!

Blush

Since I'm having a great skin day, I'm using a cream blush that gives me a very natural, translucent flush. I'm applying it in a circle right under my eyes and blending it outwards because I'm going crazy over this blush placement lately! It makes me look way younger and more wide eyed!


Finally, it's time to figure out what lipstick to use with Sephora's Virtual Artist!

So here's how you use this. First of all, head to Sephora's Virtual Artist page and click on the big button you'll see there:

Click this:

Take a selfie or take a pic (make sure your lips are bare!):

The program will automatically detect the outline of your lips, and you can move these round buttons around to further refine it:

And that's it! Just pick the colour you like!

If the choices are too overwhelming, you can either let Sephora's Virtual Artist pick a random colour:

Or you can also filter by colour:

Tra-daaaah!

Still confused over the choices? You can compare which one's the best!

This option is sooo bad for me, because I end up wanting all 4....

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Let me know if there's any other tutorial you want!

Review & Swatches: 6 Eccentric Cosmetics Liquid Matte Lipstick

Eccentric Cosmetics makes the BEST eye primer ever, so when I heard a reformulation was happening, I panicked and went shopping ASAP. That's how I ended up buying a bunch of their liquid matte lipsticks (er....I was saving on shipping?). Kilimanjaro was included as a free sample (I really went nuts shopping), but everything else I bought oh my own.

So here are the swatches of the 6 liquid matte lipstick shades I got!

A photo posted by Francesca (@workingwithmonolids) on Oct 6, 2016 at 7:12am PDT

A photo posted by Francesca (@workingwithmonolids) on Oct 5, 2016 at 7:31pm PDT

Formula-wise, they're really drying like most mattes. Wear time isn't that great for how drying it is –a couple of hours only and won't survive through a meal. A couple of colours are unfortunately streaky, and this is something I noticed in Eccentric Cosmetics' darker colors since I first started purchasing these. That's why I tend to try a sample out first for the dark colours. The good thing is that the streakiness isn't too obvious when zoomed out!

The two metallic colours, Salar de Uyuni and Door to Hell are just for fantastic. I can't properly capture how metallic they look, it's just soooo gorgeous and I wish I got Door to Hell in a full size! They go opaque and smooth with just one swipe, so these are really winners formula-wise. Oh, and if you rub them, more of the metallic gold will pop out!

Notre Dame is another favorite of mine. It's really sheer, but that's what makes it amazing for layering. Just dab it in the middle of your lips and instant gorgeousness!