Nicka K Perfecting Eyeshadow Primer Review

Hello my dears, and welcome back to my blog. How was your week?
Trinidad has been extremely hot and humid lately, and as a person who is prone to headaches and migraines, the humidity has been extremely annoying. I've been fighting headaches since Sunday, hence this week's post will be a bit short because I'm not feeling 100% but I refuse to miss a blog post.

Absolute New York Eyeshadow Primer by Nicka K

Absolute New York Eyeshadow Primer/ Nicka K Perfecting Eyeshadow Primer 

Price: $20-30TT

If you have been following me for a while, you know I've been hunting for a good, inexpensive eyeshadow primer that I can use to substitute for my beloved Urban Decay Primer Potion and Smashbox 24HR Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer. I tried the Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeshadow Primer and I hated it, so I decided to give this a try, and see if it was any good because I haven't really heard anything about it. 

• Packaging
• A sleek black tube, with a wand. Nothing special about the packaging on this product

Comes with a wand

• Product
• A creamy, beige primer, that is extremely lightweight and it blends very easily. However, if you're blending with your finger, it is very easy to over blend and remove the product, so I'd advise using a brush. I use the Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush just to lightly blending it all over the eye. 

   

  Light, creamy, beige primer

• Longevity
• This product lasts for 6-8 hours on the eye, in extremely hot and humid weather which is great! There was slight creasing around the 6 hour mark, but it's not very noticeable, unless you're looking into a mirror and examining every little detail of your makeup.

After an 8 hour work day, eyeshadow is still intact with negligible creasing

After two weeks of use, I've developed a fondness for this primer. Its blend-ability and virtual weightless on the eye, makes it the perfect primer for a busy work or school day, whether you want to rock eyeshadow or not. The beige colour is enough to even out and mattify the eyelids, so this primer with a bit of your face powder over the top, will work extremely well for your no eyeshadow days. I've been reaching for this more than my Urban Decay Primer recently, so that's how I know I enjoy this primer.

Summary:

1. Inexpensive - $20-30TT at SuperPharm
2. Creamy and Blend-able (best blended out with a brush)
3. Pigmented enough to even out lids
4. Mattifying 
5. Last 6-8 hours of wear

If Nicka K is available where you live, I would recommend it, however, I don't consider it a dupe for either the UDPP or the Smashbox 24HR Primer, so my search for an inexpensive dupe continues. I have the Milani Eyeshadow Primer to try next and I'm super excited to use it. 

I'm contemplating on whether or not I should do a master post of all the eyeshadow primers I have used, and of course informing you of the good, the bad and the downright horrible!

As always thank you for taking time out of your day to visit my blog, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to return, I post every Friday, sometimes I even do a bonus post randomly. Also, feel free to check out my Instagram (@ladyjpsych), my Pinterest and Tumblr (both are J's Mind Palace).

Stay happy, positive and healthy and I hope very much to talk to you all next week.

Bye guys (^w^)/

DIY Mattifying Face Primer

Hello sweeties, (gotta get a Doctor Who reference in), I teased about this in my last post, so here it is, a DIY face primer that works (for me at least).

Disclaimer: I didn't not develop this recipe, I found it on Pinterest, and I have a link to my Pinterest to the right.

Link to source post: 

http://m.instructables.com/id/DIY-Starter-Makeup-Kit-and-More/step3/Primers-Toners-and-Setting-Spray/

I was searching Pinterest for ideas of homemade mattifying primers, because my oily skin has just been out of control lately, (yay hormones)( "-_-), and I came across a very simple recipe using milk of magnesia. 

I've personally have been using milk of magnesia as a mattifier but only for special occasions because it tends to clog the pores. 

The recipes requires a spray bottle, water, milk of magnesia and rose water (optional). 

Milk Of Magnesia

Distilled Water

Depending on how oily your skin is, you can tweak the recipe, however I used equal parts of water and milk of magnesia (1/2 cup each) and 2 tbps rose water. Pour into the spray bottle, give it a good shake and voila! 

Having it in a spray bottle makes application a breeze but I still recommend patting it in with a sponge to ensure that it gets distributed evenly on the skin. 

I've been using this in conjunction with my e.l.f Mineral Face Primer and my L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder foundation and it makes my skin look naturally flawless (which it isn't). It doesn't clog my pores and my level of oiliness isn't as ridiculous as it normally is...yay! 

This is a quick and easy DIY, and it makes me want to try out some more finds from Pinterest.
Until next week, stay happy, healthy and positive!
Bye (^_^)/

Makeup Battle Royale: Face Primer Edition - e.l.f Mineral Face Primer vs. Prestige Primed and Ready Face Primer

We about to showdown!!

Hey guys, today we will be having another battle royale. If you are new to the blog, hello there, it's nice to meet you! Basically this is were I compare two products, from two different brands and tell you which I prefer of the two. This is my second battle royal the first was about 'drugstore' eyeliner pens,which can be found in my blog archives. 
 Let's get ready to rumble! 

The e.l.f Mineral Face Primer became my favourite face primer late last year, but I kept wondering if I can find something a bit better. Don't get me wrong for an affordable face primer it works amazing well, but since I started my blog, I've felt more incline to test out new things, rather than just sticking with my ride or dies. So for my birthday in December, I went on a little makeup purchasing spree and picked up the Prestige Primed and Ready Face Primer (which came with a free sample size Primed and Ready Eye Primer, that will be reviewed in a future post).
                                                          

Packaging: 
I prefer the packaging of the e.l.f mineral primer over the Prestige. The e.l.f primer comes in a frosted glass bottle while the Prestige's is a hard plastic. The e.l.f primer just looks a lot more expensive and almost higher end, compared to the Prestige. 
The nozzle of the e.l.f primer is slightly wider than the Prestige, so you can get the perfect amount of product with just one pump, whereas the Prestige, one pump isn't enough but two is far too much product.

Cost: 
e.l.f Mineral Face Primer - TT$50-60 
Prestige Primed and Ready - TT$65-70

Prestige (Creamy White) on the Left, elf(transparent) on the Right

Product: 

The Prestige Primer comes out as a creamy white liquid, while the e.l.f is completely clear. They have a similar consistency, both have silicone feel to them and they both blend in smoothly, evening out the complexion.

Effect on the skin: 

e.l.f primer : 

• Blurs pores and any fine lines on the skin
• Keeps skin matte, controls oils well 
• Helps foundation to blend smoothly and evenly 

Prestige Primer: 

• Blurs pores
• Creates a smooth and flawless canvas
• Helps foundations blend in smoothly  

As you probably noticed I didn't mention anything about the Prestige primer it's oil control ability, and that's simply because I still get extremely oily when I wear this primer. Unlike the e.l.f primer which tends to keep my oils at bay for 3-4 hours after application, the Prestige primer only controls my oils for 1-2 hours at most, which sucks! I absolutely love the way my skin looks and feels after applying the Prestige primed and ready but the fact that I still get extremely oily when I wear it, makes me reach for it less than the e.l.f Mineral primer.

However, despite the lack of oil control, I still truly like the Prestige primer and I think for dry to normal skin types, it will be awesome. I will continue to use it but I will have to pair it with a mattifier. 

Results:

Who wins this face primer battle royale?!!!!

e.l.f Mineral Face Primer!!! Go one with your bad self! 

This truly has become my favourite face primer I have ever tried and I will continue to repurchase it. If you're in the market for a face primer but don't want to spend a lot of cash give the e.l.f primer a try. 

That's all from me for now. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a great upcoming week. I can't believe January is finished already (O_O). As usual stay happy, positive and healthy and I will see you Next Friday.