W7 Prime Magic Face Primer Camera Ready

As a lover of Smashbox Photo Finish Primer, I picked up W7 Prime Magic hoping that it would be a good, cheaper dupe. Adding it to my basket on Amazon for £3.99, I was really excited about trying it out.

In comparison to my favourite primer from Smashbox, the W7 Prime Magic Face Primer Camera Ready was a little thicker in texture, harder to rub in and left quite a heavy, greasy but drying texture to my skin. My foundation (Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude Foundation) went on smoothly and blended evenly as it normally does and I finished with a swipe of Makeup Revolution Highlighter palette.

As the day went on, my usual makeup, which stays in place pretty well even without a primer, was starting to smudge on my nose, sit in the creases around my mouth and look patchy on the tops of my cheeks. My skin started to feel quite dry too. Unfortunately, the W7 Face Primer was no match to my usual offering from Smashbox.

Although this is an absolute bargain, it just didn't work for me. I think it would possibly be suited better to people with oilier skins as I just felt it zapped all of the moisture out of my skin. For now, I will be sticking with Smashbox!

Laura xx

     

Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer

Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer

Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer is for people with normal to dry skin and is designed to illuminate and boost the radiance. Texture wise, it is a silky, silicone free, serum type primer which instantly sinks into the skin, providing all day hydration in a non comedogenic formula.

As you can see from the photos, I did not feel that there was a great difference after applying the primer to my hand; it looks a little more hydrated and there is a slight glow to my skin. Two pumps of this Bourjois Primer covered my whole face and it did help to blur and smooth my open pores upon application. My skin felt refreshed and hydrated after applying and this lasted for most of the day. When applying my foundation over the top of the Luminous Serum Primer, I couldn't really see any added radiance though, I could only feel the difference. With regards to how long my makeup lasted, I found that it didn't bunch up as much or go as patchy, especially around my cheekbones and nose where it has a tendency to do this.

After reading some of the reviews on Boots about this Bourjous Primer, people were saying it's a lot cheaper than higher end brand primers, i.e. Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. What I don't think people realise though (neither did I before purchasing it) is that this is a 15ml bottle for £10.99. The Smashbox primers start from £25 for a 30ml tube (my favourite primer), so in actual fact, you're only saving £3.02 by buying this drugstore primer based on 30ml.

Whilst using the Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer my skin looked and felt smoother, it helped to blur my open pores and my makeup looked fresher for longer. The only downfall is that I would like to see more light reflecting particles in it to give my skin more of a boost and I would love the illuminating effect to be more dramatic. I have enjoyed using it for the extra moisture boost and will continue to use it until I have finished the bottle, but at this point, I am unsure whether I'd repurchase.

You can purchase Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum Primer from Boots.

Laura xx

     

ELF

I placed an order with ELF a while back, I think it was when they had a 50% off special day. I wanted to share with you two products that I brought from them that I love.

As you can see, these are well used products, so well used that the brand name is wearing off! The Baked Blush is £3.75 and an absolute bargain. Here, I have three colours, Peachy Cheeky, Passion Pink and Rich Rose. They are really pigmented and last really well on the cheeks. In comparison to similar products I usually buy from MAC, these are great value.

The only niggles I have with these in comparison to the MAC ones is that these are quite shimmery and iridescent on my cheeks. I would prefer more pigment and less glow. The colours also all look so similar when I'm wearing them and in comparison to the website, they are a lot darker colours. To be honest, if I put two different shades on - one on each cheek, you probably wouldn't be able to tell! But for £3.75 I really can't complain.

Another one of their products I LOVE is their Mineral Eyeshadow Primer which is only £3!! Apparently, it contains vitamins A, C and E too - can't be bad! It really does work at keeping my eyeshadow on. I've tried the Smashbox Eyeshadow Primer too, which I do prefer a little bit more than the ELF one, but for the bargain price of £3, you can't really go wrong. The Smashbox Primer is a lot thicker and seems to blend on the eyelid better with less drying time, whereas the ELF primer is a lot more watery and of a thinner texture. I will certainly be repurchasing this though when I run out!

Let me know if you've ever tried any products from ELF before. What do you recommend?

Laura xx