Product Brand and Name, Price (CDN), Where Purchased
L’Oreal Paris Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base, $15.99 CDN @ PharmaPlus (0.5 Fl. Oz, or 15 mL).
Reason for Purchase
I ran out of my NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base and needed to replace it with something.
I made a New Years resolution not to order anything from Sephora for a full year, so I cannot re-order the NARS base (rather, I will not let myself order it!) and needed to find a drugstore alternative. I thought I would give the L’Oreal base a try!
Notable Features
This product has a whole lot of promises, all of which can be found on the box the base comes in. Here’s the info:
Get the perfect skin texture, instantly and all day.
- Smoothes lines
- Hides pores
- Banishes imperfections
The silky, lightweight formula glides onto skin, leaving it velvety-smooth to the touch.
The result - a unified matte finish that’s flawless.
- Suitable for all skin types
- Dermatologist tested
- Non-Comedogenic
Wow! That’s a lot of information!
Packaging
The product comes in a small black cardboard box, with a window so that you can see the glass pot of base. I have also seen it on display just in the pot at Wal-Mart, which is a bit sketchy to me.
The primer itself comes in a small glass pot with a twist-off black lid.
Experience Using Product
I want to make it perfectly clear in this review that I am only reviewing this product as an eye primer. I did not use it on the rest of my face. Most days I do not need to wear primer on my face.
I have been using this primer for about a week, exclusively as an eye-makeup primer. It feels different than the NARS primer I had been using. This primer feels very soft, both in the pot and on your skin. When applied to your eyes, it feels like it is creating a thin, silky film on top - which is I guess what it is suppose to be doing. When you apply too much, you’ll be able to tell because it feels greasy and there is a residue. This is one of the first things I apply after I wash and moisturize my face. I want to give the primer ample time to ‘dry’ before I apply any eye makeup on top of it. You need a very small amount of this product to cover your entire eye area; I basically just tap my fingertip on the top of the cream, and that’s all I need for one application on one eye.
The longevity of this primer does not even compare to NARS; I get a good 3 to 4 hours out of this primer before my makeup will crease; for me, this means that any trace of my eye makeup is pretty much gone (minus my liner and mascara) before noon on a normal workday. With using the NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow base, I usually made it most of the way through my workday; my eye makeup wouldn’t start to crease until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
Would I Re-Purchase, Recommend, or Reject
I’m really not liking this product. I don’t find that eye shadow sticks to this primer - it slips and slides on it. Sure, this makes shadows easier to blend, but you can tell that the shadow isn’t adhering to the primer.
I give kudos to L’Oreal for trying to produce a primer that would compete with the ‘high end’ Sephora brands, but unfortunately they just aren’t there yet. I don’t recommend this product to you. Spend your money on a decent primer that lasts - both on your eyes and in the tube!
I reject this product and will not purchase it again.
Want more information about this product? Check out the L’Oreal website.
