Urban Decay Primer Potion, Visee and JS thoughts

As many of my friends know, I've been a faithful user of T'estimo Eye Bright Up Base for the past two years. It has worked so well for me that I've never been tempted to try other brands. That was until I received a deluxe sample tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion as part of a Sephora beauty bag promo. After sitting idle in my makeup drawer for the past few months, I finally fished it out and brought it along with me on my recent trip to Osaka and Kyoto. And I'm happy to report that UDPP truly lives up to its stellar reputation on MUA where 92% of reviewers say that they would buy it again. And yes, it beats even T'estimo Eye Bright Up Base!

With T'estimo Eye Bright Up Base, I do get some minimal creasing at the inner corners of my eyes after more than 12 hours of wear. With UDPP, I did my makeup at 8am and my eye makeup still looked perfect at midnight that day, after more than 16 hours on a hot summer day when my skin was supremely oily! There was not a single crease even at the inner corners. I was just astounded when I was preparing to wash off my makeup after a long train journey and saw in the mirror that the eyeshadows remained just as shimmery and the colours just as true as when I first applied them. (I was using Jill Stuart's Brilliance Eyes #5 Mauve Pearl palette that day.)

On my trip, I also discovered a great way of wearing Jill Stuart's #1 Pink Quartz palette by using it with Visee's Aqua Shining Eyes GY003. I can't rave enough about Aqua Shining Eyes GY003 which is a complex dark metallic purple-tinted grey with flashes of burgundy. It is a truly unique shade that has no close duplicate in other brands. Best of all, it's priced very affordably just like UDPP, at 1890yen but Japanese drugstores usually discount Visee by 20% to 25% so I got it for 1417yen. I actually prefer the smoother texture of Aqua Shining Eyes to Jill Stuart's Eye Jellies as I find that Aqua Shining Eyes is slightly easier to apply and blend than JS Eye Jellies.

Anyway, back to the combo of Aqua Shining Eyes GY003 and JS #1 Pink Quartz quad: I used ASE GY003 from the upper lashline to a little below the crease as the liner shade, then the taupe shade (first from the right) from #1 Pink Quartz in the outer half of the crease to the middle; the purple shade (2nd from the right) from #1 Pink Quartz from the middle of the crease to the inner corner; then finally either the pink or light pinkish beige shade as a wash over the brow bone area. (The way I apply my eyeshadow is contrary to the technique most commonly taught by makeup artists who usually start with a base shade all over the lid first and finish with the eyeliner shade.) The Aqua Shining Eyes GY003 complements the shades in #1 Pink Quartz perfectly and I think it will work just as well with the other Brilliance Eyes palettes. If you happen to own ASE GY003 and any of the JS palettes, do give it a try!