Product Battle: $1 vs. $18

I think eye primers are truly important and I think I would pay $18 to have a great shadow primer that helps with minimal creasing and fading throughout the day. I think that creasing is the worst when it comes to wearing eye shadow. It's like a nasty little line that draws all the attention to your eyes and scream: "Look at me... I'm GROSS!".

This is actually one of the reasons why I didn't wear shadows until I finally bought the UDPP. Then I got the TFSI to compare. But a month or two ago, I went to Target and found ANOTHER primer for $1! And I thought to myself - I need need need to do a comparison! I mean, $18 for a great primer that keeps your look fresh is pretty awesome. But if a $1 product can do the same thing... WELL... I might as well save that $17 and go buy myself a nice dinner or something!

Well, without further ado:


Yes, you've guessed it - I'm talking about UDPP vs. ELF $1 primer!

So, I bought the EFL primer on July 20th and it is now September 25! So I have been testing this out for 2 months now. This primer was definitely put to the test since I live in 100* F weather all summer and even til now it is still in the late 90s* F.

What I have been doing is wearing the ELF primer on the right eye and the UDPP on the other. When I'm lazy, I just wear the ELF primer. And at one point, I even switched - wearing the ELF primer on the left eye while UDPP is on my right. Note that I wearing eye shadows about 3-4 times a week on average.

Yeah, I really wanted to be thorough! So these are pretty much my opinions - I'm being totally honest. I'm just stating what I noticed while using these products and it is really up to you guys to make the decision whether to buy the high-end primer to stick to a cheaper alternative.

Packaging: Well, obviously the UDPP one is cooler and more intricate while the ELF one is pretty simple. I mean, that is one thing you should expect from ELF is that their packaging is not amazing! But that doesn't mean that the quality is horrible. In ELF's case, you shouldn't judge the "book by its cover!". Both are wand applicators and both are pretty much the same. I think the ELF one is fluffier - doesn't bother me and shouldn't really bother anyone, really.
The good thing about the ELF's packaging is that you can see all the products that you have. With the UDPP's packaging, you have to deal with the whole depotting thing... which doesn't sound too appealing. Plus, if you have to depot - the ELF one is obviously the easier to do.

Quantity: ELF: 0.17 fl oz for $1; UDPP: 0.34 fl oz for $18 --> 0.01 fl oz for $1 (please let me know if my math is wrong!).

Quality: So this is the part you guys actually want to read right? Yeah, well I have to lay out a background, don't I?

Texture: I think that UDPP's texture is better. It is creamier and therefore easier to blend out. The ELF one is a bit runnier so when I apply too much (and since it is so cheap, I don't mind applying a bit more than UDPP), it gets a bit messy to blend into my skin. Which brings me to the next point is UDPP blends into my skin way easier - not to say that the ELF doesn't. It just takes a bit more blending to get it to set. Still, it's not really something I'd complain about. I just wish that all the primers in the world has UDPP's texture - nice and creamy. If you guys recall, I feel that TFSI's texture is runnier as well.
Here's the important thing to note: ELF primer isn't invisible when it dries like the UDPP. I think it leaves a light beigy cast on the skin. Sometimes if I'm not careful and I apply too much, the blending is a bit messy and I can see the cast that the primer makes. It's kinda hard to explain but just know that it doesn't dry to a clear finish.

Creasing: This is when the ELF one really impressed me. Every time I wear ELF on one lid and UDPP on the other, the creasing is pretty much the same on both lids. Never was there an incident when one product showed creasing while the other didn't. So either I get creasing on both eyes or no creasing at all - which is really nice!

Fading: Now, when it comes to fading, the ELF primer couldn't really beat UDPP. However, I would say that ELF effectiveness is 85% of UDPP's when it comes to fading. That's not bad, especially when you just want to wear an easy color all over the lids for everyday look.

Color Improvement: Hmm... well, I think picture speaks louder than words.

Covergirl's quad in Tropical Fusion; the green color
As you can see, UDPP does a much better job of making a color more bright and vibrant. ELF primer helps a little bit but nothing compare! It is definitely better than having NO primer at all though.
Again, this is fine for me since I don't want such strong colors on my lids for school. But if I go out and I want a more dramatic look - I'd go to UDPP to get a more vibrant color.

My opinion: I think that for $1, ELF is a fantastic and a must in any make up collection! WHY? Because for an everyday look, this is perfect. It will help with creasing and fading and will keep your eye look nice and neutral. Only when I go out, do I want to use UDPP to make sure my shadows don't crease and remain bold throughout the night. I think that if the ELF primer can help the colors to be more vibrant, Urban Decay would be out of business. Then again, some people are bothered by the packaging. Yeah, the ELF one looks cheaper but I think the quality is fantastic!

I think I will keep repurchasing it because I think it is great for everyday looks. And I sometimes use a cream shadow base underneath and it really helps promote the color of my shadow.

I still love my UDPP and will continue to use it - but I will save it for the more special occasions!

I hope you guys enjoyed this review! I think it is a bit long but eh... just wanted to be detailed.

Battle of the Primers

VS.

Who will win?

So the idea of an eye primer is to make the quality of the shadows better - more pigmentation, better "blendibility", and greater staying power.

Hearing this news, I was like "Yeah! Give me some-a-that!" When I watch youtube vids or read makeupalley reviews on these primers, I was given the impression that these will prevent my shadows from creasing and fading through out the day.

** I'm sorry that there are no pictures... first of all it's kinda hard for my camera to pick up on all the details of my make up... and also I haven't had time! SORRY!

These primers - as you both know are $17 - but I bought them for cheaper prices from blog sales. So I got both for $11 each... so I don't know, look out for those sales! For a while, I would use both primers at the same time to compare the results. My findings surprised me:

- my shadows STILL CREASED!!! And they still faded... and I was somewhat disappointed. I thought this was gonna be my lifesaver and would make my eye make up look fresh and awesome throughout the day. No, no, no - alas... no. But you know what, it really did help the pigmentation of these shadows. I also think it helps w/ blending because they both turn my lids into very smooth canvases. So the application process is a great improvement but the wear isn't that great.

An important thing to note is that both primers are not very consistant. I mean, I always apply these primers in the same way - place the product on my lids and smooth out w/ my finger. But these primers would work great one day, crease another, and many other things varying in between. I guess it also really depends on the weather. They both wear better in cooler temperature... but you don't need me to tell you that.

And they both work pretty much the same on me... like one would crease one day and the other would crease the other day.... OR BOTH creased on the same day. So when it comes down to which one do I like better I have a lot of other factors helping me make this decision.

- TEXTURE - UDPP has a creamier texture while I find TFSI kinda runny and wet. Being runny and wet - TFSI has the higher tendency to come apart - into oil and product. I am starting to notice that w/ my TFSI. While the UDPP still holding on strong to it's texture.

- PACKAGING - UDPP has that wand that I like... I don't know why but I like that you can directly place the product on your lids. This allows me to calculate how much product I should use. W/ TFSI, even though it is in a tube and stuff, I never know how much product to use. It's weird - it's probably just me... you can probably ignore this fact.

- WHAT I NOTICED - is that UDPP, once set, is drier than TFSI - this means YAY to those girls w/ really oily lids. UDPP actually grabs on the shadows better - I've noticed. But this means that it is harder to blend.

So, seriously - which would I choose??? UDPP, my friend, is the winner. I just like using it better. Thing is that both products work the same on me that you can't really compare them in that way - so it really comes down to personal preference. But I just think that UDPP lasts longer than TFSI.

However, do you guys think eye primers are really that necessary? I know for me, before using primers, my shadows would crease and whatever but my shadows still creased when I used primers. I think I should experiment on that more and let you know.

And if I run out of UDPP - I will be looking into ELF and L'Oreal Decrease to figure out which is better. I don't think I'd want to spend $17 all the time on one product.

This is probably such a horrible post b/c there are no pics and stuff... I'm sorry! This was totally an impromtu post. I just find myself at liberty this morning.

And for you lovely ladies that commented on my last post - Thank you so much! You guys are really sweet and I'm so lucky to have gotten to know you through this blogging journey.... HUGS AND KISSES for all of you!!!

Oh and speaking of which - I can't believe I've been on blogspot for a year now!!! WOO HOO!! I probably can't have a giveaway - b/c I'm so broke, it isn't even funny. But maybe I will do something in the summer!!!

LOVE YOU ALL - thanks for the awesome comments. I hope this helped.