Category: Bosso Ke Mang

Hi beauties this is a new series I have started on my blog that I plan to do once a month. It’s called Bosso Ke Mang, which means Who’s the Real Boss? It’s the title of a song made famous by South African rapper Hip Hop Pantsula, also known as HHP. In this series, I take two similar products and put them to the test and decide which is better in my opinion.

NB. These views are based my own experiences and in no way infer that the brand rubbish and is in no way intended to bash the brand across the board. It is simply a case of, one product is better or one didn’t work for me.

Did you know that your eyelids are the oilest part of your face? (For most people anyway, some people have drier eyelids but I assure you they are in the minority)

Before we got all fancy pants and started using eye shadow primers, dabbing concealer or foundation on your eyelids and setting with a translucent powder was used to create a flawless base for your eyeshadow and this worked just fine and still does.

But an eyeshadow primer has its place in the make up world. It’s specially formulated to intensify the vibrancy of your eyeshadows, make them stay put longer and not twerk on your eyelids and not fade or crease. It also serves to create that flawless base on your lids so that your eyeshadows go on smoothly and blend seamlessly without a tug-of-war. You can get a clear eyeshadow primer but I prefer a flesh toned one that blanks out the discolouration of my eyelids (all those veins and pigmentation) so that the eyelid becomes a blank canvas and the eyeshadow colours remain true to pan.

There are so many primers out there, budget, high-end, the one you got from your friend or took from your mum (she doesn’t know, yet and I won’t tell) but for the second installment of this series I chose one of the most popular and inexpensive eyeshadow primers and an iconic one.

They are the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer (SB) and the ever-so popular Essence I Love Stage eyeshadow base (E).

Let’s get into to it to see who is the boss!

The claims:

E: This claims to be an eyeshadow base for a long lasting eye make up result, ready for the stage. When I read that on bottle, all I can think about was Madam Zingara. If you haven’t seen it, you should, it’s amazing!

It claims to be multifunctional and can either be used as a base for concealer or eyeshadow. The creamy texture won’t settle in the crease of your eyelid and it makes every eyeshadow last longer and intensifies the color.

SB: This primer claims to create the perfect canvas for shadow with a formula that glides on and instantly helps smooth and perfect lids. It also claims that it has soft focus pearls help diminish the appearance of fine lines and discoloration on the lids. It also says that it can be worn alone as an eyeshadow and won’t cause creasing.

I swatched these eyeshadows over these primers to test the claims using both eyeshadows for the respective brands and a couple others.

Eyeshadows: Essence I Love Nudes (04) Sweet Like Chocolate

Essence I Love Nudes (01) Vanilla Sugar

NYX Nude Matte Eyeshadow (Blame It On Midnight)

Smashbox Photo Op Eye Shadow Trio in Auto Chrome (Phantasm)

 Applicator, Application and Packaging

Both Essence and Smashbox come in plastic tubes that are durable with the Smashbox having a rubberized top. Both have doe –foot applicators. This makes for easy application. Both glide on the lid but the Smashbox primer tends to tug a bit. The wand is longer and doe-foot larger on the Smashbox primer but ever so slightly. I like that the Essence handle is shorter, which gives me more control of the amount of product I apply.

Amount:

SB: 2,5 ml

E: 4ml

Ja, nee! . . . Essence has almost double the amount.

Drying time

SB: This primer is a thick-ish cream that dries completely matte in 10 seconds. Don’t even talk about how it the G7 goes from 0-100kn/h in 30 seconds!

Essence: I applied it to my hand and it not as thick as the Smashbox primer and it took two minutes to dry and that too, it didn’t dry down completely.

Colour: Both are flesh-toned, beige /nude colours

SB: More cool-toned, can actually be worn alone as an eyeshadow by someone else but me. Very opaque and covers EVERYTHING!

E: I prefer this colour better than the Smashbox because it is warmer and better suited to my dark skin. But it is not as opaque because of its watery formula.

Staying power and Vibrancy

I did the test over three hours from application to the last picture.

E: Colours faded got darker and started moving into the other eyeshadow swatches.

SB: It didn’t move and the colours remained true to first application.

Price

E: R47,95 (RRP)

SB: R220

Overall

The Essence I Love Stage eyeshadow base was on point with the applicator, application and colour, which I preferred over the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer but the formulation let this product down. I think that because it didn’t dry down completely and was watery, the eyeshadows initially looked more vibrant than when applied over the Smashbox primer because they were damp. How long should I wait for an eyeshadow base to dry? Xmas? I don’t have 5 minutes to wait for an eyeshadow primer to dry when I’m doing my make up in the morning. It takes me 10 minutes to do my whole face and I’m not about that waiting life . . . but you got more product at a far cheaper price.

The Smashbox Photofinish Lid Primer dried faster, was more opaque and a thicker consistency but tugged on the eye more than the Essence Primer. I love the opacity but preferred the Essence colour to the cooler beige. The eyeshadows didn’t move, it intensified the vibrancy of the shadows and remained that way.

And the Real Boss is . . . Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer!

#Bossokemang

Until next time

Stay blessed and beautiful!

Love you all to bits!