bareMinerals Prime Time Primer Shadows Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:00:23 +0000

Bare Escentuals Prime Time Primer Shadows

Bare Escentuals Prime Time Primer Shadows

Debuting July 1st, Bare Escentuals will launch new Prime Time Primer Shadows ($18.00 for 0.10 fl. oz.) in six shades: Bronzed Twig (iced chocolate), Chroma Violet (ripe plum), Gunmetal (midnight silver), Racing Green (blazing emerald), Sundance (sunlit peach), and Urban Nature (delicate moss).

From the press release, the formula is crease- and water-proof, delivers “rich, vivid metallic color” with a “creamy, lightweight texture.” Bare Escentuals says they can be worn alone or under eyeshadow and applied with fingers or brushes. I was actually intending to photograph, swatch, and test Bare Escentuals Buxom Eyeshadows, but when these came, I was like, “Hmm, let’s just swatch these for now.” I fell in LOVE! with Urban Nature, so I immediately put it on my eyelid for all-day testing.

Bronzed Twig is a medium-dark chocolate bronze with khaki gold shimmer.
Chroma Violet is a muted plum with silver shimmer.
Gunmetal is a softened silvery gray with a metallic sheen.
Racing Green is a darkened forest green with subtle emerald green micro-shimmer.
Sundance is a peachy orange with a golden sheen.
Urban Nature is muddied plum, khaki, and green duochrome. This shade is COOL. It just plays some tricks when you look at it.

A lot of times you can just tell if a product is going to make it all day or not–or at the very least, if it even has a shot–within the first few minutes. The length of the dry down tends to be a do-or-die factor, because longer dry downs mean more chances for the product to migrate and build-up in the natural lines on the eyelid and within the crease. These dry down rather quickly (15 seconds or so).

Once they dry down, they really do not budge. I wore Urban Nature (also wore Chroma Violet and Sundance on two separate occasions) for twelve hours without any creasing, fading, or smudging. Oh, did I mention I took a shower and let water run down my face? I did that after eight hours, and we were still good to go post-shower (I just patted my face dry).

Because of the quicker dry down time and how well they lock onto the lid, they don’t remain blendable for too long either. I found that I had enough time to apply it and smooth out the egdes for a one-and-done kind of look. These also worked well as a base, as they held the eyeshadows on all day. The texture is creamy enough to make these easy to spread out over the lid but not so emollient that they’ll slide around.

I did heavier and lighter swatches–and I do mean light–I wanted to try and mimic the effect of a wash of the color, for those who wanted something subtler. The pigmentation in all six shades was lovely; opaque without having to layer on product. I used about a fourth of the amount of the heavier swatch to create the more wash-like color.

My major issue with these is their size; these are tiny! Most major eyeshadow primer players range from $17 to $24 and contain an average of 0.30 fl. oz. These are certainly pigmented and you do not need a ton of product to acheive a nice, opaque layer of color on the lid, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to run through a tube within weeks by any means–it’s just the one area that stuck out for me. Why so small? (Or conversely, why so small but $18?)