Review: L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I'm a huge proponent of base coat on your nails! It's super important to put it first to prepare your nails for the polish and keep them protected. Your face is not that different, it's also important to put a "base coat" of sorts on your face--primer!

Via

Not gonna lie, until the past year I did not use a primer. I'm not even sure I really knew they existed... lol. However, living in Florida, the summers get REALLY hot, and I realized that being outside for any amount of time (i.e. walking from the office to my car), my makeup would just MELT OFF! That's when A Mommy in the Making (the wonderful friend that she is:) suggested I use a primer. So I picked up Hard Candy's Sheer Envy Illuminating Primer and used it 'til I couldn't squeeze anything out of the bottle any more!

Last month, in my Ulta haul, I picked up L'Oreal's Magic Lumi Primer. Now, I know I've said this is a review, but I am kinda gonna do a little comparing to the Hard Candy one, too. But first, one pump of this primer and I'm good to go. It comes out almost like Elmer's glue (which I think is interesting, because it makes me think I'm using glue so that all the makeup sticks to my face;) It kinda smells like glue, too. Not a lot, but there's enough of a scent that it makes me think, hmm.. As you can see in the pic, it is a little shimmery for the illumination.

It goes on very smoothly and doesn't leave any stickiness or greasiness behind on my face (which is good, because from feeling it on my fingers, I was afraid there would be a sticky residue). All the rest of my makeup goes on as usual!

And my makeup stays on!! From sun and heat, to sweating from working out, to rainy days, my makeup ALWAYS stays on. This stuff is actually pretty powerful! And I'm really enjoying using it (it's been about a month now)

So, at $12.99 (.68 fl oz) from Ulta, how does it compare to the $8 (1.3 oz) one from Hard Candy? The Hard Candy comes out a little more waxy than liquidy and is squeezed from a bottle vice pumped out. I think the Hard Candy one actually feels lighter too (not sticky). I think both worked pretty comparably, so in the future, I'd probably go back to Hard Candy just 'cause it's more product for the money:)

What do you think? What's your favorite primer? Have you tried either of these?

NOTD: Hard Candy Matte Top Coat

We all know I'm obsessed with glossy, shiny, sparkly things (thus the name of my blog lol:) I've never been a huge fan of matte things... it just seems flat to me... But it had been a while since I'd bought any Hard Candy products, and I saw they had a Matte Top Coat that I thought would be fun to try. Actually, I thought it would nearly double my nail polish collection since all the colors I have that were shiny and lovely could now also be worn matte!

I started with OPI Base Coat then used two Coats of L'Oreal Mauve Star.

Funny story about this polish, A LOT of my polishes are just different shade of pink--baby pink, hot pink, glittery pink, etc. When I got promoted a couple years ago, I thought I needed my nails to be more "professional" for wok, so I got this because it seemed like a "grown up color." However, I just didn't like how it looked on my fingers. (p.s. clearly I'm over having "professional" nails at work. lol)

After using the Mauve Star, I put on the Matte Top Coat. You can see the differences here:

 

Ta-da! It's like a completely new polish! Both pictures are taken with the flash so you can fully compare them:)

I think this top coat worked really well and definitely provided the intended results. I need to be more careful using it because there were a few spots not covered as much as others so I still have a little shine coming through; but for my first time using it, I'm very happy with it:)

How do you feel about Matte Polishes? Have you used any? Do you prefer them to the shiny/glossy nails? :)