I was slummin’ it in the Target after work one day, and came across a rather nice display of new goodies from e.l.f. They have some new Little Black Beauty Books, 32 piece eyeshadow palettes, and scads of little variety packs rolling in at prices ranging from $3 each to $10 each. I spotted the a trio of primers in Sheer/Nude, Champagne (new) and Pearl (new). As I rather love tinted primers, I figured I should give this a try and see what it’s worth.

First off, this trio was just $3 USD, so I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting much. Especially considering I had already tested the Sheer/Nude primer a while ago, and found its performance to be less than stellar. It held shadows without creasing for a full 8-hour work day, but the colour payoff suffered greatly. That said, I was very interested in Champagne, as it looked like it would be e.l.f.’s version of UDPP Sin (my precioussss).

For swatches and wear tests, click on!

Primer Swatches

We’ll swatch the e.l.f. Primers against my UDPP primers in original, Sin, and Greed. All photos are taken with flash:

The sheer e.l.f. eyelid primer is still rather oily to the touch, which I cannot stand. Champagne has a greatly improved consistency and texture. Pearl can come out somewhat “chunky” if you don’t shake the bottle well before each application. In fact, the first time I opened Pearl, a disgusting, oily mess leaked out. Not fun! And maybe it’s just me, but Pearl and Champagne seemed a little… scratchy. I’m not sure if the applicators were bad, or if it was the microglitter in the primers. Either way, it was not fun to blend out.

Speaking of blending out, here’s a shot of some of that action:

Eyeshadow Swatch Test

I decided to use MAC “Post Haste” for swatching again, because it’s a matte shade that really needs a good primer to make it live up to its full potential. Stupid matte bastard.

As far as making Post Haste live up to its full potential, UDPP Original takes the grand prize. The colour is deep, dark, and true to pan. It’s “elven” counterpart, Sheer, is not so much of a counterpart as it is an evil twin. While it holds the product in place very well, colour payoff suffers horribly. Naughty.

UDPP Sin and Greed swatched the matte Post Haste with reasonable colour accuracy, and a bit of an added sheen – which is why these shades are my favourite primers. Champagne and Pearl, however, added no shine, and all the microglitter was completely covered. Pearl actually suffered the same sheering effect as e.l.f.’s original primer formula. Of the three, Champagne performed the best, holding a respectable amount of colour.

Staying Power

Though the colour payoff leaves something to be desired in two of the three primers, staying power is still rather remarkable. All of the primers held shadows in place without creasing or significant fading for well over your average 8-hour work day. Surprisingly, Pearl had the least fading of the three, which might be its only saving grace at this point.

Since it’s summer, let’s have a sweat test. I simply ran a stream of water over the primers to see how they would hold up against a bit of moisture:

They easily pass the wet-test, holding shadows better than they would without primer, with Champagne performing the best once more.

Brass Tacks

I really hope they decide to package these individually in the future, because I would totally buy Champagne again and again. Even if they put it out in their Studio line and charged the standard Studio price ($3 USD), I would buy it. So I suppose this three-pack is, technically, a good buy. However, I really have no interest in the other two, and they don’t perform to my expectations, so it still feels like I wasted my money. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

UPDATE: These shades are now available on the e.l.f. website as single pieces! They also have an UDPP-Greed-esque shade. Each primer is just $1 USD. Click here to check it out!

Have you, dear reader, picked up this trio yet? Do you still feel like you’ve wasted your money on value packs if only one product or shade has performed well?