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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Getting the most out of your Urban Decay Primer Potion

Think you've finished all the product in your Urban Decay Primer Potion once your doe-foot applicator no longer seems to bring any product out of that cute genie-lamp-shapped bottle? Think again! Before you toss out your bottle and run out to buy a new one, read this post. If you don't, you might be throwing away a significant amount of product (read: money!).

This isn't new news, many a YouTuber has made a video about this topic. There are how-to videos galore on how to get all the product out of that oh-so-cute packaging. In fact, it's one of the primary reasons there are people out there who will not buy the coveted primer potion. It's not because it's not good, but because it's so hard to get all the product out of the curves and crevices the bottle creates. Alas, there are quite a few people out there who aren't tuned in to the beauty community on YouTube, so I figure I'd write a blog post to show you just how much product I was able to fish out of the bottle once a broke it open. You'll be quite surprised at just how much is left (and just how much you've possibly been tossing out!). 

Here is what you'll need:

  • A clean cutting board
  • A clean serrated steak knife
  • A small container, like the kind you get when you go to Sephora and ask for a sample of a foundation. If you are reusing a container (like I did), make sure you clean it and disinfect it. I used a sample container I got at Origins for a facial moisturizer. I washed it with soap and water, and then cleaned it off with isopropyl alcohol. You can also buy these online at beauty suppliers such as Coastal Scents. You can also find them on Amazon.com.
  • A clean butter knife or cosmetics spatulas
  • Paper towel
Note: Be careful when cutting the container, don't cut yourself!

  • Untwist the top from the container, and place the doe-foot applicator on the paper towel, then set aside. You will use the applicator to get the product out of the container once you cut it open. You can also use a butter knife, but I felt the applicator got into the little curves and crevices better. You can also use disposable cosmetics spatulas
  • Place the primer potion container on the cutting board and use the serrated knife to cut the packaging in the locations shown in the photo below 


  • Use the applicator to scoop out product and put it in the cosmetic jar. Remember, the serrated knife will cause there to me some dust from the container in the top layer of the product, lightly scoop that out with a clean butter knife or makeup spatula and discard (wipe if off on the paper towel). It's only on the very top layer of each top section, so it won't be much product at all you will be scraping off (you will be able to see it). Then use the applicator to get the rest of the useable product out.
Check out how much product was left inside the sections:

Top "fattest" section of the bottle. 
This of course had the most product left inside

It's hard to see how much was left in here, but when I cut the 
section below, I got a significant amount of product out. 
My camera had run out of batteries, so I didn't get a picture
but with the doe-foot applicator, I was able to salvage A LOT.
Look at the section behind the one I'm holding, you can see a lot
of product is left in there too!

Check out just how much final product I was able to salvage. To think, I nearly threw that all away! It is enough for several more uses. 




Make sure that you use a container you can close tightly so that the product you took the trouble to save, doesn't dry out quickly. 


5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for posting this. I am one of those people who refuse to buy this product because I had heard about the 'waste'.

    UD has been annoying me more than usual lately for some reason. They make a good product and then put it in a crappy package (UDPP). They make an awesome palette and then can't meet the demand when everyone wants it (Naked Palette). Then they realize that everyone wants said palette, up the price by $4.00 and take out the eyeliner and replace it with crappy brush.

    Ugh....I can't turn a blind eye to their crappy marketing/design/product availability.

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  2. @Meredith - I was lucky to get the Naked palette early on, and absolutely love it. I did see they changed it by substituting a brush for the 24/7 liners. As I understand it, the reason for it is that they couldn't produce the liners fast noigh to keep pace with the demand. The brush is a $26 brush, which is why they raised the price. That being said, I personally would rather have the liner. I'm curious to see if once the catch up on the production of the liner if they will revert the palette back to the original set up. I hope they do. As for the price, I felt the original $44 was fair, considering all the shadows are full sized. Quite the bargain.

    Also, after seeing for myself the amount of product that was left in my bottle that I couldn't reach with the applicator, I'm glad I forked over the $29 for the limited edition primer potion that came in the squeeze tube ( which also has more than double the product amount). It does bum me out that they made it limited edition, considering so many people have been clamoring for them to change the packaging.

    Glad you enjoyed the post, and thanks for commenting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ugh sorry for the typos, I responded on my phone. Darn autocorrect!

    ReplyDelete
  4. no problem! I enjoyed the post...it made me want to reconsider.

    I think I am frustrated with UD....the Naked Palette debacle is very, unecessary? I am on a WAITING list for it which I think is silly. Add to that the fact that Canada hardly ever gets full product lines that are available in the US and I am in full RANT mode!

    Ugh-makes me want to move back...sounds silly right? Moving back to the US because I love makeup?

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's not silly at all. I miss having a Sephora and a stand-alone MAC store. I think next time I move, I will take cities out of the running that do not have these places. Those, and Nordstrom and Target (within a reasonable distance to drive out weekly) -- unless of course I'm moving overseas (that would be cool)

    ReplyDelete