Flashback Beauty Friday 93: Urban Decay Primer Potion

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Last week I shared the Guerlain Divinora eyeshadow quad and I've just remembered I changed my mind about the other two palettes I owned and did photograph and swatch them (after), however I've not had a good week, so I've not been able to do anything with the photos yet. If I get it done this following week, I'll alert you to the update in my next FBF post.  This week I have something I previously mentioned whilst writing about the Urban Decay Surreal Skin Liquid Makeup last month. It is of course the iconic Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion or UDPP as it was often shortened to back in the day.

So this product has had various updates over the years to tackle issues that have cropped up, mainly with the packaging. The beautiful lilac genie bottle, a slimmer version of the foundation, was so pretty to look at, but not entirely functional. Under the lid is a wand applicator with sponge tip, which originally was straight. Given that the bottle can't be squeezed at all, you can't manoeuvre the wand into the sides to pick up more product when it's running low. This led to a change in the wand design, to the one I have here, the slanted tip applicator. Honestly, it was still pretty hard to get all the product out and as I mentioned in the foundation post, this led to numerous videos and tutorials on how to remove the stopper in the neck of the bottle or cut it open entirely to depot the remaining mixture (usually quite a bit).

By 2010, UD launched their Professional Size (bigger) Primer Potion and this came in a squeezy tube. It was lilac with the same shaped silver lid, but many found it hard to squeeze, the product dried up quicker (but was harder to use up because of the jumbo size) and sometimes tubes would even split at the seal on the end. The gripes about wastage and packaging issues of the genie bottles were largely retracted by consumers who actually favoured that one over the new tube. However by Spring 2011, PP was to only be available in squeezy tubes (not jumbo sized). Again these had a similar colour scheme and structure to the genie bottle with the same looking silver lid shown here and a lilac tube. The tube had a narrow nozzle, intended to accurately dispense the correct amount, but I think a lot of people found it rather stiff to squeeze out (I never tried that version myself).

Summer 2015 saw further repackaging with ombre coloured tubes and clear gem-like faceted lids on the squeezy tubes and a return to the wand applicator. I still have one of these, in Eden, which I didn't photograph because I hadn't intended this blog to be a complete UDPP history (but that's what it's turned into). I never found the product separating in the tube or being difficult to apply and I used the same tube for years (given that I wore makeup less frequently then than previous years).

That packaging remains pretty much the same today and you still get the various shades (mine shown here is the original btw), Caffeine, Sin, Eden, the anti-aging version and also travel sizes.  The original version is sheer and when blended becomes invisible on the skin.  UDPP can be used under powder or cream eye products to not only prevent creasing and prolong wear, but to brighten shades or make them appear bolder than without primer.  

My old tube, I didn't think I still had it to be honest, is a bit battered looking, but a good design reference nonetheless.  Surely you've tried UDPP at some point over the years, which packaging did yours have?