Pesticides and cigarettes aren’t the only thing loaded with chemicals. Most make-up is pretty bad, too. Unfortunately, natural make-up is stupidly overpriced. Well, most make-up is stupidly overpriced, but once you slap an organic/natural/vegan label on anything it at least doubles the price, even if that label is a big, fat lie.
EKC gel eyeliners. Clockwise from top left: Deep Brown, Emerald Green, Blackest Black, Sterling Silver, Eggplant Purple, Blackstar Green.
Enter Eye Kandii Cosmetics. Based out of Burns Lake, British Columbia, EKC makes all-natural cosmetics, most of which are vegan. They focus on customer service and highly pigmented, long-lasting cosmetics with no harmful chemicals. Awesome.
EKC also offers some of the best prices around on cosmetics, even if you count the shipping. A couple weeks ago I scored an excellent deal on a tube of primer and six pots of gel eyeliner. For $23, shipping included. And, to be honest, that wasn’t even a deal. That was the standard price. And she even threw in a wet liner/foiling medium for free.
That's a lot of primer for $5!
Best of all, everything was way bigger than I thought it would be! The pots of eyeliner are 6 grams, but it turns out that is way more than it sounds like. It’s about a tablespoon, and that is several years worth of gel eyeliner for me. I have never finished that much make-up. And I got six of them. YAY!
The make-up is great, too. The primer promises to keep your eyeshadow crease-free for up to 16 hours while containing only natural ingredients. I got the “B-Primed Purely Nude shadow primer”, which goes on white and dries clear. I find it dries incredibly fast, so you have to be lightening quick to spread it across your lids before it dries and just starts ‘skidding’. This stuff stays where it dries. To combat the insta-dry, you can try and apply it in one fell swoop, or apply a small bead of argan oil (USA / Canada) to each eyelid a while before you apply the primer. That teensy bit of extra lubrication gives you a few extra seconds to work.
That's all the primer you need for each lid. You could probably use less if you can get any less out of the tube!
While 16 hours might be a bit of an exaggeration, this primer definitely extends the life of your eyeshadow. I tested it by using the cheapest eyeshadow I own. It’s a palette I got on eBay—168 colours for $12. It cannot be MAC quality. I figured it could use the help a nice primer would lend. I applied primer to one lid, and then the same eyeshadow to each lid. I finished it off with some black EKC gel liner. Then I took photos every two hours to see what happened. See for yourself:
No primer, 0 hours
With primer, 0 hours
No primer, 2 hours
With primer, 2 hours
No primer, 4 hours
With primer, 4 hours
No primer, 6 hours
With primer, 6 hours
No primer, 8 hours
With primer, 8 hours
So, as you can see, there is noticeable creasing on both eyes after 8 hours. The eye with primer is definitely better, though. And this was terribly low-quality eyeshadow as well. I didn’t take photos for hours 10 and 12, but they weren’t very pretty. The primed eye was still better, though.
The gel liner is great stuff. The colours are beautiful, the go on well, and they last. They won’t smudge when they dry, but they will flake right off if rubbed or scratched (which makes removal super easy). I used a thin Quo eyeliner brush, and it gives me the thinnest line you can imagine. I might have to go over it twice to get a good, solid line of colour, but it goes on so clean and easy that it’s not an issue at all.
So, overall, I’m a fan. Their customer service is fast and friendly, their shipping rates are fair, and I dare you to find a better price on natural make-up. Or even conventional make-up, for that matter. EKC makes lip gloss, lip stain, eyeshadow, blush, cover-up, mascara, and more, and in heaps of great colours. Next time you need something, I’d definitely recommend giving them a try.
Hi! I just found your website and I love it! I’m into all natural stuff too, but haven’t found anything that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I make some of my own stuff, but can’t make it all. The link to EKC didn’t work, so I googled their name, but want to make sure I have the CORRECT website! Please email me with the correct link, please! I need new coverup, the one I was using occasionally makes my lips burn, I don’t like that. And I need thicker lipstick and primer. My lipstick bleeds and feathers. Thanks!
Sarah
Hey Sarah! I’ve noticed the EKC website has been offline for quite a while, sadly. But! I bought all my stuff from her through eBay, and her store is still alive and well 🙂
Also… have you thought about making your own? I’ve got a couple great lipstick recipes!
Hi Marie!
I was interested in the primer mentioned in this post, but it looks like EKC is defunct now (the reviews on ebay don’t look promising)…so, I went on a search for another alternative and found out that milk of magnesia dabbed sparingly on eyelids works as a primer. I tried, and sure enough, works like a charm! I keep some in a small dropper bottle and just spread a drop over each eyelid. Apparently it can be drying so you must use it sparingly – or else mix it with some aloe vera juice- I haven’t found it to be drying, myself. Just wanted to share that! Best, Colleen 🙂
Ooooh, this is SUPER cool! I will have to get my hands on some MoM and give it a go 🙂 Perhaps I’ll finally have that primer recipe in a month or two!
Good morning!
I’ve been ordering and doing research on make-up tips and how to apply it as I’ve never really needed to wear it other than a wee bit of mascara on my eyes. But with eye shadows, I get creases. Turns out this is normal and can be put off with something like the primer you wrote about.
I was wondering if you’ve developed a primer recipe yet?
I have! It’s in the book 😉
Ahhhh! Now I just hope I can get the book!
There’ll be an ebook version, hopefully you can get that if not a physical one 🙂
I remember somewhere in a comment someone was asking if it would be found on iBooks. That is pretty much the only place I can get books from over here. My fingers are crossed that I can get it!
Getting carmine both liquid and powder proved to be interesting. Took weeks of working and searching for it till I finally decided to look at who supplies who and who makes what. So ended up buying my carmine from the factory that makes it. And the smallest amount they would sell was 100g and 30mL.
Fun times in China!
Whoa! How much is 100g of carmine over there? That would cost $564.40 + tax + shipping if I ordered it from a Canadian supplier, and 114g = $140USD out of the US (obviously a WAY better option LOL!). 30mL of the liquid stuff isn’t that much, you won’t have any trouble using that up, and it makes a pretty darn good lip stain on its own!
Gracie (the sales rep at the company) was selling 100g for 360rmb plus delivery so about 70CAD. No tax here either. I bought 30mL of the liquid and I think that was 100rmb.
I saw your video (finally splurged and bought a VPN) of the lip stain I think it was and it was a beautiful pinkish colour that I so want!
Score! Enjoy your new toys 🙂
Also… what lip stain video? I just filmed it, I haven’t even edited it yet, let alone published it 😛
You posted two videos that I’ve seen about what you apply for makeup. In one of the videos you have a tube of lip stain/gloss that you also applied as liquid blush. It was a fantastic colour!
The new toys are nagging me to pay them more attention!
Hmm… if it’s in a tube that’s lip gloss (doesn’t make great blush, sadly), and then the one in the pot is a solid cream brush/lip tint 🙂 You’ll see true lip stain in tomorrow’s video!