In general I like primers. Okay, let me correct that. I adore primers. I think it is a holdover from my painting days. I there is just something about the thought of a properly prepared canvas that just makes me think all is right with the world.
Even on days when I only wear powder and skip the foundation, I reach for primer first. It is just a habit. I have noticed that as I’ve gotten older, primer has been much more of a staple in preparing the canvas of my face for makeup application. Over time my pores seem to have enlarged and there are so many fine lines that just need a little bit of filling before the foundation goes over them. For this primer is my go to product.
Typically I also like the brand Illamasqua. I think at this point powder and foundation are the only two products from them that I haven’t actually tried. For me their products always work really well. And In case you were wondering, both of their powder and foundations are on my list of products to try.
So when the new Illamasqua primer, Beyond the Veil, appeared in my Look Fantastic Box I was thrilled. This was also the Look Fantastic Box I accidentally ordered twice, so I ended up with two samples of this primer. The second is still sealed in its little box. The first went into my makeup bag this week. First off, I love the look of the jars. There is just something really pleasing about the shape of them.
Now I have used the Hydra Veil Primer from Illamasqua repeatedly. I tried it first in the sample size and then moved on to the full size (which is now in my dressing table). I really like it. The difference between the Hydra Veil and the beyond the Veil primers is that Beyond the Veil has Illamasqua’s Beyond Powder blended in.
(I know it gets a little confusing but the links in that paragraph will take you to each individual product so you can see them all separately in more professionally lit photos. Because of the products themselves photographing them was really hard to do. They reflected light in really crazy ways.)
I was very curious as to how this world work. Would it eliminate the need for powder? Would the primer be more concealing? Or more powdery? What about texture? So many questions. Let’s find some answers.
First there is a difference in coloring. The Hydra Veil Primer has no color to it whatsoever. It is a clear jelly like substance. I always have fun playing with it when I take it out. I love that once you scoop out a little bit of the formula it leaves a little chunk of jelly missing, but by the time you’ve applied it to your face, the surface of the container has smoothed out again so that it looks like none was taken. It’s a little thing, but it always makes me feel like I am opening a new product every time I open it.
The Beyond the Veil has the same tendencies but it is a beige color. The color goes away or blends into the skin, when applied, but in the jar, I can’t lie, it looks more like an overly set, and possibly split, custard because of the color. There is something slightly off putting about the color and about scooping it out. It reacts the same way as the clear version, but somehow with the color I always find myself sort of making the icky face at it.
Childish I know, but there it is.
The original is completely liquified by the heat of your hands. The Beyond the Veil melts a little but not all the way down to liquid. It is more of a thin paste. It is thinner than other primers, almost a foundation like consistency. Once that happens I am fine with the color. It is just the initial scooping out of the jar that gets me. It is fine once it is out of the jar. Despite the slight change in texture, and not melting to a complete liquid, it applies like the original primer, however it is a slightly dryer formula.
The Hydra Veil is a very wet formula. When you apply it, you need a moment to let it dry and set. Personally I don’t mind it as I tend to apply my powder directly over it and then put foundation on top. I find this gives me an excellent base. As the Hydra Veil dries down it becomes slightly sticky and locks the powder into place giving me a fantastic matte base that doesn’t look powdery.
I thought there was the possibility that with the powder blended in, the Beyond the Veil might eliminate the need for powder. It does not. It is less wet than the Hydra Veil and dries down a little more quickly because of it. It also dries to the same slightly sticky consistency that the regular Beyond the Veil Primer reaches. I still applied my powder over it and then moved on to foundation.
What the Beyond the Veil does is it helps over redness and minor blemishes better than the regular Hydra Veil because of its tint. Because of this I found myself using less concealer this week as I worked my way through the primer. Because of the wet shine in the above photos, I’m not sure how much of the covering aspect it shows. It didn’t affect my use of powder, but I really only needed the concealer under my eyes and on my lids to prep them for eyeshadow.
The week of use ended up using up my sample size of primer. I do have a second one and I will be using that at some point in the future. Over all I really did like using the Beyond the Veil Primer this week. It did well eliminating redness and minor sunspots, letting me skip the concealer for face application, it dried down relatively quickly and locked my powder and foundation into place really well. It is not pore filling but it is slightly sticky and keeps everything set and does a good job of preventing the product overlaying it from settling into fine lines. The above pictures may not look dramatic, but it did wear really well and help out the other makeup products I used this week.
The only drawback I can see is that color in the jar. Getting it out of the jar is really unappealing. Once out it is fine and it is a good product to use, it is just that initial jump. Perhaps it would look different in the full size, I don’t know.
While I will still lean more towards using the regular Hydra Veil, I have to say on days where I have a lot of redness that I want to conceal I would have no problem reaching for this hydrating primer. I might not look into the jar when I scoop it out, but I will certainly use it.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 
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