Black & White review ALERT: Rouge Bunny Rouge Prelude in the Clouds Aqua Primer

Disclaimer: this review is pretty much in black & white, you shall see why!

I know I'm a bit late to write about this. Anyone would tell you the same story: once you fell into the rabbit hole, there's no turning back......Well, I"d say it's true for Rouge Bunny Rouge's eyeshadows and lipsticks (Amazing texture...and maybe blushes too, but I haven't tried theirs), but for their primer? Hmmm maybe. 

RBR logo on top of the primer's outer packaging...how very posh.

 Each RBR product came with an enchanting little tale behind...but I shall not bore you with this, you can just google away if you like to hear stories. What I like to talk about in this review is the product itself, and why it earned only a 'maybe' from me.

Matte transparent glass bottle with black plastic cap, floral/blossom motif on the glass bottle, product dispenses with a pump. I encountered the first issue here. The cap seems a bit loose fitting and to my shock, I found the inner pump dispenser also loosen up when I twist the outer cap anti-clockwise? For some reason the inner pump doesn't close in tightly and is easily loosen up. I'm not sure if mine was a dud or what. But I shall station it upright at the dressing table from now on.

One pump was enough to use on the whole face. Primer itself was colorless, albeit it's slightly murky appearance. It spreads nicely on skin so there's no tugging, it also sinks in well and creates a smooooooth canvas without feeling too silicone-y. The post-application feeling earned a thumbs up from me. Easy to control amount when using, there's no need to wait for it to sink in before applying foundation. As far as feeling goes, this is the best texture of a primer I've come across so far. Nothing can beat it.

The outer packaging of the primer...a very picturesque and poetic blend of fauna and flora. I wish this was printed on the bottle itself too.

Now to the essence of the review, it says 'aqua primer' so it offers moisture to your skin. They're right, it did a decent job in offering a smooth canvas for you to work your makeup on. But something more is lacking. What about SPF? There's none. What about oil-control? I found myself blotting just after 4 hours, and my skin was not even that oily to begin with. By the end of the day, I ended up with a 'shiny' face, much to my horror.

Unless I have perfect complexion (for which I don't), I prefer primers to have either color-correcting properties, or tinted ones so they could even out my skin tone a bit, maybe make the scars/marks less noticeable. Some tint is better than none. This is what I found to be lacking from this primer.

Although it can be argued that if one lives in a cooler climate (say the temperatures never go beyond 20 degrees celcius or above), then I shall be happy with this and not worry about oil-control and SPF. But the reality is, I cannot live on this alone as a primer in humid summer months. As much as I love the texture (and the quick dry-down) of this primer, I prefer it to have SPF and carry a little tint!

That said, I enjoyed using it more during deep winters where the sun is less intense and I could make up the SPF in my foundations, and oil-control was not an issue in colder climates. 

The outer packaging is such a pretty art piece so I can't bear to throw it away like I usually do with paper box packaging.

What are your favourite primers? What properties do you like about them? Do share!