Back to basic: Eyeshadow primer

If you have oily eyelids, you probably already know this product. I think it is an absolute must as it avoids the lines of mixed eyeshadows in the crease at the end of the day. Since I discovered it I haven't put any eyeshadow on without applying it first.

 

Eyeshadow primer serves primarily to prevent eyeshadows from creasing but it has other important functions as well:

 

•  it helps your eyeshadows to last longer (my eye look lasted untouched through my kickboxing class!),
• it prevents low quality eyeshadow from flaking, falling all over the under eye area (which happens even if you tap off excess eyeshadow, if you don’t put the primer),
•  it makes a colour more vibrant (in most cases a poor pigmented eyeshadow can look at least average),
• it helps to hold cream eyeshadows better especially if they are not marketed as long-lasting.

 

They come in different packaging and shades: pots, squeeze tubes, crayons, tubes with doe-foot applicator…The difference is just a matter of personal preference although I think the squeeze tube is the best option from the hygienic point of view.

 

What concerns the colour, some primers come transparent and they don't show on eye at all, other have skin-like colour. Some brands sell also primers with different colours and these come usually in form of crayons or paint pots and serve also as cream eyeshadows. I prefer skin-like colour primers since they not only prep my eyelid for the eyeshadow but they also create bare canvas erasing discoloration and few visible capillaries.

 

  

(from left to right) KIKO Eye Base primer, Too Faced Shadow insurance (deluxe sample), MAC paint pot

 

 

Price tag depends on what you can afford, some cheap eyeshadow primers are as good as expensive ones. Depends on the size and packaging one tube of primer can last you up to 1 year.

 

Here is my choice, with the drugstore price: 

•  Kiko base primer (Italian brand, www.kikocosmetics.eu, skin-like colour)  
• Elf eyeshadow primer (site www.eyeslipsface.com, drugstores in US or www.eyeslipsface.be in Belgium, www.elf-kozmetika.eu/sk in Slovakia)  
• Hema eyeshadow primer (only available in Hema store in Belgium)  
• NYX eyeshadow primer (www.nyxcosmetics.com, cherryculture.com, drugstores in US, cosmetic stores in Germany)

Here is my higher-end choice:  

• Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion (few colours, at Sephora)  
•  MAC paint pot (skin-like colours: Soft Ochre or Painterly, but another 23 colours available)  
• Too faced shadow insurance (few colours, at Sephora)