I find that eye primers are critical to a smooth, lasting, non-creasing eye look. The right primer can also bring out the vibrancy of your eyeshadow. I love face primer, but if I'm in a hurry in the morning, I admit that I sometimes skip it. However, I never skip the eye primer when I'm wearing eye makeup. Here are a few primers I've tried in the past week. And here's how they compare to my all time favorite: MAC's Paint Pot in Painterly.
MAC
MAC is generally tough to beat in the eye makeup department. It's a good quality, highly-pigmented, affordable product. But I'm an especially big fan of MAC's paint pots. Technically, this is a creamy eyeshadow that dries smooth and long-wearing. But I am of the opinion that even though this technically is not a primer, it does the trick very nicely. I use the shade Painterly, a nice light cool to neutral toned nude-beige that matches my skintone. MAC also makes this formula is several other fleshy shades, including one that is a bit warmer, Soft Ochre, and one that is great for medium skintones, Groundwork, and one for darker skintones, Quite Natural. In addition to the smooth staying-power of these paints, I really like that they have several shades that match real skintones. Many eye primers are "one color fits all" and tend to be very yellow tones, which is not flattering for me. And personally, I feel that the yellow-based primers distort my eyeshadows in an unflattering way, making them appear more yellow on my skin. That is why I always choose eye shadow bases/primers that are as close as possible to the skintone, or slightly lighter. And at $16.50 a pop, these paints are nicely priced. Here's how the other primers I tried stacked up to my favorite.
Urban Decay
I tried a sample Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Eden. I was not pleased with this because it was way too yellow, but in fairness to the product, they do make a sheer nude shade that I might have preferred. The overall texture was fine, and it definitely helped my eyeshadow stay all day just as well as the MAC product I like. But I had a strange reaction to this product. My eyelids suddenly became red and irritated as the product dried. The sensation went away after about 15 minutes or so, but my eyelids were very irritated for a while, which caused me to postpone applying my eyeshadow since I didn't want to agitate the area with a brush. I don't typically have cosmetic allergies, but who knows, I may be allergic to something in the product. But I know this is a popular primer with a lot of the makeup artists I know, so it may just be me. However, if you tend to have skin allergies or sensitivities, I would do a patch test first before spreading this all over your eyelids. In any case, between the overly yellow color and the irritation, I doubt I'll be trying this again.
Kat Von D
Yes, the famed sexy tattoo artist started her own makeup line. I guess I should have seen that one coming. This is the first product I've tried from the line, and I must say especially after my Urban Decay experience, I was impressed with the High Voltage Eye Primer. The primer was smooth and lightweight. It spread easily, and I like that it comes in a wand form. However, the ease of the wand is somewhat deceptive since it holds too much product, so it's not useful for blending. You either have to blend with your finger or preferably, a concealer brush. I am used to using a concealer brush to apply my Paint Pot, so that's not a problem. I think that if you wipe the wand thoroughly on the edge of the tube, you may be able to use it to blend the product. But chances are you'll still end up blending the edges with your finger. Even though the shade of this product is not bad, a "universal" nude, it's still a bit on the yellow side for me. But my bigger complaint is that it does not come in shades to match other skintones. There is a deep dark charcoal color, but that is not going to match anyone's skintone. And while there are different thoughts on whether you really need your primer to match your skintone, my question is if you can get a product that does match, why the heck would you want to use something way too dark, too light, too yellow, or too pink? So basically, I think that Ms. Von D has a good product here, but I'd like to see her expand the options to accommodate a wider range of skintones rather than trying to mass off a warm yellowish nude as "universal."
Benefit
Benefit's Stay Don't Stray is a winner. It's interesting because it's not just an eyeshadow primer, it's also designed to primer underneath your eyes to keep your under-eye concealer form creasing. It comes in a pump format, so you can apply and blend it with either your finger or your concealer brush. Beware: I got lazy and decided to use my finger instead of a brush when I tried this, and it did not wash off very easily, even with soap. I had to break out the makeup remover. But I took that as a good sign that it was definitely going to prevent concealer and eyeshadow from running, fading, or creasing. And boy did it! This is a fantastic non-greasy gem with staying power. My under-eye concealer has never looked so good, particularly during the July heat when it tends to run and crease easily. You're definitely gonna need a good eye-makeup remover to get it off. Once again, it is only sold it one color, a "universal" nude. However, I thought that this one really was more universal because it is pretty sheer and neutral-toned (equal parts of cool pink base and warm yellow base). I'd still like to see them make at least one more a few shades darker for women with medium to dark skintones. But overall, I think that this is a great product. It's a few bucks more than the MAC at $24, but I think I would use the MAC for everyday and reserve the Benefit for days when I need a little extra staying power because of the heat or a photo shoot. This one's definitely going in my wedding makeup kit.
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