Eye primers are GREAT investments when it comes to making up your eyes. Eye primers enhance the colour of your eyeshadow, prevent eyeshadow from creasing and make it last longer. I would never wear eyeshadow without an eye primer underneath. Because eye makeup usually takes the most time – it is not worth it without a primer underneath (in my humble opinion). There are many different types of eye primers such as invisible liquid primers, cream bases, MAC Paints, MAC Paintpots, MAC shadesticks, NYX Jumbo Pencils etcetera.

The first picture has all the eye primers and the second picture has MAC Electric Eel eyeshadow on left and MAC Shimmer Moss eyeshadow on right.

Eye primers from top to bottom:

1. Urban decay Primer Potion (can’t be seen since invisible)

2. Too faced shadow Insurance (can’t be seen since invisible)

3. MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque

4. MAC Paint in Sublime Nature

5. MAC Shadestick in Beige-ing

6. NYX Jumbo Pencil in violet

7. Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner (don’t know the name)

8. Vincent Longo Eye Shimmer Souffle in Babelon

Invisible eye primers:

Urban Decay Primer Potion: UDPP is beige coloured but goes on invisible once you blend it in. UDPP enhances the colour of the eyeshadow – makes it a lot more vibrant. Eyelids tend to get oily throughout the day and eyeshadow creases on the folds of the eyes. UDPP prevents any creasing of eyeshadow. Normally a powder eyeshadow disappears by midday. UDPP also makes eyeshadow last throughout the day. It makes the value of the eyshadow (no matter what brand or type) a lot more than what it really is. It is $17 USD/ $22 CDN for 0.34 oz product.

One disadvantage is the packaging that UDPP comes in. The tiny bottle is genie inspired and very cute looking. The straight sponge tip applicator can only go straight in the tube. Where as the tube is curvy. So a LOT of the products get stuck in the curves of the bottle. And you would think you have used all up. But if you cut the bottle open in the middle you will find one 10 g jar full of product inside. But cutting the process includes using a knife. So the hassle and danger involved to get all the product out – to make your money worth ticks me off.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance: TFSI is also beige coloured and goes on invisible on skin. It also enhances eyeshadow colour, prevents creasing and makes eye makeup last longer. TFSI is $17 USD/ $24 CDN for 0.35 oz product.

TFSI has two advantages over UDPP. The first one is that I think it is better for oily lids. But a lot of people think both products are the same. So I might be totally wrong. Second advantage is that it comes in a squeeze tube. So you don’t have to cut it open – you can all the product out just by squeezing the tube. I absolute can’t live without this.

Coloured eye primers:

MAC Paint: It is a transfer-resistant creamy base than gives a powdery finish. It comes in a squeeze tube. Be careful when you use it for the first 10 times. A lot of the product comes out with just a little bit of squeeze. It lasts for a LONG time. It is totally worth my money. Some has a satin finish (almost matte -with very slight slimmer) and some are more shimmery. These come in mostly skin tones colours and I love this product too. It is thick and pigmented- covers the eye area well evening out the skin tone. I use Sublime Nature Paint (a satin finished paint – my skin tone) almost every day over Too Faced Shadow Insurance before putting on eye makeup.

One con is that it tends to dull the eyeshadow colour a little bit. But I will always love it because it evens out my skin tone.

MAC Paint Pot: It comes in a small jar. It comes in a lot of colours including skin tones colour. It comes in matte/cream, satin and frosty finishes. They are really good to enhance the colour the eyeshadow. They are so pretty I would all of them if I could afford it. However, I don’t find myself grabbing them as much when I do my eye makeup.

MAC Shadestick: The packaging is like a mechanical eye pencil. But it is too big to be used as an eye pencil. It is a cream base that comes in a stick. But I personally don’t like it because it doesn’t blend well. It goes on flaky on my eyes.

NYX Jumbo Pencil: These are great alternative to MAC Shadesticks. These are not mechanical – so you have to sharpen them. But the Jumbo Pencils are very creamy and very pigmented and easy to use. I like using them a lot.

Benefit Creaseless cream Shadow/Liner: It’s a cream base and doesn’t crease. I like it a lot.

Vincent Longo Eye Shimmer Souffle: It is a very creamy and shimmery base. I tend to use to under colourful eyeshadows.
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So I have been chit-chatting for a while. Now I am going to really start talking about makeup in details. Today’s topic is face primers. There are different types of face primers. Some are water based and some are dimethicone based. Primers go after moisturizer and before foundation. So it makes a barrier between skin and foundation. Most primers even out skin tone, smooth out any rough patches or dryness, fill in fine lines and pores. Primers also make the foundation application very smooth and easy. Foundation usually lasts longer when applied over a primer.

High end primers:

My all time favourite primer is Make Up For Ever’s HD primer. It has a non-oily finish so foundation can be applied immediately and it goes beautifully with Make Up For Ever’s HD foundation. It’s great for all types of skin. They have one translucent primer and 6 other coloured ones to correct imperfection, I prefer the translucent one.

My second favourite is Photofinish primer by Smashbox. But it is my favourite only in winter because it makes my face greasy in summer. It is oil-free and gives a velvety finish. The translucent primer has an “original” version and a “light” version for oily skin. There are also colour-correcting primers.

Clarins make Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. It is a creamy and non-oily primer and best for dry skin. It gives a smooth finish and fills in fine lines and pores.

Clinique makes Pore Minimizer. It comes in two colours- Invisible Light and Invisible Deep. It really does minimize the pores. But it comes in a tiny tube and is pricey for the product.

Budget friendly primers:

Fix and Perfect foundation primer by Rimmel is a great low end primer. It goes in peachy but is invisible once you blend it. It smoothes the skin and hides pore very well. It’s excellent for oily skin. The finish is somewhat like Make Up For Ever’s HD primer, unlike Smashbox’s silky finish.

Last but not the least, Monistat Chaffing Gel. It is an intimate care product and NOT designed as a primer. It cautions to keep out from eyes. So I am NOT responsible if this product harms your face. However, it is the best primer for dry skin in my opinion. It smoothes the skin, fills in fine lines, gives a silky finish – everything that a primer does.