Eyeshadow primers

For many years, I do not know what is the purpose of eyeshadow primer. In fact, I always find the sales assistant over the counter is only trying to sell me an extra item in order to make more money. Then I realise that whatever eyeshadows that I applied on my lids always do not last long and will fade by mid day. It doesn't help that I have combination skin that makes makeup slip off my face (eyelids included) much faster than normal so I have been troubled by HOW the eyeshadows can last longer.

My close makeup pal, T told me that a primer is indeed very important and showed me how the colours on her lids look brighter and lasted almost the whole day with a primer. That's when I started seeing the importance of this small bottle / tube of cream!

Below are the 3 primers that I have tried.

From left: Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Each products does a good job in making my eyeshadow last longer but there are difference in their texture and packaging and this will be what I am reviewing it.

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

This eye primer is the cheapest of the lot, and especially if you can get directly from Korea! My best pal, V got it for me from Seoul and she also cannot remember how much she paid for it then. Several blogshops I found selling this eye primer is selling around $13.50 - $15.00.

The applicator comes in a straight wand which 'scoops' out the primer from the 'vase shaped' container. Among the 3 primers here, Etude House primer is thickest in consistency which makes it harder to blend to my lids evenly. It also doesn't last as well as other primers whereby I can see the eyeshadow fading after 4 - 5 hours.

There is no absolute correct way to apply a primer. Some applies directly on the lids, while others scoop out the content and place it at the back of the palm, before dabbing it on the eyelid evenly. For me, I use both ways, depending on my mood, haha.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

I got the travel size of the highly raved Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion when I purchased Naked Palette from Sephora. There were so much raves about this primer and the only rant is regarding the shape of the container (similar to Etude House Proof 10 Primer).

Urban Decay heard the rants of her customers and changed their wand to be angled which makes it easier to scoop out the content from the side of the container. Texture of this primer is much smoother than Etude House and makes application and blending much easier. Eyeshadow also lasts longer whereby I do not experience fading and fall out until 6 hours later. My only complaint is still the shape of the container as I will not know when I am going to complete this item and I actually read from forums that they SAW this container open to make sure they do not waste anything!

Sephora in Singapore only carry the 10ml primer which comes in this weird shape and retails at $32. It does have a professional size (25ml) that comes in a squeeze tube but I have not seen in local Sephora stores (not sure if I have not been looking at it hard enough, lol).

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Finally, this is a primer that comes in a squeeze tube form which is absolutely more convenient to use and ensure no wastage.

The weird thing about this primer is that whenever I squeeze out the primer, there seems to be a layer of 'oil' as well (you can see from the shiny content in the pic above, which is separate from the beige cream). I tried shaking the tube before use and it doesn't seem to help. Not sure if this is a problem in this product or because this tube I bought is from an older batch. It is extremely smooth and easy to blend (perhaps because it has a high proportion of silicon in it) and similar to Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, it helps my shadows to last a good 6 hours. It is retailing at $28 at Sephora.

To date, I am not sure which primer I will re purchase if I complete the current stash because all of which has their pros and cons. Definitely not Etude House though.......