The Battle of the Primers

More than a few times recently, Ms. New Beauty has had ridiculously long days. Most people wake up, go to work, and come back home. In MNB's life, it's been more like wake up, go to work, get dinner, maybe a few cocktails, head out to some social event, stumble in the house way past midnight, do it all over again the next day. With days this long, Ms. New Beauty of course has to rely on makeup that will go on easily in the morning and keep on kicking until it's time to take it off. Pressed powder and cheek stain pretty much keep her complexion in tact. Her mascara is so good, it doesn't come off unless she uses an eye makeup remover. But keeping her eye shadow in tact always proved to be a struggle. The color that looks great in the morning is creased and all but evaporated by evening, unless MNB gets a little help from her friends - her primer friends that is.

MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

I first told you about this amazing find a few months back. The paint pot is itself a cream eye shadow with a water base. Use your finger to smooth it on and it dries almost instantly and lasts all day. Painterly is a creamy shade that works beautifully as a primer under my darker eye shadow looks. I just smooth it on before applying my eye shadow and the color lasts all day. There is no creasing whatsoever with this on my lids, and that is a really big deal given how oily my lids can get after just a few hours.

But I do have one gripe with using this as a primer. Light eye shadow colors just don't read well when layered on top of this. Because this is actually meant to be used as an eye shadow on its own, the creamy white color doesn't disappear into your lids. And, given my cocoa complexion, it really stands out. Every time I've tried to do a light or shimmery look on top of this, the white still shows through. So of course, you know I went out looking for something that would work under any shadow and still last all day.

$16.50, available at MAC counters

Urban Decay Eye Shadow Priming Potion

I first heard of this primer when I stumbled upon this blog post about just how much product gets trapped in the oddly shaped tube. A few hours of web surfing later, and I realized two things - one, there are all kinds of makeup videos on youtube (seriously, I saw enthralled watching all kinds of different women doing all kinds of different eye shadow looks for at least three hours) and two, absolutely every one of these women primed their lids with this potion first. That was all it took for me to put this on my shopping list for my next trip out to the beauty counters.

This primer is very creamy and packs a big punch. It took me a few days of using it before I actually got the right amount onto my lids because it's very easy to apply too much. Too much of this primer will leave a white residue on your lids that really stands out if your complexion is on the deeper end of the spectrum. The creamy formula goes on really smooth so just a few pats with your ring finger will cover your entire eye lid. It does take about a minute or so for it to fully absorb and dry. Once it does, it's almost invisible and any color eye shadow goes on seamlessly on top of it. The important part is that the eye shadow really lasts throughout your day. I have found that there was just a little creasing, but seriously, just a little.

$16, available at Sephora

So, this post is titled the "Battle of the Primers" because I was really looking to find the best primer on the market. But, the truth is, I like and use them both. Neither is perfect and they both have their own strengths and uses. For my smokey eyes, I go for the MAC and for the light shimmery looks, it's the Urban Decay. If only more battles and wars could end like this.


Live a life as fast as you want, and know that your makeup will be able to keep up, but just don't forget that Ms. New Beauty told you!