One of my greatest frustrations when I was starting out with makeup was eyeshadow. I think that’s why I was so ecstatic to find out about primers. They made crappy eyeshadow look good and stay put. I eventually found some awesome eyeshadows that work well, even without a primer, but I couldn’t not wear primer once I started.

Eye primers are basically the magic glue that bonds your eyeshadow to your eyelids. If your eyelids are prone to oiling up, a good primer or base will prevent your eyeshadow from ‘creasing’—or bunching up in unattractive lines, around your eye folds—and will get you through the day with pretty flawless makeup.

There are a lot of good ones out in the market today, and I’ll share with you a few of my favorites. For your standard, dries-down-translucent eyeshadow primer, my top picks are Urban Decay Primer Potion and NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base. These have worked the best on my eyes so far. Other alternatives are the e.l.f. Mineral Eyeshadow Primer (though it didn’t agree with my eyelids), the Etude House Proof 10 Eyeshadow Primer, and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, which is a popular choice but I haven’t tried yet. Your favorite brand probably has one, so keep an eye out!

Then there are the bases. Cream eyeshadows are a favorite and the best cruelty-free option I’ve tried so far is the LUSH Cream Eyeshadow. My favorites are MAC Paint Pots, the Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner, and the Maybelline Color Tattoos, though they aren’t cruelty-free.

If you’ve noticed, they come in different shades. You can use these are a base for similarly-colored eyeshadows, to deepen the intensity, add more dimension, or just use as a primer. A darker base, like this Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner, will alter the color of a lighter shadow on top of it, creating a beautiful effect.

For example, I used two light shimmery pinks over it in this look right here:

If you want to keep the eyeshadows true-to-pan, without alteration, then try a color-correcting base, or an opaque white one. Two examples are Benefit Lemon Aid, which looks like a concealer pot, and the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk.

I hope that helped you narrow down your options, in case you were looking for an eyeshadow base! I find that these really help enhance your eye looks, so be sure to consider getting one of these if you’re into eye makeup. 🙂

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