Review: Eye Shadow Primers- Kat Von D, Smash Box, Urban Decay

So in this post we're going to talk about eye shadow primers. I'll talk about my experiences with foundation primers in a later post since it may take a little longer.

Now, I haven't used many eye shadow primers, seeing as I tend to find one I like and stick with it until I can't anymore. The first eye shadow primer that I ever used was Kat Von D's Stellar primer.

This is honestly by far my absolute favourite eye shadow primer that I have ever used. I used this primer for years. I honestly would be still using this primer if it hadn't been discontinued. I generally paired it with Kat Von D eye shadows since I am admittedly a bit of a fangirl. The point is, while wearing this primer, I never ever ever had to worry about my shadows going anywhere during the day. No matter what I was doing- working or out on the town- my eyes looked stunning for the entire day. It never made my shadow crease, the pigment of my shadow never faded and since the Stellar primer was tinged pink, it really did help with my pink and purple smokey eyes. I know I've already said it but I loved this primer. If anyone knows of anything comparable, I'm definitely willing to try it!

Now it's on to two not-so-good primers. These come in the form of the Smashbox's Photo Finish Lid Primer and benefit's Stay Don't Stray primer. As I stated in my first post, I have very bad skin. This is mostly due to the fact that I have oily skin and as such, it is difficult for me to find primers that don't crease. Additionally, both primers come in a 'skin' tone which never match my skin since I'm pretty much a ghost. Here they are, for visual reference:

Now these may work for someone with non-oily skin or a darker skin tone but unfortunately, the 'skin' colour is so dark on me that it shows even beneath my eye shadow. I don't even know how that's possible, but it happened. This is the Smashbox primer on my skin (I would do the benefit one as well but it is long gone by now):

So not only do these primers cause creasing, they are very dark in colour and I found that the benefit primer didn't last me the entire day and that it dried very quickly after application. Smashbox's lid primer stays most a bit longer but it's still not something that I can use, unfortunately. It's also very thick and heavy which makes it hard to blend with. Here is my unimpressed face: 

I also used the benefit primer for a Halloween zombie look one year, and the black shadow I used under my eyes faded quickly and even began to wear off in spots. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend either of these primers if you want something light and long lasting. 

Finally, we come to the end of the primers that I am going to talk about today. Like I said earlier, I haven't used that many. This one is my replacement for Stellar. After doing much online research and looking into primers that had 'skin' colours and pigments, the closest eye shadow primer that I could find to my eye primer soul mate is Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin. 

Even though I don't love this quite as much as I loved the KVD primer, it's definitely comparable. The colour is a light brownish/shimmery champagne that goes on slightly dark but then blends in to almost a clear shimmer:

Since I mostly wear shimmery eye shadows, a non-matte primer works best for me. With this primer, I can wear my look all day and I don't worry about creasing or pigment migration. The only issue I take with this is that I don't often wear neutral colours like browns and I would prefer a light pink shimmer eye shadow primer. I have the original version of their primer potion sitting in my closet as well, waiting for if I run out of Sin before I can replace it. I would have also liked to pick up Greed for a test but it sold out before I got the chance, unfortunately.

According to some close friends, Make Up Forever's primer is really good as well but I have personally never used it, so I can't offer my own opinion. The only thing I can say here is: Please Sephora and Kat Von D! Bring back Stellar! If this ever happens, I can guarantee that I'll stock up for my entire lifetime or something like that.