Discovering Eyelash Primers

Do you ever discover a product that you never knew you needed and then you try it and you wonder how you ever managed with out it? Well that’s just what happened to me with eyelash primers. Although it wasn’t a very straight forward story. To be fair it never is with me is it!

I came across the Benefit They’re Real Primer Mascara at the QVC Press Day towards the end of last year. I read all the stuff about how you can wear the primer on it’s own for a soft day time feathery look or how you could add your mascara on top for a more defined, dramatic look. So the first day I tried the primer and thought it was a joke. It had practically no impact on my lashes and I just put it away. The next day I thought I’d give it a try with mascara on top. I found my sample of Benefit They’re Real Mascara which I’d tried once or twice but wasn’t over impressed with. I mean it worked but it didn’t wow me. I put on the primer again, ugh, no impact again, but I needed to finish my look so I started to add the mascara and oh my goodness….it was like magic! My lashes looked amazing, better than any mascara I’ve tried. It’s almost as though the primer is a magnet that makes the mascara stick to the lashes – amazing!

This is a high-performing gel formula that’s water-resistant. It conditions your lashes with Provitamin B5. The custom ExtraFlex brush is specially designed to move with lashes for separation. It costs £18.50 here.

And then as if one eyelash primer isn’t enough within a few weeks I came across the Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer. So this time I wasn’t so hesitant to try out the product. I knew that it would be a product with a purpose. But of course having had such a good experience with the Benefit product this Urban Decay version had something to live up to! The first thing I noticed was that this formula wasn’t one that you can use alone. It’s white in colour with a thick mascara like consistency. It went on easily and I could see that my lashes were already looking built up but they were white. So then I applied my mascara, the Benefit one, so that I could compare the primers and because I don’t have the Urban Decay Perversion mascara. (Could be next on my list to try!) Wow, another amazing result!

Urban Decay are a bit saucy and describe the Subversion Lash Primer as “foreplay for your lashes”. It’s a whipped, creamy formula that glides on for the perfect mascara application. Subversion contains protective panthenol and conditioning vitamin E. It’s also paraben- and fragrance-free.

If Urban Decay is your brand of choice then you can buy this super lash primer here priced at a slightly more modest £15.50.

So the verdict? As an end result I really couldn’t choose between the two, my lashes looked great with both the Urban Decay and the Benefit products. The only reason I think that the Benefit primer slightly edges it is that you can wear it on it’s own if you wish.

One things for sure I’ve found something that I didn’t know I needed but I now don’t think I could manage without!

Have you used lash primer? What do you think? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hazel

This post contains PR samples and affiliate links.