I’m not one to put much value on primers because I think that if you take care of your skin, you don’t need a primer. Plus, I don’t wear heavy makeup, so I don’t need to have those 24 hours long wear makeup looks on my face. With eyes it’s another deal. I have oily skin and saggy eye lids, so if I don’t use a primer, any type of eyeshadow will crease on me. I tried using concealers, foundation, face powder, all the tricks, but I need a sticky primer to help my eyeshadow last if not all day at least for 8-10 hours which is what I usually have my makeup on.

So, now that I’ve given you enough context (I think), let’s talk about this eye shadow primer from Too Faced.

Packaging:

The packaging is very cute, like any other packaging from Too Faced. The primer comes in a blue plastic tube with one of those narrow tops that help squeeze out just a little amount of product. It doesn’t have a dove foot applicator or anything like that, so you have to use your fingers to apply it or a brush. I prefer my fingers. The full size contains 11 grams, but I had the mini size (5 grams). the packaging is the same.

Texture:

The primer has a very thick and sticky texture and it also has a little bit of color as I find that it evens out the skin tone on my eye lids and it covers any small discolorations that I have there.

Ingredients:

Isododecane, Talc, Mica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Polyethylene, Triethylhexanoin, Trihydroxystearin, Isopropyl Lanolate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Dimethicone, Propylene Carbonate,PEG-40 Stearate, Tocopherol, Water/Aqua/Eau, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163), Iron Oxides(CI 77492, CI 77491, CI 77499).

The top ingredients are isododecane (an ingredient that acts both as a solvent and an emollient that helps retain moisture, helps create a matte finish and minimizes the transfer of color – it is safe in low concentrations which is how it’s used usually in cosmetic products, but those with sensitive skin should test it out first), talc, mica, cyclopentasiloxane (a silicone with a silky feel that acts as a skin and hair conditioning agent) and disteardimonium hectorite (a modified clay compound used as a viscosity controller).

So far I can tell, the ingredients are safe enough, so I don’t have any problems with the formula, however talc and bismuth oxychloride can clog pores on acne-prone skin. Since I use the primer only on the eye lids, I didn’t have any issues.

Price and accessibility:

Too Faced products can be found at Sephora and in various online shops. The primer retails for 24 US dollars, but I had the mini size for about a year and I used it up only now (granted, I didn’t use it every day), so I think the price is worth it because you only need a tiny amount of it for each application.

My overall opinion:

All the eye shadow primers I used so far were from drugstore brands and to be honest, most of them didn’t do anything to prevent the eye shadow from creasing or making it long-lasting. This was the best one I used so far, so I would totally recommend it to anyone. It’s been a staple product for Too Faced for so many years for a reason.