When you’ve battled dark, puffy bags under your eyes and the wrinkles are getting out of hand, you may feel like all hope is lost. However, hope is never lost, and now may be the perfect time to analyze your morning beauty routine to find what’s missing.
Hint: It’s probably not what you are thinking.
You’ve most likely gone wild, throwing caution to the wind as you implement concealers, creams, and serums as though your life depended upon them. But the beauty secret most people skip over is an eye primer. They’re the secret — the key that’s missing from your existing routine! The eye primer is the step that is so often completely overlooked and if you knew what it can do for you, you’d use it every day — even on the “no makeup” days.
Eye primer can magically erase all your skin woes in one application if you get the ones with the best components. With the appropriate eye and undereye primer, you’ll finally have the answer to puffy dark bags under the eye, fine and coarse wrinkles, and crepey or lax eyelids.
Familiarize yourself with all the things that make eye primers worth your while, the different types you’ll want to hunt down for your particular needs, and how to correctly apply them for the best-lasting coverage. You’ll also learn what you need in your perfect eye primer formula for your skin.
Get excited because you just discovered your next best-kept beauty secret!
- The Different Forms of Eye Primers
- What Is the Purpose of Eye Primer?
- Eye Primer Versus Eyeshadow Base: Getting Into Formation
- Higher Price Equals Better Product: True Or False?
- How To Apply Eye Primer
- What You Need in a Healthy Eye Primer
- If You're Going To Wear Makeup Anyway...
- Recap: What Should an Excellent Eye Primer Offer?
The Different Forms of Eye Primers
First things first: There are a few forms of eye primer including eyelid primer, eyeshadow base, and undereye primer. They may have similar “makeups,” but their functionalities are particular to the skin concern they serve.
Eyelid Primer or Eyeshadow Base
The most generic of these is the eyeshadow base. The eyeshadow base is the easiest to find because of the simplicity of its formula. It gets more complex when the eyelid primer and eyeshadow formula are combined into one product; essentially, this changes the eyeshadow base formula into a perfect eyelid primer.
However, if you look at the two separate entities without any merging, you’ll find that the eyeshadow base is simply made to offer more vivid hues of eyeshadow and non-smudging all-day wear.
An eyelid primer does these same things but usually has hydrating and anti-oil properties to give your oily lids a good drying off, while quenching the lids’ thirst on a deeper level. This, therefore, gives crepey and wrinkled mature skin flawlessly even, smooth, creaseless results.
Under Eye Primer
Here’s where it gets really exciting for all the people who wish that their concealer would stop caking and wearing off midday. It doesn’t matter much what the undereye bags, puffiness, or wrinkles look like when it comes to what the undereye primer does for all of them. If you use this makeup essential on top of your concealer for a full-face makeup look, you’re going to look young and glamorous! However, if you prefer to use the priming power alone, you’ll achieve the much coveted “barely-there look” flawlessly.
These primers are purposely made for the delicate eye area. Plus, when you hardly enjoy the nuances of aging like the inevitable thinning of your skin, discoloration, and the crepey style of wrinkles, this will be your saving grace!
What Is the Purpose of Eye Primer?
At its core, eye primer is made to grip your lids and your makeup while offering extraordinary hydration and oil retention. The undereye primer is going to be a more silky texture with enough grit for your concealer to hold on to. Typically, undereye primer should be full of skin-loving ingredients to leave you looking better and better with each consecutive use.
Eyeshadow Base for Eyes That Just Won’t Quit
The eyeshadow base is a skin-tone or white-tinted primer of sorts to precede your eyeshadow and liner. It can often be used as a precursor to lipstick and liner as well, but not always. With the base, you can achieve creaseless, non-smudging, no-budging, and fade-defying brilliantly bold looks. It makes eye colors and shadow hues pop for the most mesmerizing eye makeup every time.
Eye Primer for Oily & Crepey Skin & Wrinkly Lids
For the oily lids that reside on dry, combination, or sensitive faces, you can get an eye primer that’s non-irritating and non-drying but keeps your makeup from melting off. What’s more, is that the wrinkles on the skin can receive non-greasy moisture that’ll smooth and conceal them all day. Then, with said primer, you’ll be able to enjoy wearing the eyeshadows and liners that you may have previously written off.
Under Eye Primer for Wrinkles, Dark Circles, and Crepey or Lax Skin
Whenever you find that concealer isn’t doing the job or that it’s making you look older, you need an undereye primer to fill in the wrinkles, lax skin, and enlarged pores. Many of these primers are made of silicone yet there are silicone-free complexes, but they both start your makeup off right with an even complexion and a youthful glow. Especially for undereye bags, the primers are equipped with a high-definition, mineral-based sparkle that effectively hides the discoloration, puffiness, and wrinkles away, all day!
Eye Primer Versus Eyeshadow Base: Getting Into Formation
Once you start using them, you’ll quickly notice that not all eye primers are created equally. For this reason, you can always use the article on the best eye primers for mature skin to really dive head-first into your search for what works for you. With the guesswork taken out of the equation, you’ll leave the trial-and-error game behind.
After all is said and done, eyelid primer kind of makes the eyeshadow base obsolete. In 2022, most people opt for the all-in-one skincare/makeup duos like skin-loving foundation and eye primers.
With the increased knowledge of the adverse effects of environmental stressors, sleep deprivation, the need to drink water, and avoiding harmful additives, cosmeceutical companies are finally getting into formation. The ignorance has been exposed, and the game changers are all-natural, organic, and clean makeup. That means that all skin types, tones, and concerns are being taken into account and everyone has a chance at real anti-aging skincare solutions. No more settling for the bare minimum, folks.
Higher Price Equals Better Product: True Or False?
The truth is that a price point sometimes has no or very little to do with the efficiency and quality of a product. The standard of your makeup should not be based on price alone. Rather than going for the most expensive products, look for the right ingredients in each product that suits your personal skin concerns. You may be pleasantly surprised at the “cheapest” makeup and skincare products that have the same set of rules set forth by the FDA and other testing companies and pass just as well.
Look to the reviews for what the verified purchasers before you have to say about your makeup’s formula, efficacy, and the way they felt about wearing it. Everyone is different with various skin concerns and desires in a product, but you can get a great feel for the eye primer you choose this way.
How To Apply Eye Primer
The most asked question concerning eye primer is “How do you use it?” You need to know what type of eye product you’re applying, whether it’s an eyelid or undereye primer or eyeshadow base. Some priming products come prepackaged with a flocked or doe-foot applicator while some are contained in a glass pot or jar. Start small, then gradually build the primer up to prevent any mishaps.
Applying Eyelid Primer
You can use the doe-foot or flocked applicator to dot the eye primer onto your eyes underneath the brow and on the lids. Use a clean finger or makeup sponge or brush to spread it out. Now with a pot or jar of priming solution, you can either use a clean finger or makeup brush to apply and spread over the entire eyelid area and up to the eyebrow. A primer and a base are the same in the application technique.
Applying Under Eye Primer
To apply undereye primer, start with a clean and dry face. For a doe-foot or flocked applicator, dot the formula on the skin and then blend it out with clean fingers or a makeup brush. For a squeeze tube, you can dispense a small amount onto your index finger, or onto your face directly. Use a makeup brush, sponge, or clean fingers to blend the product into the skin.
With a jar of undereye primer, you can swipe the product onto clean fingers or use a small sponge to apply it to the skin. Please ensure your hands are completely clean and free from any debris or contaminants before using any cosmetics with them. You can follow the primer application with your favorite concealer or wear it as is.
What You Need in a Healthy Eye Primer
After answering all the most burning questions about this vital makeup addition it’s essentially up to you whether or not you want to give it room in your bag. Before you go, it’s critical to know what you’re looking for in the next purchase. You very well may want a simple eyeshadow base to make your eye makeup pop, but if you struggle with maturing skin it’s going to be a waste of money and energy to cut corners buying a shadow base.
Hydration, Hydration, Hydration!
First and foremost, every quality eyelid and undereye priming solution will make it a priority to offer a non-greasy, effective source of thirst-quenching water for the skin, and something to lock it in like sodium hyaluronate/hyaluronic acid, glycerin, or collagen. One main reason for fine lines, wrinkles, crepey, and lax skin is dehydrated skin cells that cause a downward shift in natural collagen and elasticity; this causes the formation of undereye discoloration and puffiness. You can buy eye primer that is stocked full of lasting natural sources of water to keep your momentum up with these following tips.
As you age, it becomes more important to utilize every source of internal and external hydration lest your collagen and elastin levels do a downward spiral quicker than you can say “collagen.” Internal sources of water include anything from drinking plenty of it, eating mindfully, cutting fried and salty food out of the diet, and eating plenty of melons, grapes, celery, and other cruciferous veggies. Add plenty of fatty acids, collagen-enhancing powders, teas, coffee and so much more.
External sources generally include non-greasy lotions, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and collagen-stimulating moisturizers, serums, oils, creams, facemasks, and treatments.
Oil Control
Whether you have dry or sensitive skin, you can still encounter oily eyelids! When you notice that the perfect wings of your eyeliner are gone or reduced down to a faint squiggly line at the end of the day, and your once pristine eyeshadow has smeared to bits, you’ve been victimized by oily lids! Look for an oil-controlling ingredient or a combination of Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, or other volatile silicone-based formulas. These ingredients are noncomedogenic and amazing at placing a barrier between your face and makeup to keep from settling into your fine lines and wrinkles and creasing.
You also want to find a product that has talc or mica for its mineral-based drying effects. Talc gets a bad rep, but pure mineral talc will suck up oil throughout the day’s wear. When looking for something for oily lids, make sure there’s no water high up on the list of ingredients as this will contradict what the volatile solvent (silicones) does for oil absorbency.
Antioxidants and Vitamins
The added benefits to the skin of any cosmetic or skincare product from naturally occurring vitamins from extracts, juices, and pulps of fruit to plant leaves are invaluable. Moreover, any added anti-aging acids like ferulic or hyaluronic acid are going to be soaked up before you even finish your day. Although it’s not as common with eye primers that there will be tons of various vitamins or acids in the formula, there will be some. There are some with added vitamins a, c, and e, and more often than not, hyaluronic acid will show up in the ingredients.
Clean Ingredients
The clean ingredient box is most likely checked for you with newer styles of makeup, skincare, and haircare, but it bears mentioning. Cosmetics companies have come a long way in finding new renewable resources as the old ones have been depleted. Now with the awakening of the technology age, you can hold companies accountable for what they’re putting into or leaving out of products. You want to find eyelid and undereye primers that are free of irritants, parabens, and sulfates and are not tested on animals at the bare minimum. You can also seek out hypoallergenic, silicone-free formulas if you see it fit for your skin.
If You’re Going To Wear Makeup Anyway…
According to a 2017 survey reported by Stasistca, 41% of American women between 30-59 years old wear makeup religiously, or daily. With the Covid pandemic, the work-from-home movement affected the cosmeceutical world, but not in the same way you may think. Many new transparency callouts and the demand for all-natural options have dictated the sudden boom of makeup sales. All you need to do is research what’s offered for your particular skin type, tone, and concerns.
Keep AgeDefying bookmarked so you can see all the newest and brightest pieces of vital skincare information that may just save your skin, or show you how to do it yourself.
Recap: What Should an Excellent Eye Primer Offer?
A healthy brilliant eye primer will be made of skin-loving, skin-refreshing ingredients that’ll effectively cover up your blemishes while holding your best makeup look all day without fail. So many primers for the eyes will also offer stunning colors built right in making your beauty routine that much faster from start to finish.
The bottom line is that the ideal eye primer should address your skin concerns, be clean, stay all day, hydrate your face, and benefit you long after it’s all washed off.
