Milani Eyeshadow Primer ~Review

When I first discovered the wonders of eye-primer I was instantly in love. I have oily eyes that cause quite a bit of creasing and fading fairly quickly and with allergies I touch my eyes more than I should which causes smearing. The only downfall I found was that most primers were expensive. I tried the Urban Decay primer potion first, which worked but caused my sensitive skin to sting where I applied it. I really did like the Too Faced Shadow Insurance (TFSI), however I found that while it worked at first for some reason my second tube didn't work as well. Still better than without the primer for sure but not as nice as before. Nars eye primer was reccommended to me but it is quite a price increase over the other two which are really kind of high up there. I know they last a long time but here in Canada the Nars one is about $30, such a huge hit!

The Milani Eyeshadow Primer however is under $10 and actually works better than the Too Faced Shadow Insurance. THAT'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!

More than enough for both eyes

Okay well I suppose if you want more information, hehe. Firstly there is currently only one shade, 01-nude. This primer is also light-weight, goes on clear (though it does appear nude once you squirt it out once blended it has no colour), and I experience no irritation on my eyes at all. It comes in a silver-white tube with a weird eye drawing on it and clearly states Milani Eyeshadow Primer on it. There is a small opening for the primer to come out of which easily allows you to control the amount, which is good as you don't need much at all to do the job.

Here are other things I like about the Milani primer. It comes in a wide, squat, tube and contains 0.3 fl oz. of product for $6.49 USD- that's like one really fancy coffee. For comparison the Too Face Shadow Insurance contains 0.35 fl. oz. for $24 CND or $18 USD (why such a huge price difference! We are almost the same worth in money between Canada and the USA!) or Urban decay Primer Potion with 0.37 fl. oz. at $24 CND or $20 USD.  Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base is a whopping $29 CND or $24 USD for only 0.29 fl. oz.

The texture of the Milani is lovely, sort of velvety and it dries down quicker than the TFSI. It intensifies the eyeshadow you place over it and it helps it stay in place as well as preventing creasing. If I'm wearing my eyeshadow of course during a particularly active time period or a very long time (i.e. over 10 hours) then I do get minor creasing but nothing unmanageable. Considering they promise 8 hours of wear I'd say they meet expectations!

Now for the few issues with it, like other primers this doesn't hold glitter in place particularly well, but it isn't designed too. If you want something to hold glitter in place or make the shadow look wet and thus uber intense you need to use something like Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy or Darling Girl's Glitter Glue. Just a reminder though neither of these prevent creasing.

The formula of the Milani Eyeshadow Primer also (like the TFSI) has a tendency of separating in the tube after a while. This has an easy fix though (thankfully!) and all you need to do is have the little twist tube cap closed and kneed the plastic tube a couple times and the problem is fixed, no big deal.

Rating: 9.5/10

Overall, For the price you seriously can't do better than this in my experience! (Though I have heard good things about the Wet n' Wild primer here in Canada I have not been able to get my hands on it). The texture, the longevity, and the eyeshadow increase in intensity of the product all live up to any hype you've heard. Non-irritating and light weight as well as being suited for every skin-tone as it blends out clear it won't change the colour of your eyeshadow. The only possible negative this thing has is that you can't tell how much you have left in the tube because it's opaque and every once in a while you need to smoosh the plastic together to mix the formula again.

Would I buy this again? YES! I certainly won't be buying any of the higher end versions of eye primers again as this one does better than the ones I've tried and is much less money. In fact I reach for this over the old TFSI I have.