Primer vs. Base

Hello Kittens,

I wanted to have a beauty bite yesterday; however, I had my annual cold/flu and have not quite gotten back to 100% so rather than blog, I slept. I will be committed to this blog whether I have zero or a trillion subscribers because beauty is not about me, and knowledge really is power.

Lately a lot of people having been buzzing about ways to prevent their eyeshadow from creasing and how to make their eyeshadows "pop!" These two statements are not interchangeable. A base is not equal to a primer at all, so if you are priming your eyes, you will use something to prevent the eyeshadow from creasing. Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Urban Decay Primer Potion, L'Oreal De-crease, Artdeco, etc. are all primers. Once again, your goal in priming is to keep the oily eyelids at bay.

Bases are something you will use to primarily bring depth from your eyeshadow. You can have a mediocre eyeshadow and make the color pop (more vibrant) by using a good base. A base should be creamy enough for the eyeshadow or pigment to stick to, but not so much that it causes creasing. Almost every cosmetic line has the equivalent of a base, anything with a creamy or tacky texture will work. I have used eyeliners, cream color bases, kohl's, and jumbo pencils to base my eyes and the best part is that you can get them in so many colors. NYX's jumbo pencils are a softer alternative to MAC's shadesticks, but MAC carry creme color bases, paints and paint pots as well. The one thing to keep in mind is that you want to make sure you aren't heavy handed with your base or your eyeshadow will crease.

Good luck face painting!


B.P.