First I would like to discuss eyeshadow primer because I feel this is the most important of all. I've been asked what beauty products I couldn't live without and eye shadow primer is definitely one of them. We've all purchased eye shadows, absolutely in love with the color in the store and on our hand until we go home and apply to our lids and the color magically disappears. Another conundrum with eye shadows is you find a shade you love, apply in the morning and by lunch half of the shadow has migrated on your lower lash line and the other half has weaseled its way into your crease. GET A PRIMER!!! An eye shadow primer can fix all of these problems and I promise it will change the way you wear eye shadow. Your eye lid gets oily and is relatively smooth, so when you apply eye shadow it has nothing to stick to which results in lack luster color and creasing. You end up with a color that isn't bright, isn't defined and is uneven. When you use a primer, you are giving the shadow a surface to stick to. This makes your color pop and your shadow lasts all day looking as fresh as it did that morning!
My favorite eyeshadow primer is Urban Decay's Eye Shadow Primer Potion. It comes in four different shades to best suit your shadow needs. I have all four and love each one of them for their specific purpose. The classic potion (purple tube) is nude and goes on invisible and is great for any shadow colors. Greed (gold tube) is a gold shade with a hint of shimmer that goes great with golden toned shadows or it wears great by itself for just a hint of shimmer especially on darker skinned ladies. Sin is a champagne hue that goes great with neutrals and earthy tones. Sin (tan tube) can also be used to highlight cheek bones on lighter toned ladies. I love Sin because it looks the best by itself out of all the shadow primer potions. Eden (beige tube) is a matte tawny shade that is meant to make dark shadows pop. It is great for bringing out color because its matte, lighter shade makes shadows appear brighter. Think painting... colors look brighter when painted on top of white rather than grey or tan. However, because of its light color I wouldn't wear it by itself. These may run a little expensive for some junkies taste, but for $19 a tube it drastically changes your eye shadow looks and lasts a pretty long time. If you are a beginner, I suggest the classic potion or Sin. These are the most useful and versatile. I love Green and Eden, but I just don't use them as much as classic and Sin. I discovered this primer while just beginning to experiment with makeup and because I was so pleased with it, I haven't used other eye shadow primers. However, I have heard that Too Faced and Smashbox both make excellent shadow primers as well so they may be worth a try depending on what works for you. 
As I mentioned in my post before about exfoliating, I love smooth skin. When your skin is smooth it helps your foundation look natural. When skin is rough and unexfoliated, foundation clumps around dead skin cells, making your foundation appear uneven cakey and unnatural. The first step to smooth foundation application is exfoliating and the second is a primer that works for your skin. Just like the eye shadow primer, face primer gives your foundation something to stick to and also prevents it from fading and creasing throughout the day. The right face primer for you is going to depend on your skin type. If you have oily skin, a primer that contains the words matte or mattefying is going to work best for you because it will reduce the oiliness and will prevent your foundation from sliding off. I have used Urban Decay's De-slick In A Tube and it did the job, however my skin is not very oily so it was a little too dry for my taste. I could see it working very well for someone with oily skin. If you have dry or combination skin, a soft gel like primer will be best for you. These are usually clear and may feel a little slick at first, but the way your foundation goes on after applying is amazing. A little goes a long way, so you can make them last awhile.
My favorite face primer so far is Tarte Clean Slate. It's fragrance free, has a lot of natural and beneficial ingredients, last a long time and makes my foundation last all day. Another primer I used recently after receiving a sample is the Sephora Collection Perfecting Ultra Smoothing Primer. This is very similar in look and feel to Tarte's Clean Slate, however I found it's lasting power wasn't as long as Tarte's. After logging onto Sephora.com I just found out that Tarte no longer makes just the Clean Slate primer. They now have two different formulas, one that is mattefying and one that is brightening. As of right now, I do not think either is similar to the original formula which disappoints me. Tarte's primers are close to twice the price of the Sephora Collection primer, however you get 0.5 ounces in the Sephora bottle and 1 ounce in the Tarte bottle. All in all, I feel Tarte is better to use because of the natural ingredients. Shop around and find a primer that suits you. If you are skeptical, next time you are in Sephora purchasing something, ask the cashier if there are any primer samples they could give you. If they don't have any samples, purchase what you think might work and if it doesn't, Sephora has a great return policy. 
There are two other primers that can prove useful depending on your beauty routine. I do not wear lipstick AT ALL so a lipstick primer isn't something I need. Just like shadow and face primer, I'm sure lip primer helps your lipstick last and prevents it from s feathering out from your lip line. Urban Decay makes a lip primer that has pretty good reviews. It can also be used with lip gloss.The other primer out there to discuss is eye lash primer. It is meant to condition your lashes and create a coating around them so they appear to have more volume. My own experience with lash primers is the majority of them are white, so you have to be sure to cover them completely with mascara. I like to curl my lashes and priming them makes them way too heavy to hold the curl, so while I have the Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion I never use it. If you don't curl your lashes and are looking to thicken your lashes up a bit, this might be the product for you.
In closing, any good painter will tell you they prime whether its a canvas or a car. Any good make up artist will tell you they prime their artwork as well. Experiment and find what works for you, just remember to be familiar with the vendor's return policy just in case you aren't happy with the product. We all know it really sucks to spend money on a cosmetic that doesn't work for you.
Stay tuned for my next post.... I will be reviewing the May Birchbox... it's an awesome one!
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