Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying eyeshadow base

A necessary product in any make up routine is an eyeshadow base. That is, if you like wearing eyeshadow. Which I do. Tremendously so. However, I also have fairly oily eyelids. So a good eyeshadow primer is a must have for me. My favorites? The Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance. But being the make up junkie that I am, I don’t mind venturing out and trying some other option on the market. And if it is a super budgetproof version I’m even more game. Let me introduce you to the Essence Color Intensifying eyeshadow base.

Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying eyeshadow base

Because if truth be told, the Urban Decay and Too Faced renditions of this product are on the pricy side. I do have to say I now I have mini of the UD one and the Too Faced one lasts more than 2 years with daily use, so they are well worth the investment. The Essence I <3 Stage eyeshadow bases retail for a mere €2.59 and come in two different shades: I <3 Stage with a yellow undertone and I <3 Colour Intensifying with a pink undertone.

I hadn’t tried this primer until now, because the yellow version was too yellow for me. So when this pinky toned one launched I was incredibly happy. The packaging is simple, yet quite okay looking. Especially for an Essence product: I find most Essence products to look a little bit cheap and young.

This looks pretty decent in the tube and comes with a doe foot applicator which lets you apply the product. The wand is a decent size: neither too big, nor too small. The product on the wand seems to be quite a bit and a bit on the thin and watery side. But that doesn’t mean this product won’t get the job done.

This primer promises to be color intensifying and brightening. On a swatch you can see why. The pinky undertone is very much a brightening shade and if a color is layered over it, it will hence look a little bit more intense. Texture wise, this base is quite thin and watery. It does seem to have a little bit of pigmentation which will help with covering some redness on the eye lid. Looking promising so far!

No primer – just primer
Make up done – After roughly 12 hours of wear

Let’s start with the good part shall we? I loved how this first applied to my lids. It was easy to blend and didn’t leave a very noticeable trace. I proceeded with applying my make up as I usually would and wore it for as long. When I go to work my make up is on for at least 12 hours and I need it to last. But as you can see, this eyeshadow base does not help the make up to stay on. After 12 hours of wear, my shadow is creased, much less vibrant and the liner as also run into my crease a little bit.

And if you think, but Maaike, that looks pretty okay, check out both eyes next to one another in this picture. On my other eye, almost all of the make up has disappeared and bunched up into my crease. With other eyeshadow primers, this never happens. In fact, my eye make up is usually the part of my make up that still looks okay after a full day of wear.

Alas, I was so hopeful and it looked so good at the beginning. But once truly put to the test, with a full day of wear, I can only conclude that the Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying eyeshadow base is not for me. This could still work if your lids aren’t as special needs as mine, but I won’t use this primer again I’m sure.

What eyeshadow primer do you use?