When your mascara is just not doing the trick, it's time to call in reinforcements.
If you find it clumping, flaking, smudging or it’s just not lasting throughout the day, a lash primer should be on your radar and in your makeup bag.
These typically white or blue-pigmented products take your traditional eye makeup to the next level by offering dramatic lengthening and amped-up volume. No need for falsies or extensions.
Much like you would prime your face before applying base products, these undercoats encourage what follows to sit better and more importantly, stick to your lashes. But they’re about more than just aesthetics.
These mascara primers are typically packed with conditioning and strengthening ingredients like ceramides or vitamin B5 that nourish the hair and encourage growth and fullness.
We consulted Dior Makeup International Pro Artist Jamie Coombes to find out whether these formulas are worth yet another step in your makeup routine.
Are mascara primers worth it?
According to Coombes, the answer to this question is simple: “Absolutely!”. He explains, “Lash primers can give you fuller and more voluminous lashes by amplifying the effect of mascara. They also contain additional ingredients that can condition and care for your lashes”.
He continues, “For instance, our Diorshow 3D Lash Maximizer is enriched with cotton nectar to hydrate and protect your lashes. Just like you would condition your hair, lashes also need care and attention. You can even use lash primers overnight to treat damaged lashes”.
Can I use lash primer without mascara?
While lash primers were created to prep the hair to maximise the formulas to follow, Coombes says “You can wear lash primers on their own. They come in different tinted shades, so you can choose the desired effect”.
Can I use clear mascara as a primer?
“You can use clear mascara as a primer as it offers a more natural effect” reveals Coombes. “But if you want more volume and drama, using a primer is best”.
Do I need to let eyelash primer dry before applying mascara?
For best results, Coombes recommends “giving your primer around 20 to 30 seconds to dry for the full effect”. He says, “This will allow your mascara to grip more effectively and subsequently give your lashes more volume”.
Does mascara primer help with smudging?
“Yes, it helps to prevent smudging and transfer by preventing natural oils from your skin from affecting the mascara and liner”, he concludes.
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Dior Diorshow Maximizer 3D
The Dior Maximizer has a trio of lash-boosting benefits that will enhance your eye look and nourish the hair. The formula applies white, so it’s easy to spot and is packed with ingredients to add volume, curl and length.
The Maximizer provides a priming effect that gives longevity to your mascara-coated lashes for 24 hours and should make a difference to the strength and suppleness of the hairs through continual use.
Buy now £33.00, Dior
Too Faced Better Than Sex Foreplay Lash Lifting and Thickening Mascara Primer
This primer comes as part of the Better Than Sex collection, an ever-growing range that was expanded after the huge success of the mascara of the same name. This formula is known for its extreme lengthening, and the Lash Lifting and Thickening Mascara Primer is designed to take it to the next level.
Just a few swipes of the crescent-shaped brush and you’ll notice an immediate boost in curl, volume and a fuller lash look. This is a more subtle product and applies black so you can use it alongside or instead of your typical mascara. It is enriched with argan and grape seed oil for nourishment. Ophthalmologist approved.
Buy now £27.01, Cult Beauty
Lancôme Cils Booster Mascara Base
Prolong the wear of your makeup staple with Lancome, the brand behind the cult Hypnôse Mascara. The Cils Booster is a multitasking product that earns its place as an additional step in your routine. The formula is infused with vitamin-rich ingredients that encourage growth, all while layering up the lashes in white lengthening pigments. The brush has been designed in such a way as to ensure that every lash, no matter how short, will receive the lash prepping and nourishing treatment.
Buy now £21.00, lookfantastic
Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils Flash Primer
As a lash base, this option from the YSL beauty collection is a luxurious one. You only need to look at the sleek appearance of the product to know that you’re going to be treated with the utmost care.
The formula glides over the hairs with a translucent pink primer that is invisible once applied. Like a lash serum, it imparts ingredients like Ceramid R to strengthen the hair over time. True to its primary function though, it extends the staying power of your mascara, while enhancing length and volume.
Buy now £31.00, John Lewis
Milk Makeup Kush Lash Primer
Make your makeup work hard for you by incorporating this primer into your cosmetics bag. It comes from Milk, a brand known and loved for its high-performance products. The hero in the collection is the no-budge Hydro Grip Primer for the face, so we would understand if you too have high hopes for this lash primer.
Fortunately, it doesn’t disappoint. It follows suit in the Kush mascara with hemp-derived cannabis seed oil as the star ingredient. This is chosen for its regenerating, revitalising properties and for leaving the lashes feeling silky soft. Layer under mascara to create bold eye looks.
Buy now £26.01, Space NK
Max Factor False Lash Effect Max Out Primer
Don’t let the affordable price tag fool you, this is a hard-working primer that leaves no lash behind in its bid to create a dramatic, false lash look. The conical bristle brush coats the hair from root to tip in an unusual but statement blue pigment that we’ve often considered leaving as is. Of course, it works best if you then apply your traditional mascara in order to maximise the volumizing. Just one swipe will do the trick and there’s no clumping or flaking.
Buy now £5.59, Amazon
benefit They're Real Tinted Lash Primer
Benefit's They’re Real mascara is one of the best on the market for its buildable approach to mascara application that doesn’t load up the lashes with overwhelming pigment. The primer takes the same approach by coating the lashes with a provitamin B5-based formula that gives a natural but lengthened look that can become more striking when you follow with mascara – but this is by no means essential as the brown tint provides a more subtle finish.
Buy now £22.50, Cult Beauty
Beauty Pie Über Volume™ Fibre Lash-Building Primer+
With an instant volumising effect, this primer from Beauty Pie will transform sparse lashes. Apply the undercoat and quickly follow with your mascara (before it has dried) to maximise the lengthening properties.
It is white in pigment, but it’s packed with conditioning ingredients like beeswax to care for the hair, while enveloping them in thickening fibres.
Buy now £8.00, Beauty Pie
Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Sky High Boosting Tinted Primer
Sky High is the name and supersized lashes are the game. The Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High mascara provides a jaw-dropping fluttery falsie look but it goes above and beyond when you first apply the priming undercoat.
The formula has been enriched with ceramides and vitamin B5 so that while it’s providing lengthening beyond anything else you may find on the market, it’s offering conditioning and nourishment while it’s doing it. The brush is designed to prevent clumping.
Buy now £9.00, Amazon
Clinique Lash Building Primer
If you find smudging, clumping and flaking to be part of your everyday makeup application, look to Clinique and its enduring Lash Building Primer. The white base layer locks in the pigment that follows to bring real lasting power to your existing mascara. It brings fullness and definition without clumping and is brimming with kind-to-lash ingredients to fortify fine hair.
Buy now £20.00, John Lewis
