Today I will be doing a review on two of my favorite drugstore eye primers: The Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer and VDL Expert Color Primer for Eyes. As a monolid with very oily eyelids, eye primer is essential, no matter what kind of eye makeup I am wearing. I find that it prevents the smudging of not only eyeshadow and eyeliner, but mascara as well. These two are the best that I have tried from road shop brands, and today I will be comparing the two, as they have strong points in different aspects.
Starting with an overall comparison, here are the general qualities of the two primers.
Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer
Price: 5,500 won ($7.20) for 10g
Description on website: Proof 10 Eye Primer supplies coverage to eyelids and around the eyes to enhance eye shadow color and intergrity for a longer lasting, Perfect 10 look.
VDL Expert Color Eye Primer for Eyes
Price: 13,000 won (approximately $11) for 6.5g
Description on website: This eyeshadow primer creates the optimal lid surface for eye color application. Enriched with silk ingredients, it keeps eyelids soft and supple while keeping eyeshadow colors vibrant and fresh all day without creasing.As you can see above, VDL, while it is much more affordable than high end brands, is not as affordable as some of the other road shop brands such as Etude House. Etude House is less than half the price of VDL, and has more product. When you take into account the fact that Etude House holds sales much more frequently than VDL, the Etude House primer is a total win.
As with the packaging, VDL is much more sleek. However, both have doe foot applicators, which means that the application is quite similar. However, there is a difference in texture, as the VDL primer is much more smooth to apply, and the Etude House dries much more matte. The Etude House's thicker texture makes in harder to blend out, and too much can easily turn your eyelids white and look a bit strange.
Both are fairly translucent, and are not good at concealing veins or discoloration on eyelids.
Another point to note is that although the Etude House primer has more product, I rarely use up the tube because it dries out more quickly. As it doesn't cost much, I just buy another one when that happens, but it is another thing to bear in mind.
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| Top: Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer Center: VDL Expert Color Primer for Eyes Bottom: No primer |
However, the main difference between the VDL primer and Etude House one is that they are good at different things. The VDL primer is much better at increasing the color payoff of eyeshadow. However, Etude House is much better at preventing smudging and increasing longevity.
I'm not sure if you can see the difference, but the eyeshadow shows up much more vibrantly with the VDL primer as a base. Etude House does not increase the color payoff of eyeshadow as much, as there is not much of a difference between using the Etude House primer and using no primer at all.
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| Top: Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer Center: VDL Expert Color Primer for Eyes Bottom: No primer |
I like both, and use them for different occasions, but if I had to choose, I think that I would repurchase the Etude House primer. My extremely oily eyelids are to blame, sadly. Still, the VDL is a great primer, and those who have less oily eyelids will be much more happy with this one, I presume.
Happy shopping!
Rosa
