High End vs Drugstore Primer

Happy Monday! You may have seen me mention on my blog how much I adore Wet n Wild’s Fergie primer. Thing is, I buy my primers one at a time, so I never had the Fergie primer at the same time as a high end one–hence, no proper comparison. Then a few weeks ago, I picked up the Naked3 palette and got complimentary samples of Urban Decay’s primer potion. So I thought, why not compare low end vs high end head to head. Let the battle of the primers begin!

Wear
When it comes to primers, the #1 most important thing to me is how well my eyeshadow lasts wearing them. With both Urban Decay’s primer potion and the Wet n Wild primer, my eyeshadow stays crease free from the time I put it on in the morning until the time I take it off at night–roughly 14-15 hours.
Verdict: It’s a tie

Application
When it comes to applying primer, technique is the reason many people have problems with Wet n Wild’s. To get this one to work well–and it can work really well– is to apply a very small amount and let it set before applying your eyeshadow. In comparison, I think UD is more user friendly. In addition, I notice that my eyelids feel dryer after applying the WnW compared to the UD.
Verdict: Urban Decay wins this round

Brightness
As I wrote in my primers vs bases post, the primary job of a primer is not to make your eyeshadow look brighter. It is to make your eyeshadow last. However, since many products do double duty on this front, I decided to add this criteria to the battle. I will say upfront that the Fergie primer does absolutely nothing for the brightness of your eyeshadow. However, I was a little surprised to find that the primer potion does make eyeshadow slightly brighter and truer to its color in the pan. This is so subtle that I didn’t even notice it until I was looking for it.
Verdict: Urban Decay by a hair

Price
Last, but not least, it wouldn’t have been a fair battle unless I included this. Retailing at $4.79, Wet n Wild’s Fergie primer easily defeats Urban Decay’s primer potion, which sells for over 4 times the price at a cool $20.
Verdict: Wet n Wild by a landslide

Final Thoughts: Overall, I have to admit that as much as I love Wet n Wild, Urban Decay has the superior formula. However, is it so much better that it justifies the cost? To me, the answer is no. Wet n Wild does just as good a job at making eyeshadows stick. It might not be as intuitive to apply, but it’s equally effective once you know the trick.

So what do you think? Do you own a high end eyeshadow primer? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below