Review: ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer Vs Urban Decay Primer Potion

I love my Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP), but recently my one in Sin cracked on the bottom. This is the result of it rolling off the site of my bathroom counter and falling on the floor too many times. The packaging of the UDPP is cute, but not practical, since mine broke! and it was only like 25% finished, it was a product I used everyday and now I have to find a way to depot it or continue to have it ooze out of the bottom. So while that one has been on standby, I have been reaching for my neglected ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer. I used this when I first got it and then reverted back to other primers. Today I will be comparing the ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer to the original Urban Decay Primer Potion.

ELF's Mineral Eyeshadow Primer (not to be confused with the "eyelid primer" which is $1) retails for only $3 on the ELF website and it rivals the cult favourite Urban Decay Primer Potion. Mine fell apart after a few uses, the cap unglued from the lid, it sucks, but it doesn't change the performance of the product at all. This product serves the same purpose as the UDPP, you put in on your eyelids and it acts as a base for your eyeshadow, keeping it in place and from creasing all day. You get about half as much product in the ELF primer than you do in the UDPP, but more than half the price (for the same size equivalent). The texture is a bit different, but I think the product is very comparable.

Both products have a doe-foot applicator. The new UDPP has a slanted one, mine is really old. As you can tell the UDPP is more opaque and will do a better job at neutralizing the eye area (taking away darkness and appearance of veins) because it is more pinky salmon coloured. The ELF is also thinner and waterier in consistency, while the UDPP is thick and more dry. I find the UDPP easier to apply because it is thicker, I feel like it covers quicker. My swatches are not straight out of the bottle, hence why they have dried on my arm, it takes a while to take proper pictures sometimes.

Now the important part, the performance! Does the ELF primer work as well as the UDPP? I put the UDPP on one eye and the ELF on the other and wore it around all day. Above is the final result after wearing it for 12 hours or so. The difference is very minor, if you look objectively (click to zoom picture) the ELF side is faded and less vibrant. The UDPP side is shinier and prettier. But neither one has creased. I used Rimmel's Smokey Brun quad here for the look, I wanted to use some cheap eyeshadow to really show any variation. I find with MAC shadows they always look good, regardless of what primer you use.

So for the purpose of "does it perform the same way?", I think the ELF Primer does a fine job. I think for $3 it's a really good buy if you are on a budget. If you used high quality eyeshadow you would not notice the difference between this and UDPP. Urban Decay has started to package their primer in better packaging recently, I am not sure if this is permanent though, many people dislike the UDPP packaging, as do I and should really be buying Too Faced shadow insurance instead, the ELF primer falls into the same problem, the package isn't great, but the product is totally fine.

Have you tried the ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer? How did you find it?