MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base Review

Hello ladies,

I am back after my extended winter break! Please note, it was a break only from writing because I surely continued shopping! 😉 And have loads of reviews coming up for you gals 😛

MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base Review

The last couple of months have been really interesting makeup wise.  A lot of new releases, loads of new stuff, especially for holidays. There has been a feeling of merriment all around! And for the last couple of months – believe it or not, I have been using all neutral lipsticks and making an attempt to get into the world of eye makeup. When I say, “eye makeup,” I don’t mean eyeliners. I had been using liquid liners since I was in my teens – so that for me doesn’t even count as eye makeup, I mean playing with colours and shadows, and what fun it has been!

For good eye makeup –I believe there are four components – a good base, good brushes, the shadows and the most important one – technique/skill. So, let’s take first things first, today we talk about an eye makeup base. The fairly newly launched MAC Prep + Prime – 24Hr Extended Eye Base.

Packaging

Product Description:
A shadow primer especially formulated to prolong the look of your eye makeup.  This primer keeps eye makeup looking fresh and vibrant all day. Extends the wear of your eye shadow for up to 24 hours! This innovative new formula saves shadows from creasing and fading, while allowing hues to stay colour-true for up to a full day. Comfortable and lightweight, it is infused with the rich antioxidant vitamin E and is ideal for all skin tones and types.

Price: US $22 / INR 1350 for 12 ml.  (Perpetually sold out in MAC stores in India!!) buy here

Packaging:  The primer comes packaged in a small black tube.  It’s as small as a lip conditioner/balm tube. The packaging is convenient for dispensing out the product and is travel friendly too, so it’s minimalistic and efficient.

Ingredients

My Experience with MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base:

The product is a beige colour, thick creamy primer, which is easy to dispense out from the tube and easy to spread out onto the lid. It does not impart any colour to the lid.

Eyeshadow primer

This wasn’t my first choice for an eye primer. Honestly, I hadn’t even heard of it. I had an Estee Lauder eye primer, followed by the ultimate one – from NARS. And honestly, I was happy with the NARS one, but just not happy with the price point. So, while doing the MAC tutorial, the MAC MUA used this eye base on me and was quite vehement in her insistence that it was good. Now, I know certain MUAs and SAs say certain things to push their products; however, not this girl! She is one of the rare ones who suggests stuff to me only if it’s good and if something isn’t good, she will act as if she can’t hear me!! Love her!

Anyway, so she used this instead of a paint point to provide base for the eye look. Not only did the color come out vivid, it was easy to blend as well.

Eyeshadow base

However, the true test of an eye primer is how long does the look last – how long do the colours remain vibrant and fresh. Please note that I have extremely oily lids. If I have not used a primer, irrespective of how good the quality of my eyeshadows may be, they will turn murky and muddy within no time.

So, I left the makeup on entire day, I anyway did not want to take it off. Everyone who is connected to me on FB saw how divine the eye makeup was. So, I definitely did not want to take it off till I absolutely had to, which was around midnight, when it was time t-o sleep. So, I gave it about 10 hours of wear – the makeup was intact and vibrant! It was extremely promising! The only flip side to the whole thing was that I had not been able to buy the product because it was out of stock. So, the next day, I quickly made inquiries and picked it up from another store.

Eyeshadow swatch

Since then, I have been using this to prime my eyes exclusively. The longest that I have kept my eye makeup on is about 12-13 hours and it makes the eye makeup stay put.  Not only does it work beautifully with MAC shadows, but I have tried it even with Urban Decay and Kat Von D shadows, and the results are the same.

I am adding a picture of the look created by the MAC MUA Auzzie when I first tried this primer as an eyeshadow base.

Eye makeup look

To sum this up for you:

Pros of MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base:

  • Makes the eyeshadow look fresh all day long.
  • Prevents eyeshadow from creasing.
  • Does not irritate my eyes.
  • Does not impart any additional colour to the lid, so will work for all skin tones.
  • Easy to dispense and to apply.
  • Decent, minimalistic, efficient packaging.
  • No funny smell.
  • Good bang for the buck.
  • Travel friendly.
  • Did not experience any fall out.

Cons of MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base:

  • No cons.

IMBB Rating: 5/5 buy here

I think it’s an excellent primer and at a decent price point – when compared to the likes of Urban Decay primer potion or NARS smudge proof eye base, which are considered the best primers in the market. And the best part is that it’s relatively easily available; at least MAC is available in India unlike the other brands mentioned above. However, the product gets out of stock easily, so for once, I definitely intend to buy another tube as back up, let’s see when my store replenishes the stock.

10 Best Products from MAC Cosmetics
Mac Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage
MAC Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm Compact SPF 30
MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
MAC Prep & Prime BB Cream SPF 35
Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Vs MAC Prep + Prime Skin Refined Zone Treatment – Which One is the Best?
MAC Prep + Prime Face Protect Protection Visage SPF 50
MAC Prep + Prime Colour Correcting Cream SPF 30 – Recharge
Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Base
L’Oreal Double Extend Eye Illuminator Eyeliner – Black Quartz
MUA Pro Base Eye Primer
10 Best Eyeshadow Primers
Jordana Eye Primer Eyeshadow Base

IMBB RECOMMENDS

4 thoughts on “MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base Review

  1. KK, welcome back after the break 🙂 That eye makeup looks so pretty! Also, wanted to know about the base that the MUA applied, it looks flawless!

    1. Thanks Jomol! Good to be back. Just need a little more discipline to ensure i right regularly!

      Thanks – They generally stick to MAC Fluid Fix foundation. So, that’s what she used on me and set it with MAC Select sheer pressed powder.

    1. Thanks Deepti! MAC MUA’s ARE magicians!! She actually used about 4 eye shadows – including Stars n Rockets and Fig 1. obviously, nonce of them were available in stock!!! 🙁

      And ya, I notice that the MAC MUAs spend a lot of time perfecting the base. Unlike us who spend the least amount of time on your base makeup.

Leave a Reply to Deepti Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *