Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer - Review & Comparison Test | Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog

04 October, 2014

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer - Review & Comparison Test

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As a fan of brightly-colored and shiny eyeshadows, I'm always on the lookout for a good, long-lasting eye primer that isn't too expensive. For super-sparkly eyeshadows I usually bust out Glitter Glue or something like that as well, but I guess there are times when I just don't want to be bothered with that extra step?

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer box ingredients

I recently picked up a tube of Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer to test in just that capacity. Etude House is an inexpensive Korean brand for those of you who don't know, and while they don't have any physical shops in the U.S. (yet), their products are quite easy to find online.


Product description from the Etude House global website:

Proof 10 Eye Primer supplies coverage to eyelids and around the eyes to enhance eye shadow color and integrity for a longer lasting, Perfect 10 look. (10g/0.35oz)


Well OK then. This is a drugstore-priced primer—it sells on the Etude House global website for $5.50 USD, though I've seen it priced even lower elsewhere. (I bought mine for something like $4.50 from RoseRoseShop during a sale, as I recall.)

Proof 10 comes in a eyeliner-type tube with a doefoot applicator—personally I prefer this to primers that come in squeezy tubes, as squeezy tubes often lead to air bubbles and accidental squeezy explosions of too much product.

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

Ingredients:
TALC, ISODODECANE, VP/HEXADECENE COPOLYMER, MICA, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE TRIHYDROXYSTEARIN, SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, PEG-40 STEARATE, BEESWAX, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, DIMETHICONE, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, METHICONE, BHT, PROPYLPARABEN, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499


The texture is thin and milky—it kind of reminds me of school glue, actually. Much like glue, it dries pretty fast, so it's a good idea to spread it out evenly and quickly so you don't end up with a gloopy mess on your hands. A little goes a long way.


Before I show you the results of my comparison test, let's briefly discuss what I expect an eyeshadow primer to do: My main expectations are that (a) it will make eyeshadow slightly more vivid and (b) help it last longer. I've noticed that some shadow shades don't necessarily look more vivid over basic primer than they do over bare skin, but using a good base can be the key to getting shadow to stick on your face longer. Shadow staying on your face is good.

Time for the comparison test!

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer swatches

I'm using my arm instead of my face for the test because it's easier to take pictures of. Hope that's OK with you. Above you see Wet n Wild taupe eyeshadow swatched over bare skin (left), over E.L.F. Sheer Mineral Eyeshadow Primer ($3 for 4.5g, center), and Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer (right). I chose the E.L.F. primer for comparison purposes because (a) they are in a similar price range and (b) they both come in tubes with doefoot applicators. You can clearly see that both primers help the shadow appear more vivid on the skin right off the bat, but what about longevity?

Flash forward to 12 hours later ....


As you can see the swatch on bare skin is nearly gone. The Etude House swatch is a bit more vivid than the E.L.F. swatch in my opinion, but it's also a bit more streaky, probably because I wasn't careful enough to apply the primer evenly. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the shimmery element of the shadow stuck around more over the Etude House primer.


Conclusions:
The Etude House primer clearly performed better than using nothing at all. I also think it performed a bit better in terms of longevity and "vividness" than the E.L.F. primer, but it was initially more difficult to work with. The E.L.F. primer has sort of a creamy consistency, making it relatively easy to blend shadows over it even after it has dried a bit, whereas the glue-like texture of Etude House sets FAST and is hard to blend over. Etude House can also get a bit streaky if you're not super-careful to apply it evenly. So what does this all mean?

If you're brand new to the world of eyeshadow primers you might find something like the E.L.F. primer easier to use and more forgiving, but I do think Etude House Proof 10 is a better primer overall. It just takes a bit more care to use. It's also hard to beat the price—my favorite US drugstore eyeshadow primer (NYX HD Eyeshadow Base) is notably more expensive at $7 for 8g. And I think it performs almost as well as high-end primers like Urban Decay Primer Potion—the price difference is ridiculous in that case though, so I'm not even going to bother crunching the numbers. In any case, I've already purchased Etude House Proof 10 Primer again.

There is one downside though: The curved shape of the bottle plus the fact that it has a standard/straight doefoot applicator makes it sort of impossible to scrape all the product out. Solution: Saw the tube open with a knife or boxcutter and depot the remaining product into a little jar. Inconvenient, but if you really want to stretch your dollars, you can get quite a bit more out of each tube by depotting. Bear in mind that the PAO is only six months though, so if you haven't reached scraping desperation by that point it's probably just better to open up a new tube.


Where to buy:
  • Amazon: From various sellers starting at $5.69 shipped
  • eBay: From various sellers starting at $5.84 shipped
  • KoreaDepart: $4.98 + shipping (based on region/weight)
  • Etude House Global: $5.50 + shipping (based on region/weight)
  • RoseRoseShop: 5,500์› (~$5 USD)  + shipping (based on region/weight) 
  • TesterKorea: 5,500์› (~$5 USD)  + shipping (based on region/weight) 
  • Memebox: $8 + shipping (free on orders $30+, USA only)


What do you think of Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer? Do you have any favorite drugstore-priced eye primers you'd recommend?


Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. For more information, check out my full disclosure policy.
 

27 comments:

  1. One of my friends has urged me a few times to get an eye primer, but I've been putting it off since I never use eyeshadows. However I might just get this one to try though, since it is pretty cheap! I'm impressed by how long the shadow stayed on your arm. I do have a few very glittery eyeshadows from Laneige that I've put off using since there's always quite a bit of fallout by the end of the day. Perhaps this primer will do the trick. Thanks for the review! :)

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  2. I've got one of these from BeautynetKorea but I hardly ever use it, then wonder why my eyeliner has travelled half way up my eyelid. Definitely going to use it more from now on, thanks for the inspiration.

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  3. Primer definitely makes a big difference for me in terms of longevity. If you don't wear eyeshadow often it's probably best to buy a cheaper one like this, as they only have a shelf life of about ~6 months once they're opened.

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  4. Hah! Sometimes I forget the primer too and I definitely notice the difference by end of the day. The "difference" being a crease-y, smudgey mess. Definitely worth using!

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  5. I wish it wasn't, since it's pretty expensive, but my favorite primer is still Urban Decay's original Primer Potion. I got a Too Faced Shadow Insurance when I bought my Chocolate Bar palette so I've been using that up now but I still don't like it as much as the UDPP. :c Is the NYX primer your favorite overall, or just in drugstore?

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  6. Oh I have both primers but I found that the Etude House primer would crease like there was no tomorrow really quickly (within the first two hours!) while the ELF primer lasted longer (creasing at the 5-6 hour mark). Although to be fair, my lids are pretty oily and they fold over each other (in typical Asian double eyelid fashion!). How did you find the longevity while worn on your lids? I'm really interested in trying the UD primer but alas, being in Australia I don't have any good access to UD!

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  7. You know, despite having tried Urban Decay's primer potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, I still don't see the hype of either. I don't need my eye shadow to last 10000 hours. For me, all I'm concerned with is intensity of colour. I use Nyx's Jumbo eye pencil in milk as a base and it works great.

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  8. Interesting! Thanks for the comparison. I haven't tried anything from this brand, and I have a few hoarded tubes of primer I need to use up first, but I will keep this in mind. Is it just the photo, or do the primers change the color of the eyeshadow a bit too? It seems cooler over the primers. Maybe it's just because less of your skin tone is showing through.

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  9. I would say just my favorite "can buy in most drugstores" primer. I tend to buy mostly cheaper ones these days though because I'm on a budget!

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  10. Interesting - I feel like I had the opposite (less creasing with Etude House). My lids aren't super oily though. They don't last as ridiculously long on my actual eyes, but the Etude primer definitely held onto more pigment for longer.

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  11. Milk is definitely better if you want super-vibrant color. I tend to use that over a basic primer though so it doesn't turn into a creasey mess! YMMV depending on how cooperative your eyelids normally are.

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  12. They can a bit, yeah. The ELF "sheer" primer actually has sort of a peachy tone and the Etude House primer is a slightly milky white color, which does affect the final appearance of the shadow a little bit.

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  13. I can def tell from the above pictures that the shadow stayed on better using the Etude primer.

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  14. For sure! I was surprised at how well it worked considering the price, actually.

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  15. I love the comparison and I'm always surprised when I see the difference between wearing a Primer and no Primer. I have a drugstore eyeshadow base and I really enjoy using it every single time :D

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  16. This is a great comparison! You can clearly see how the Etude House primer made the eyeshadow last longer.

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  17. Definitely! I was pretty impressed with how well it did.

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  18. There really is a difference! Even using a really cheap base from the drugstore helps. I use the $1 primer from ELF sometimes too and it works better than wearing nothing. :)

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  19. I accidentally gave my wrong username for Instagram. It is PANDAP34. Sorry๐Ÿ˜

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  20. It definitely looks like it lasts longer, but it also looks like it's a bit more difficult to work with as you said. The application of the shadow doesn't look as smooth as with the ELF primer. Thanks for the comparison!

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  21. I think that's a fair assessment. You have to be careful to apply the Etude primer evenly or else it will end up a little patchy after a few hours. It's good if you want the pigment to stick for a long time, but less good if you just want to slap your makeup on quickly and go!

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  22. This looks like a great primer - though I'm a UD primer fan for life! I'm very lazy with my application and kinda just slap it on there so not sure I could get this on evenly!

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  23. I definitely hear that! I don't use it every day for just that reason.

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  24. I have a love-hate relationship with eye primers... But I do know I should be more consistent using them. It's just that I really don't like to do my eye make up :-)
    #kbeautybloghop

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  25. I often keep my eye makeup simple .. just eyeliner, which doesn't need primer. I love playing with eyeshadow but sometimes I'm too lazy, haha! :)

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  26. I am just far too lazy to even bother with primer but have been trying a few out lately!

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  27. I didn't bother with primer for a long time, but some of them honestly make a huge difference in terms of color payoff and how long the shadow lasts. Now I never go without!

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