A Drugstore Look: Revlon PhotoReady Primer, Shadow + Sparkle

At a bare minimum the “smokey eye” consists of 4 components: primer, lid, crease, and highlight. To the everyday belle, using a multitude of shades is not only intimidating, but flashes dollar signs. Enter Revlon’s PhotoReady Primer, Shadow + Sparkle collection. These handy little palettes are not only affordable (you can nab them for under $7 just by shopping around your local drugstores!), but they are designed to be a one-stop-shop for dimensional eyeshadow looks with minimal effort.

While I haven’t been able to try all eight palettes, my pick is Metropolitan. The colors are neutral, yet buildable, and undeniably feminine.

Primer: A sheer, shimmering, flesh tone shade with 8-hour priming claims (ahem, malarkey).  It also works nicely as a highlight for the inner corner and brow bone.

Glitter: To bump up the sparkle, add this copper shade filled with golden nuggets of delight. When doing so, be careful of fall out – upon initial application I noticed some flecks of glitter on my cheeks.

Lid: A deep brown, matte shade perfect for deepening up the “outer V” of the eye, and easily blended.

Crease:  A shimmering, silvery taupe. While it’s a gorgeous shade, I always stay clear of adding heavy shimmer to the crease. If you have fine lines or a slight hooded eye from age, shimmering creases can look dated. In my opinion, this shade is best suited as an alternate lid color.

Highlight: While very similar to the primer color, the highlight has a peach undertone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t show up so well on fairer skin.

My two cents:

• I still suggest using a standard primer prior to applying these shadows to 1.) Make the colors pop and B.) Avoid creasing.
• Use them wet or dry! The dark lid shade is perfect as a subtle liner when used wet.
• Knock-off the excess. These shades are a bit powdery, so tap that brush before application to avoid fallout.
• I would re-purchase. I always seem to find shades in palettes that I don’t like or that I would swap out, but that’s just the nature of the product. You can’t go wrong with this price.

What do you think of Revlon PhotoReady Primer? Do you have any drugstore favorites? Let us know in the comments.

Contributor | Lauralai Clymer Lauralai is a beauty absorbed YouTuber and blogger. She strives to deliver tips, tricks and trends that are both practical and fabulous while being as honest and open as she is with her closest girlfriends.