Eyeshadow primer for oily lids

Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer is the primer oily-lidded reviewers most often say keeps shadow in place: 43 of 50. NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base is next at 30 of 40. The famous Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion comes third at 65 of 107.

  • 508 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jul 2011 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it hold on oily lids?
  1. Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer 50 said either way
  2. NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base 40 said either way
  3. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion 107 said either way
  4. Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer 39 said either way
  5. Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eyeshadow Primer 40 said either way
  6. Anastasia Beverly Hills Water-Resistant Eye Primer 55 said either way
  7. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Eye Primer 40 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for creasing on oily lids. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points buyers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Smashbox

24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer

Best for all-day wear

43/50 say it keeps shadow in place

68% say shadow lasts all day. Complaints are rare, with packaging the most common at 8%.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 68%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 30%
  • Tube lasts a long time 11%
  • Controls oily lids 8%
  • Good value 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Hard to get product out 8%
  • Too expensive 6%
  • Shadow still creases 6%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 8 of 11
  • Sephora 35 of 39
  • Brand site 1 of 3 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination16 of 18
  • Oily10 of 11
  • Normal4 of 5
  • Dry4 of 4
2

NARS

Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

30/40 say it keeps shadow in place

45% say it makes shadow last. Creasing still comes up for 12%.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 45%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 13%
  • Makes colors more vibrant 5%
  • Shadow blends easily on top 5%
  • Evens out lid color 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Shadow still creases 13%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 8%
  • Too expensive 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 30 of 40
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination16 of 21
  • Oily6 of 11
  • Dry6 of 6
3

Urban Decay

Eyeshadow Primer Potion

65/107 say it keeps shadow in place

The most-reviewed primer here (111 reviews). Ulta shoppers rate it better (25 of 37) than Sephora shoppers (40 of 70).

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 40%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 21%
  • Controls oily lids 10%
  • Makes colors more vibrant 5%
  • Shadow blends easily on top 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Shadow still creases 22%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 11%
  • Hard to get product out 5%
  • Too expensive 4%
  • Irritates eyes 2%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 25 of 37
  • Sephora 40 of 70
  • Brand site 3 of 4 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination27 of 43
  • Oily10 of 16
  • Dry1 of 5
  • Normal2 of 3
Check price on Amazon

Share of 111 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

Too Faced

Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer

23/39 say it keeps shadow in place

26% complain it's hard to get product out of the tube, the top packaging complaint of any primer here.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 42%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 12%
  • Controls oily lids 9%
  • Shadow blends easily on top 5%
  • Makes colors more vibrant 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Hard to get product out 26%
  • Shadow still creases 23%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 12%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 1 of 7
  • Sephora 22 of 32
  • Brand site 3 of 7 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination7 of 12
  • Oily8 of 8
  • Normal5 of 6
  • Dry1 of 3
5

Benefit

Stay Don't Stray Eyeshadow Primer

18/40 say it keeps shadow in place

30% say shadow fades by afternoon and 30% that it still creases.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 35%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 13%
  • Shadow blends easily on top 8%
  • Evens out lid color 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Shadow fades by afternoon 30%
  • Shadow still creases 30%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 18 of 40
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination3 of 7
  • Oily3 of 6
6

Anastasia Beverly Hills

Water-Resistant Eye Primer

21/55 say it keeps shadow in place

34% say shadow still creases, the most of any primer here, and 18% say the tint is wrong for their skin tone.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 25%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 15%
  • Makes colors more vibrant 13%
  • Shadow blends easily on top 10%
  • Good value 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Shadow still creases 34%
  • Wrong tint for skin tone 18%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 18%
  • Hard to get product out 8%
  • Makes shadow patchy 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 7 of 19
  • Sephora 14 of 36
  • Brand site 6 of 9 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination10 of 23
  • Oily3 of 9
  • Dry1 of 4
7

Milk Makeup

Hydro Grip Eye Primer

14/40 say it keeps shadow in place

The weakest record here: 26 of 40 oily-lidded reviewers said their shadow still creased or faded.

What buyers praise

  • Makes shadow last all day 28%
  • Stops eyeshadow creasing 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Shadow still creases 25%
  • Shadow fades by afternoon 20%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 14 of 40
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination9 of 26
  • Oily3 of 7

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 73,192 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for creasing on oily lids and read the newest matching reviews, up to 40 per product and store, posted between Jul 2011 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (41 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts and link to the product pages, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer Ulta (53 reviews counted)
  2. NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base Sephora (40 reviews counted)
  3. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Ulta, Sephora (111 reviews counted)
  4. Too Faced Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer Ulta, Sephora (43 reviews counted)
  5. Benefit Stay Don't Stray Eyeshadow Primer Sephora (40 reviews counted)
  6. Anastasia Beverly Hills Water-Resistant Eye Primer Ulta, Sephora (61 reviews counted)
  7. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Eye Primer Sephora (40 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

What is the best eyeshadow primer for oily lids?

By these reviews, Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer: 43 of 50 oily-lidded reviewers said it keeps shadow in place. NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base follows at 30 of 40.

Is Urban Decay Primer Potion good for oily lids?

It's decent: 65 of 107 oily-lidded reviewers said it keeps shadow in place. Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer (43 of 50) and NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (30 of 40) do better.

Is Too Faced Shadow Insurance good for oily lids?

It's mixed: 23 of 39 said it keeps shadow in place, and 26% of its reviews complain it's hard to get out of the tube.

Related problems

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