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lisa Avatar

I LOVE IT!! I have a huge problem with mascara flaking, with the exception of very few of the probably 40 or so brands/types/formula’s I have found – they always flake, from the cheapest drugstore brand to the most expensive available.
My personal favorite is Lancome Cils Booster XL – no matter what mascara I use on top of it, I never have flakes!

Bellachique Avatar

I only have experience with the Shiseido mascara base and I can’t live without it! I only know the latest version, I heard a lot of ppl preferen the older version, but the new one is fine by me. It’s a must have if you use a lot of water proof mascaras and it really helps holding the curl of your lashes if you struggle with straight lashes!

Sue Avatar

The DiorShow Lash Plumping Maximizer is THE best! It has made such a difference in the way my lashes look both with mascara and without! My lashes have definitely grown longer and stronger 🙂

Cait23 Avatar

I have had wonderful results with the DiorShow Lash Plumping Maximizer.
I wear it everyday, with or without mascara. Since I have started using this product, I have noticed a significant reduction in lash loss. My lashes have also grown ridiculously long. I get asked about twice a week if my eyelashes are fake!
When I wear it with mascara, it keeps them from getting dry and helps with volume. It also sort of combs them out to where I get more even application. However! If you apply too much, it will weigh your lashes down and your curl will not be as high or lasting.

MonicaP Avatar

Eyelash primers seem to make my curled lashes straight .. so I don’t even bother with lash primers 😛 I suppose I could curl my lashes after the primer, but it seems to make my lashes brittle ..so prefer to curl prior to any type of lash application .. as in mascara etc.

snm Avatar

I guess it has been more than two years since lash bases became an essential for me.So essential that no base means no mascara.I am using mac’s religiously,tried also some others(urban decay,shiseido,lancome) but the prep prime lash base is the one I will keep buying over and over.They work pretty well for adding voluma/length which brings away the necessity of multiple mascara coats.But the main reason I can’t live without it,is that the base really helps my mascara to stay longer while preventing smudging.(tested with more than 10-15 mascaras).It also protects my weak lashes and makes the removal process much easier.

Victoria Avatar

I started using the Lancome Cils Booster XL a few months ago and I love it! I can’t imagine not using it anymore. I used to have a problem with my mascara flaking but lash primer really helps prevent that. My eyelashes a curly, thick and long anyway but they have a tendency to get stuck together in little sections and I find that lash primer really helps define my lashes so they don’t do that.

Michelle Avatar

I’ve only tried one lash primer, but I love it! I use the Dior Lash Maximizer since I got it as a free sample from Sephora. Every mascara I’ve ever used ALWAYS smudges onto the area under my eye, right above my cheek–waterproof, water-resistant, everything! I guess it’s the combination of my oily skin plus too much squinting/smiling (I have pretty prominent cheekbones too, so they probably add into the mix). Most waterproof mascaras are a b- to take off my lashes, and yet they still smudge on me. That’s where the lash primer comes in. With the lash primer, my mascara never smudges. 🙂

Miss J Avatar

It’s been some time since I’ve used a lash primer. I have wanted to pick up one just to give it a whirl again. The last time I used one, I didn’t notice any prevention of my mascara from flaking or smearing any more or less than it normally did. I never thought mascara went on very smoothly after primer, either. It seemed like it took more effort to get the lashes evenly coated with mascara, and they always ended up looking dry and crusty as well as weighed down. I have better luck half lash curlers, tightlining, layering mascara, and the occasional half lashes to make my lashes extra glam.

Em Avatar

Actually clear mascara works as a great mascara primer. It sperates my lashes and helps the mascara formula go on smoother so it doesn’t clump.

MAChostage Avatar

I may have to try this, because the two lash primers I’ve used were white in color. When I followed up with mascara, I had to take extra care to make sure that the mascara covered all the white of the primer. That in and of itself put me off from using a lash primer.

Esther Avatar

I’ve never found it to be necessary. If I have a day where my mascara refuses to stay or when my lashes need a boost, I’ve got a cheapo clear mascara that I use as a faux primer.

amy Avatar

I absolutely *love* lash primers, especially with a nighttime/dramatic eye. Even before lash primers (I’m talking late ’80’s) I would use a clear mascara under my mascara. I find, on my lashes, it really adds a dimention of fullness. I have long, full lashes naturally, being of Greek descent, but I love the look of really thick lashes. I would personally sacrifice length for fullness any day, and I find primer easier to deal with than false lashes, and I don’t typically use it for daytime. However, if I could find that one HG mascara that would ditch the primer in a heartbeat. Ultima II had one many years ago, so I know it’s possible. Why must all the greats be discontinued in the US?

Stephanie t-p Avatar

I only like lancomes cil booster! It’s really good! Especially when paired with make up forever’s smokey lash or guerlains noir g on top. Other ones with awkward brushes don’t work for me. Cil booster thickens my already lengthy lashes, so I’m not sure how it’d work for anyone else

Heather Avatar

I have never found them to be necessary. I have owned and used them before but I always thought they were more effective as a styling product to separate and detangle my lashes before applying mascara.

Kathy S. Avatar

I love eyelash primer! I love it on myself and I love to put it on other people. The one by Dior is amazing, but the one from Tarte is the one that I usually use. I swear that it makes my eyelashes grow thicker. Both are in my kit.

Leticia Avatar

I use MAC prep and prime and it helps a lot to make my mascara last longer, keeps it from smudging and makes application more even with less strokes, whether I use my drugstore mascara or my higher end ones. Lash primer has become part of my makeup routine and I never skip it!

Veronica Avatar

Usually too time constrained (read: lazy) to use it, admittedly, though my sister has attempted to get me to use them in the past. If I find a mascara flakes on me, I just don’t use it anymore.

Jasmin Avatar

I just got into them about a year ago and I love them! I only tried drugstore ones so far and really really want to try the Lancome one next! The main point for me here is that I need to use less mascara after and it makes removing mascara soooo easy which is important to me cos I dont like rubbing at tugging at my eyes (dont wanna get wrinkly eyes!!). So the extra step is really worth it to me, plus I need less mascara.

Brittany Avatar

I’m sorry but to me Eyelash primer is useless. Theres no reason for eyelash primer, its just another product that the beauty industry has put into people’s minds to think they need it in order to make their mascara stay on longer. When in fact the mascara can stay on by itself just fine, if not then its the formula- just get a different mascara. It doesn’t have to be an expensive- just one that you know that stays on and gets the job done. I have never had to use eyelash primer cause mascara it stay on just fine for me.

Janelle @ Life.Love.Nailpolish Avatar

Mascara primer isn’t necessarily to make mascara stay longer. It’s supposed to help plump your lashes so that you don’t need as many coats of mascara and you can avoid spider lashes.

Abbey Avatar

I like Hard Candy’s fiber mascara primer. It lengthens my lashes noticeably, and when combined with the right mascara, gives me doll lashes. It’s cheap, which is another plus!

Dinitchka Avatar

I’m on the fence with eyelash primers. I have tried a few … Hard Candy, Estée Lauder, Tarte, Revlon, Smashbox, Blink, UD and prob a few more. They are not all perfect but some are better than others. Unless, it’s a combo (mascara + primer) I usually don’t bother.

Janelle @ Life.Love.Nailpolish Avatar

When they don’t work. I can’t stand Dior’s because it sticks more to the brush than my lashes. I love Urban Decay’s!

Sara Avatar

I consider Cils Booster by Lancome the best $23 beauty investment I ever made! I use it *every* day under all different types of mascara and it always performs. I love the volume that it adds!

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