The makeup world is obsessed with elf cosmetic’s Putty line of products. Upon releasing their Putty Eye Primers, the first things everyone wants to know is if they work as they claim, and if they are a dupe for MAC’s Paint Pots. Without knowing anything about these primers, I am boldly purchasing all six shades, trying them out in my usual makeup routine, and giving a thorough, honest elf Putty Eye Primer review. elf definitely has the ability to bring us a quality drugstore dupe at a price point that anyone can work with. I am reporting on every facet of these primers, from swatches, to formula, uses, comparisons, and more.
elf Putty Eye Primer Review
Packaging & Formula
To begin this elf Putty Eye Primer review, I want to start by discussing the packaging and formula.
The packaging is solid plastic with a frosted bottom and threaded lid. I do enjoy the frosted detail, but I am mainly happy to see the low cost packaging. This is exactly what we want from elf to keep the prices of their products down! Each primer retails for $5.
The formula of these primers is a cream that you can easily spread onto the eyelid with a brush or your finger. However, there are inconsistencies within the formulation. Rose, Sand, and Black have a very creamy formula, while the rest are very dry. The dry primers actually look dry and patchy when applied to the eyelid. I am happy to report that once you apply your eyeshadow over top, you no longer see they dryness and patchiness. The corrupt formula does not impact how your eyeshadow looks or performs.
My top favorite is Rose because it falls in the creamy category and works well with my skin tone.
Uses & How to Apply
You can use the Putty Eye Primers for a variety of purposes. Besides these working as an eyeshadow primer, they also function as a color corrector to cancel out veins and other imperfections on the eyelid. You can even use these as a cream eyeshadow or eyeliner.
I apply these primers with a brush that is intended to be used for applying cream products, such as concealer. I would normally use my finger, but my long nails make it difficult for me to access the product without gouging it. But, I see no difference between using a brush vs my finger with application or wear time.
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Color Options & Swatches
Continuing on with the elf Putty Eye Primer review, I want to share some swatches and talk about the six color options available.
The White primer is excellent for making your eyeshadow colors pop. Otherwise, the primer that I select to use that day is based upon how well it matches the color story of my eyeshadow palette.
I find that most of these primers work well with my pale skin, with Rose being my favorite, but Cream and Clay are also nice. Sand is much darker than my eyelid, so I will probably reach for that one the least.
Now, you are probably wondering, what is up with the Black primer?! I cannot think of an instance where I would apply this all over the lid. I recommend using it as a cream eyeshadow or an eyeliner. Of course, if you can think of any nifty uses for Black, please share in the comments!
You can see by the swatches that these primers look soft, blurred, and diffused on the skin, which is highly favorable. They are not full coverage, but you can build the color up to your desired level of intensity. The sheer properties are intentional. Each primer is matte with no glitters or shimmers.
Creasing?
I have used each of these primers (with the exception of Black) in a makeup look to make this elf Putty Eye Primer review complete. elf claims that your eye look will stay in place for 12 hours without creasing. Are they being truthful?
I am someone who applies all of my primers, then I do my face makeup, and finally do my eye makeup. What I find with the dryer formulas are that they crease up by the time I am ready to apply my eye makeup. I simply use the brush that I originally applied the primer with to smooth out the crease. This can also be avoided by applying your eye makeup first, or by waiting to apply the primer until you are ready to work on the eyes. Additionally, you can set the primer with your face powder or a neutral eyeshadow, which eliminates the issue. The creamy formulas never crease when worn without powder.
I am always in the habit of setting my eyeshadow primer with a neutral shadow. Blending powders over a powder base is ideal. As I say above, this will prevent the primer from creasing before applying color. However, you can skip this step and go right in for color. Really, any powder applied over top will lock this primer down.
If you plan on wearing these as your actual eyeshadow for the day, I would at least set them with a translucent powder. This way they will be fully set, but the translucent powder will not disguise the lovely color of the primer.
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Putty Eye Primer vs MAC Paint Pot
Everyone wants to know if the Putty Eye Primers are dupes for MAC’s famous Paint Pots. Never in my life have I tried a Paint Pot, so I feel it would be dishonest for me to say yes or no to the dupe question. In all of the video reviews that I am watching on these, the reviewer always state elf’s product is a suitable dupe. You can make your own decisions with those reviews.
However, I do want to compare the two products the best that I can. Below are the weights, ingredients (bolded ingredients appear in both products), and prices for elf vs MAC.
MAC Paint Pots
Weight: 5 G / 0.17 US OZ
Price: $22 each
Ingredients:
Isododecane, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Dimethicone, Polyethylene, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Quaternium-90 Bentonite, Dimethicone Silylate, Silica, Octyldodecanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Lecithin, Trihydroxystearin, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax\Cera Carnauba\Cire De Carnauba, Propylene Carbonate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Tin Oxide, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, [+/- Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Aluminum Powder (Ci 77000), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Bronze Powder (Ci 77400), Carmine (Ci 75470), Chromium Hydroxide Green (Ci 77289), Chromium Oxide Greens (Ci 77288), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Ferric Ferrocyanide (Ci 77510), Manganese Violet (Ci 77742), Ultramarines (Ci 77007), Yellow 5 Lake (Ci 19140)]
Notes: MAC has more ingredients than elf, but many of elf’s ingredients are found in the Paint Pots.
elf Putty Eye Primer
Weight: 0.19 oz. (5.3g) (more product than MAC, and for less money)
Price: $5 each
Ingredients:
Isododecane, Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Polyethylene, Mica, Ceresin, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Silica Silylate, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Squalane, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Lecithin, Polyhydroxystearic acid, Isopropyl Myristate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isostearic Acid, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Propylene Carbonate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol. MAY CONTAIN: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)
Final Verdict & Rating
I rule that the elf Putty Eye Primers do meet their claims, are a suitable alternative to the MAC Paint Pots, and are the best eyeshadow primers that elf offers in their line. These primers prevent eyeshadow creasing, fading, and movement for as long as I wear my makeup, which is exactly what I look for in the best eyeshadow primers. Finally, we have a good eye primer from elf! I am happy to own all six 6 shades and I will continue to use these.
Rating: ★★★★★
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Conclusion
In summary of this elf Putty Eye Primer review, buying all six primers blindly is definitely a risk on my part, but I am relieved and excited to report that these are awesome! You probably do not need to buy all six. I recommend using my swatches to determine which shades will work best for you, but do keep in mind which formulas are dry and which are ultra creamy. To be completely honest, I will continue to use standard eyeshadow primers regularly, but these putty primers will join that club. Until next time, continue to let your true beauty shine.
Are you team Putty Eye Primer or Paint Pot?
13 Responses
Hello! Black primer is useful as a base for multichrome shadows, as it allows the color shifts to be much more easily seen. Additionally, some halo eye effects are done with a black shadow or primer and then a shimmer for the effect.
Awesome! Thank you for that! elf’s website doesn’t say much in that area. Now I have some good ideas.
I have the e.l.f. Poreless Putty Primer and I love it so much. I use the MAC Paint Pot and I’m very intrigued to see how well the e.l.f. eyeshadow primer compares because I truly love my Paint Pot from MAC. I think I’d be put off by the drier primers, so thank you for sharing the consistency of each primer as that will help me decide which one to get when I branch out and get an e.l.f. primer 🙂
Absolutely! That’s what I’m here for. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you try any of the elf ones versus MAC.
I may have to try these out sometime. I want the black putty especially.
Let me know if you do! I still have to try the black out, but now I have some good ideas.
It would definitely be my first time using a black eye primer.
I was hoping to see a texture comparison with Mac pots. I find the ELF putty primer very drying even the rose color. But since you admittedly haven’t tried the MAC product, this isn’t *really* a fair comparison.
I’m providing the best comparison that I possibly can. However, I do recommend checking out some YouTube videos. I’ve watched several and most people conclude elf is a good enough option if you are on a budget.
Do you know why they discontinued it?
Hi! I don’t know why they discontinued it, but I’m aware that they did. This is a good question to send to elf! If you throw them an Instagram comment and/or direct message, they are usually receptive. I expect their response to be along the lines that they discontinue items that did not sell as well as expected, their on-site reviews were lackluster, or they wanted to take the Putty line in a different direction. They actually discontinued their squeeze tube eyeshadow primer as well… which is the only “normal” eye primer from them that actually worked. So weird!
Black primer can be used if you want to do a full solid black smokey eye. It makes the shadow look blacker than black. If you only use a primer first, you’d have to keep building the black shadow and you still may have issues with patchiness. With a black primer, you’ll have none of that!
I really enjoyed reading your review and appreciate all the salient points you made. It seemed fair and honest, and was easy to follow. I semi-retired from work in 2020 where I conducted my counseling sessions via telehealth, so it was important to be camera-ready and presentable. Now, two years post-pandemic, I’m looking at a drawer full off cosmetics that are two years old and likely need replacing. My daughters are founts of wisdom regarding makeup techniques and I’m way behind in updating my look. For someone who is not a makeup guru but just wants to get the job done, I’m looking forward to trying the rose primer. Thanks again.