Stay Don't Stray

Over the past few weeks I’ve been playing around with the contents of my July Topbox, which contained items from Benefit’s They’re Real line. One of the items that I was most looking forward to testing was Stay Don’t Stray, a “dual-action power primer (that) works 360 degrees around the eyes to make concealers AND eyeshadows STAY PUT.”

According to Benefit, using this creamy primer means that “Concealers don't crease, eyeshadows stay vibrant & true.” Sound great, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to try out how well the product works as a concealer primer as I was sent the wrong colour. This product “now comes in TWO neutral shades to suit all skintones (light/medium & medium/deep),” which is great is you get the right shade. Even though I swear I selected “light/medium” when I filled out my monthly Topbox options form, I received the medium/deep shade and it just doesn’t work on my under-eye area, which is almost translucent.

This meant that I was unable to see if Stay Don’t Stray really could make my under-eye makeup stay.  Nor could I test out whether or not this product improves the general look of that area, thanks to its inclusion of “sodium hyaluronate known to hydrate and Vitamins C & E known to help fight signs of aging” as ingredients.

But I could test out how well this product works as an eyelid primer and here the results are mixed. This is certainly no superstar product. I wore it, including doing split face tests (one eyelid received the primer, the other didn’t) in a wide variety of circumstances and if those circumstances involved humidity, being outside in the sun for more than a couple hours or doing anything that made me sweat, this primer did nothing.

But in more basic, temperature-controlled situations, this primer did help a bit. Yes, there was still crease-creep and the colour of my eyeshadow did fade a bit but it was noticeably better than nothing,
That being said, this product didn’t perform any better than my regular primer. (actually, it generally performed a bit worst) And at $30, it would need to wow me to get me to invest in it.

One aspect of this product that did impress me is its packaging.  According to Benefit, it “features a NEW ‘dip & dab’ wand for easier application.” Featuring a soft, appropriately sized sponge on one end, the applicator is indeed a breeze to use and allowed me to deposit just the right amount of primer on my lids.

Would I buy this product: No, there’s no need for it in my beauty routine.

Should you buy this product: If you’ve already got a solid primer that  keeps your makeup in place, there is no need for this one, at least when it comes to eyeshadow. Since I wasn't able to test it out under my eyes, I can't comment on that specific area but I have a feeling that I wouldn't be amazed by its performance there either.