Review & Swatches: Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer

Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer is a white base / primer that helps boost the volume and length of your lashes. It has a whipped formula so it feels light on your lashes. There is also vitamin E and other conditioning ingredients in the primer to help with the health of your lashes. It contains 8.5 mL / 0.28 fl. oz. of product and retails for $20.

Only curled / Mascara + Primer + Mascara

I'm adequately content with the length of my lashes, but I like giving them an extra boost in volume because my lashes are fine. They do not hold a curl with normal mascaras (as in non-waterproof) and this primer was no exception. Like with the other primers I've tried out, I have to "sandwich" the primer. 

(You can also read about my Dior vs. Lancome Primer post here)

You can see in the above pictures that my lashes are definitely plumped up. The mascara I paired this primer with is Maybelline Volum' Express The Rocket Waterproof Mascara in Very Black and even though it gives me volume, it's never like this. 

The next two set of pictures also show the primer (and mascara) in action in other angles. 

Top to Bottom: Bare and Curled Lashes / One Coat of Mascara / Mascara + Primer + Mascara

Top to Bottom: Bare Lashes / One Coat of Mascara / Mascara + Primer + Mascara

This is how the primer looks like on my lashes. The brush lets me coat the product on really well.

The primer dries clear, but I wouldn't wait till it dries to apply the next layer of mascara. I found that it made my lashes really clumpy. I also wouldn't apply the "topper" layer of mascara right away either because it mixes in with the primer and also makes it more clumpy. There's a sweet spot between first application of the primer and when it dries and it can be a bit tricky to find.

The order I like doing this is to firstly curl the lashes on both my eyes. Put mascara and primer on one eye and then mascara and primer on the other eye. By the time you've layered it up on one eye, the primer has dried a bit more on the first eye and gives you a better effect. 

The wand is pretty nice and I actually love this more than the wand the Perversion mascara had. It's flatted on one side and has kind of an hourglass shade to it. I like using the flatter side to apply the primer, but the curve on the thinner side helps curve to the shape of my eyes. 

The tube of the primer is made out of light plastic and it feels a bit cheap. It's not as fancy as some other mascara primers, but it's not that important since the actual product is good. The tube is simple and a lot more basic than other packaging from Urban Decay, but I like it.

Final thoughts: I really like this primer on my lashes! When I reviewed Perversion (here), I did have gripes about it not keeping my curl. It also gave me a lot of volume, but it also got clumpy fast. Subversion gives me the same volume and works with any mascara favorites that I have. The clumpiness isn't as bad as Perversion though and so those who avoided Perversion because of that reason might love this lash primer instead. I wouldn't recommend this to a lash primer novice because it's trickier to use than Dior's or Lancome's primer, but it is something I do highly recommend for more volumized lashes.