Benefit Air Patrol is a new BB Cream Eyelid Primer with SPF20, designed to protect and hydrate the eyelid and extend the wear time of eye shadow.
The product comes in a clicky pen with a soft silicone tip, described as more gentle than your pinkie finger. It is indeed soft and flexible and can be used to distribute the product, but I still need to pat/blend it in with a finger.
One twist releases enough product for both of my eyes; I advise twisting very slowly to avoid releasing too much, even though it does twist back down to save waste.
The product itself is slightly yellow in tone to balance out any redness or uneven colouring, which it does beautifully on my eyes, though I’m not sure how it would look on very dark skin. NB while this brightens the eye lids, it’s not suitable for use on under eye shadows.
I like that this is more moisturising than some primers I’ve tried; it doesn’t dry out my lids and eye shadow applies smoothly on top. While it does set on the skin, oily lidded gals may not approve. It’s tricky to find an SPF which works on the eye area, the one place I want to protect most, so SPF20 is a big plus point.
Benefit Air Patrol does intensify the appearance of my eye shadow and prolong its wear, but does not prevent it creasing throughout the day. As I have hooded eyes, I’m very crease prone and others may not have this issue, but it’s worth bearing in mind. The main reason I wear an eye primer is to preventing creasing, so while this is the only downside, it’s a significant one for me.
I’ll continue to use this on eye shadow free days to brighten the eye area, but I’ll stick to NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base on days when I wear heavier eye makeup.
Benefit Air Patrol is available here.
