I think we all know by this point that I love primers. And the balm style ones are a particular favorite formula of mine. I like the control that style gives actually. i can concentrate on placing the product where it needs to be and then blend it outwards so that it covers everything that needs to be covered.
I know this can be down with liquids, and I do enjoy many liquid primers, but I do find that this gives me a greater control. And so on to the Pink Lipps Soft matte Primer.
With the Pinklipps formula, control is actually very important. According to the brand website…
Pink Lipps Soft Matte Primer will keep your foundation looking fresh and pristine all day with this velvety mattifying primer. It glides on smoothly and helps disguise the look of pores and imperfections for a flawless makeup application.
bare faced
It is a very soft formula. It is mattifying and it blurs out pores. On me it evens out my skin tone taking down the reddish tones and allowing me a more neutral and unified shade to my skin so that my makeup is even. I will even say that it does help extend the life of my makeup.
However, it is a bit more of a waxy feel than many of the balms I have tried before. I’m sure this does help it’s spread-ability as it is a formula that can be easily spread across the skin without needing to be warmed up. And when it is used in moderation it does blend out well and feels weightless.
just primer
The key is moderation. When I went in too heavy with this primer, it felt heavy and waxy. I also had issues with it feeling greasy throughout the day and as a consequence I had to reach for my compact more often. If I went in light, then i was fine. For me I used the back of my nail to scoop out a portion,. and then dotted it on the parts of my face I wanted to blur out the pores and then I blended it out. The few dots I had covered my entire face but given the way I aplied it special attention was paid to the areas where I wanted the product the most.
The trick is really moderation in application. If you don’t apply too much it is a nice light formula, albeit slightly waxy. If you apply too much, it is a waxy and greasy mess. I will probably use this product until it is gone because it is nice enough that I have no problems using it. And since I only use a little at each go it will take me a while to work through. However the waxiness isn’t y favorite thing. In addition i am testing this out in the winter when my skin is the driest, It’s tendency to become slightly greasy does not auger well for summer time use for me. While I will use it since it is here, I doubt very much that I will repurchase this Pink Lipps Soft Matte Primer.
I am a big fan of balm style primers. They are actually my preferred version. Don’t get me wrong, I will use just about any style of primer, because I just love primers. And that is a love that just grows the older I get. If you have fine lines, primers can be your best friend.
I also love a good deal.
I periodically dip into the Shop Miss A website and pick out things to try. It is interesting. For those of you who have never been to the Shop Miss A site, it is an on-line dollar store. Most items are between $1 and $1.88. Some of the items are well worth the price and others I would give a pass. Oddly some of the things I have ordered from Shop Miss A I thought were not going to be good but when they arrived I was just amazed by. I was actually amazed by the quality of their makeup brushes for example.
AOA Studios is one of the brands featured on the site and I picked up this primer on my last order just to give it a try. It is about the size of a single eyeshadow. And to be honest, the product is about as deep as a single eyeshadow pan.
When I initially took the product out (I used the back of my nail to get it out) it was a little crumbly. With the heat of my hands it melted and became an easily spreadable consistency. It is white in the pan, but on the skin it goes invisible and there is no white cast remaining. It is listed as a blurring primer and it did really well filling in fine lines and blurring out pores. it actually worked better than I thought it would.
In fact I was very impressed by how well it worked. However, I did find I needed a little bit more primer than I might with another balm style primer, Like the Tatcha Silk Canvas. And there are no skin care benefits.
This AOA Studios Blurfection Primer was however only $1 as opposed to the $52 Tatcha Primer. So I wasn’t expecting the same skin care benefits.
Because you need a little bit more of this primer, it does not last long. I was worried about it potentially drying out in the shallow pan. The truth is that it isn’t a concern. I used this primer for one entire week and there is almost no product left in the pan. $1 for one week’s worth of a good primer isn’t that bad. I would definitely order this again. In fact I could see making this a travel staple. It is small enough to go into a travel makeup kit and as long as I wasn’t going to be gone more than a week, it would serve beautifully. I don’t know how long it would last in the pan on it’s own without drying out so I don’t think I would pick up a bunch of them to stock, but i could definitely see myself picking this AOA Studios Primer up before my next trip to take with me.
You know I love primers. I think anyone who reads any of my posts regularly knows I love primers. They are a great way to even out skin tone so that the rest of your face products don’t have to work as hard. I have in fact had a good primer make a not so good foundation better. (It isn’t a miracle worker, but it can sometimes give a much needed lift.) I find primers can also help prevent some foundations from sinking into fine lines, which I appreciate more the older I get.
Primes, color-corrects, brightens, and nourishes skin for a flawless face with no fus. Transparent, priming perfector creates a radiant canvas for your makeup. So it’s your skin, only brighter. Helps reduce imperfections and improve skin texture. Hydrates, balances, and nourishes the skin. Contains 3 color-correcting pigments to even out complexion. Designed for all skin types and skin tones.
Stila
I have enjoyed many Stila products over the years. My favorite product from the brand was actually a primer (Lingerie Soufflé Primer) which has long since been discontinued. I kept the jar around for a long time after it was empty because it was so pretty. The product was even better than the jar, but that no longer matters as it is gone now. But because I really loved that Primer I had really high hopes for this one. Plus it was really nice to see a product from a brand I once really liked reappear in my world.
The look of this in the container is quite fun. It reminds me of those marshmallow rope candies you used to be able to buy. Perhaps you still can, I just can’t recall seeing them recently. And I can see where the pink, green and purplish colors were chosen. They are the classic color correcting shades. You will find them in pretty much every color correcting palette.
Curious to see how they all played together I dispensed the product as I would any other primer and applied it to my face. For me this means pumping it out onto the back of my hand, dotting it onto the spots where I need priming the most (Usually across the bridge of my nose and cheeks, along my chin and around the fine lines around my mouth (on the sides, and yes I use primer like fine line spackle to fill in the lines so my foundation doesn’t go in there.) and then I blend.
when dispensed the colors blend together into a grayish paste. I applied it and there were streaks of green and pink. I was feeling particularly red on the day I took these photos. I am not normally that red but allergies were striking. So I thought it the perfect time to try this out for it’s color correcting abilities.
I found it very interesting. The primer went on very wet and needed time to dry down. The color correcting was fine until it was blended out and then the redness didn’t really go away. There was a slight improvement but it wasn’t major in the color correcting department. My skin did feel hydrated and smooth. Makeup application over this primer was really nice. Products applied more smoothly and looked great. It also filled in my fine lines well and had a lightly glowy kind of look to it. The color correcting was minimal at best. However as a general brightening and smoothing primer it worked well.
I did think that maybe I didn’t apply enough to get the color correcting benefits, but when I applied more the same thing happened. It is a wet formula and does take a while to dry down. The more you apply, the longer it takes to dry down and the more likely it is to look greasy instead of glowy. It is also only a minor color correcting formula. While I don’t think that this would do much good for anyone looking to blend out rosatia or major discolorations, it does some minot corrections. It also create a nice surface on which to apply the rest of the makeup and it did, over all, make my makeup look better and last longer. which makes it a pretty good general primer. Just remember to use sparingly and let it dry down before continuing with the rest of your makeup and don’t expect too much color correcting out of this Stila One Step primer and you will be fine.
You know my love of primers. They can make bare skin look fantastic under a dusting of powder for a no makeup day, they can make you lit from within under a matte foundation. They can fill pores and lock in makeup for hours longer than it would last on it’s own. It was really hard narrowing it down to my favorites. There are just so many that i really enjoy. But time and time again, these are the products I find myself reaching for and so this is my list of top five primers, at least for this year.
Oh the number of times this appeared in my daily makeup posts means that it had to be on this list. This year I not only used this a lot, I compared it to their liquid formula. Both are fantastic. Oddly once put on the skin they both feel the same as you blend them in, one just starts out as a liquid while the other starts out as a balm. I prefer the balm, but I would happily use and purchase either. Both not only work really well to blur out pores and even out skin tone as well as keep makeup looking fantastic, they are really good on the skin. I generally find that if I wear this primer under my makeup on days when I know I am going to be wearing my makeup longer than usual using this primer helps keep my skin from breaking out over the extended makeup time. I adore this primer.
This is a really good primer for not only giving your skin a slight luminous glow under your foundation but for helping to blur out your pores. It is more luminous than pore blurring So if you have medium sized pores you are golden with this primer. It has a slight tan tint to it so It really works to even out the skin tone as well. It beasicaly creates a really nice canvas for your foundation to sit on. And it is also one of those primers that I find fewer breakouts from extra long makeup wear if I use it underneath. Let’s hear it for skincare infused makeup!
If you want your makeup to stay in place this is the primer you want to lean towards. It smooths over the skin like a cool gel. It then becomes sticky. Very sticky. And any foundation you put on top of it is staying in place. It is thee until you take it off. Of course the better your foundation the better it looks for a long time. This sample size always goes into my travel bag because it never fails that someone will need a primer and I can hand the sample size off. I keep the full size at home because some how the samples never get returned to me. It is a really good long wear primer.
This is a long time favorite and one i have used many tubes of over the years. It has a slight tannish pink tone to it that takes down any redness I have. It has a light glow that isn’t too much, even under an illuminating foundation and it is also moisturizing. In the summer i will generally wear it on it’s own when I want a no makeup day, but because of the moisturizing element it really sines once the weather cools down. when my skin is leaning into the dry side, this is just a beautiful primer to reach for.
Okay this is one of those primers that looks beautiful in the bottle, feels good on the skin and looks fantastic under makeup. It blurs the pores just a it claims and gives a light illumination to the skin. It is a bit on the pricy side but it you are looking to splurge on a makeup item this is well worth the splurge. it is a fantastic primer.
And after much deliberation, those are my top five primers this year. there were many others that I like and as soon as I see the list typed up on the screen I have at least three more popping in that I could easily have added. There were a lot of forgettable primers but even more good ones. But in the end, these are my five favorite and the ones I reached for the most this year.
If you have followed my posts for any length of times then you probably know two things about me. (you probably know more, but we’ll go with two for now.) I love primers and I don’t like to look too glowy. I think there is a point where glowy looks just greasy, especially on me. Some people can pull it off, I am not one of them. It drives me a little crazy.
I do like a little bit of illumination underneath my foundation though as i think it does help make the more matte foundations look a little less mask like. Finding that balance often makes me feel a bit like Goldilocks. This Dr. Brandt Luminizer Primer actually strikes a good balance for me. It brings the glow, but it is so much more than just the glow.
It is from the Pores No More Line of Dr. Brandt products. I’ve tried several products from this line in the past and in fact have a cleanser from the line slated to start after my current cleanser is finished. All of the products I have tried from this line I have really enjoyed. So before I started, this I had high expectations.
And spoiler alert, this primer met and even exceeded my expectations.
The scent of this primer lets you know it comes from a skin care brand. It very much has that skincare/makeup combo scent to it. I actually like that scent but I just don’t have a better description for it. There is squalene listed in the ingredients list and I think that is part of the skincare scent, at least it is similar enough to many other squalene based products I’ve tried that it is the scent I associate with squalene. I’ve never actually scented squalene on it’s own.
According to the description on the website…
pores no more® LUMINIZER PRIMER is a lightweight silky cream that creates a glowing, flawless complexion with or without makeup, blurs the look of pores and imperfections, provides a smooth canvas for seamless long-wear foundation application. For clients concerned with enlarged pores, lack of radiance, skin color and texture imperfections. All skin types.
The cream of this primer is slightly tinted which helps with the blurring of the pores. And it does blur the pores really well. The slight tint is also really good at taking down slight redness and uneven skin tone. It isn’t a thick coat, it is a subtle shift. I don’t have the red of rosatia to my skin, just a slight ruddiness I like to blend out when putting on makeup . For me this worked really well. It also covered the slightly darker spots on my skin as well. For me it was all I needed at the moment. I wanted it to mostly blur out the pores which it did well. In essence this primer provides a really good neutral base on which to put your makeup.
Which let’s face it, is mostly the point of primer. So job well done.
One extra benefit I noticed was that there was not a lot of clogged pores with this primer. While I tend to only wear makeup for about six to eight hours a day, during the holidays all of my makeup wear time gets extended. This primer was able to go under long wear foundation, and look beautiful well past the length of time i usually wear my makeup. So I was well pleased with this Dr. Brandt Luminizer Primer and will happily continue to wear it.
I love primers. I put them under every foundation and when i don’t feel like wearing foundation, I apply the prime and then dust with powder and call it good. As strange as it seems this is my actual favorite category of makeup. However I also have a habit of just putting primers i don’t like in the drawer. Unless they break me out or cause a major skin irritation, I will keep them around hoping that this next time they will work better.
While I knew there were a lot of them, after I cleared out the foundations yesterday it made the primers look that much more out of control so I went ahead and dove into the primers. It felt really good to clear things out and to be honest, I may just start my end of year declutter now. I’m sure I’ll do another one just before new years, but at least a preliminary purge is long over due. so let’s get started.
First up we have three primers I have never used.
Two of them were actually still sealed and one I think I opened to see the consistency but never used. These three are staying and I will try them out to see if i like them. Then they may or may not stay.
So on to the primers I have tried. First up we have two sample sizes. The first is the YSL Touch Eclat Blur Primer. I really love this primer. I know it looks like there is half a sample left but it is not. When you open the cap and take the wand out the product level drops to almost nil and is really hard to get out with the wand. I really like this primer and even though it is expensive, it is one that I will be adding to my collection. In truth the only reason that I kept it in the drawer was to remind me of how much i like it and to remind me to order a full size once i had whittled down my primers to a more respectable level. I really like this primer, bit this almost completely empty sample needs to go.
The second sample size leaving me is the Unicorn Glow long wear primer. This sample is alas empty. However it too is in the drawer because I want to purchase it in the full size. It is less costly than the YSL. It is only $12 retail for the full size (as opposed to YSL’s $57). It blurs well and does extend the life of the makeup worn over it. It is a very good primer actually.
The next two primers I am getting rid of because they simply don’t suit me. The Ciate Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer is far too hydrating for my skin. The watermelon scent is lovely and it feels great against the skin but my skin is not dry enough for this primer. It is simply too moisturizing.
The Rodial Glass primer is also quite hydrating but to be completely honest it is the smell of the primer that is causing me to pass it on to a friend of mine. It is good, but it has a very menthol scent to it. If the scent dissipated quickly then I would be okay with it, but the scent lingers and I do not like the scent of menthol. Plus it is very hydrating and so it is getting passed along.
And then we have the primers that have expired. First up is the Stila Sheer Illumination Lingerie Soufflé Primer. This primer is no longer made and I don;t think it has been for quite some time. I loved it and it is down to just a film of product on the inside of the glass. I honestly kept it because I liked the container and not because there was any usable product in it. I don;t think I have actually opened the jar in 2 years let alone used what I’m sure was expired product two years ago. I just really like the jar. I will either send it to the rubbish bin or I will wash it out and use it for something else. To be honest I actually have a small succulent that might do well in this jar and look lovely in the sun room. Wheter the jar is reused or thrown away it very much needs to leave my makeup collection.
The LYS Serum Gripping Primer is not a very old product. It was an okay primer that felt like a serum but didn’t really do much gripping. It was more of a hydrating serum that was supposed to have skin care benefits. It had more use as skincare than it did as a primer to be honest. And when I went to test it before deciding to keep or get rid of, the formula had already separated. And so into the trash it goes.
Sadly the elf puff puff primer is also expired and separated. It was a really good primer and I am sad that it got buried and forgotten. I enjoyed using it and found it soothing to the skin. It was an excellent primer to wear after too much sun or if you were suffering from windburn. It is a cannabis sativa infused primer and it was just fantastic with any kind of skin irritation i had.. At some point i will repurchase this primer. My go to for Elf is the Elf putty primer. however i did finish that prime up and have not yet picked up a replacement. I meant to and probably will soon but the number of primers i had on hand made me restrain myself from repurchasing it. However it is a fabulous primer that i highly reccomend.
And finally in the expired category is the Too Faced Hangover Replenishing primer. I received this in a subscription box and I was very happy to get the chance to try it. Everyone raved about it and how fabulous it was. To me it felt like a light weight moisturizer but not a primer. But any time i looked it up everyone was saying fabulous things about it. So I held onto it thinking that if i kept trying it maybe I would see what the big deal about it was. And then after a while i stopped trying it. I think the issue is simply skin type. It may be fabulous for some but i really think that it is a product that works best with dry skin. I you have dry skin then using this to hydrate before applying makeup may help. For me it did nothing. I should have realized that in time to pass it on, but alas I did not.
And now, for the ones I am keeping. Some of these are not going to be a surprise. I have both the Liquid Silk Canvas and the Protective Silk Canvas balm Primer from Tatcha. I love both of them. I prefer the balm. It is hands down my all time favorite primer. It makes my skin look and feel good. I like the Liquid Silk canvas and while I have the travel size I will be ordering the full sized when it is empty. I do like the balm version just a little bit better though, but it is really a personal formula prefrence as they are both fantastic.
The Glamglow Super Matifying Primer is also one I am keeping in my collection. i like the primer and I like the way it works with my skin. However the packaging is really bulky and for the size of the packaging (and the price) there is not a lot of product in the container. I am about halfway through the container and I will finish it out. As much as I do like it, I probably won’t repurchase it. It is fantastic with oil control and makes a great summertime primer, but there just isn;t that much product in the package so I don’t personally feel it is worth the cost.
The Yensa Tone Up Essential Glow Primer and the Touch in sol No Poreblem primers are two that have been in my collection for ever. I have repurchased these two primers repeatedly. They are also the two i will reach for if i don;t actually feel like actually wearing any makeup. they have a slight pink tint to them which blends out with my skin and blurs the pores without looking like i have anything on. then I’ll add a little powder to control the shine and consider it job done. I really enjoy both of these products and like i said before i have lost count of the number of times I have repurchased them over the years.
If I am looking for a primer that will grip my makeup through anything that comes my way I go for the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer. through various subscriptions I have gotten so many samples of this primer that i have never had to pick up a full size. This is the last of the samples i have though so once it is gone i will be getting the full sized version. It has a clear gel like texture so it works with any skin type and it locks makeup down tight. if I have to wear my makeup for longer than usual, this is my primer.
The Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Primer does exactly what it says. It smooths out your skin and leaves it ready for makeup. I really like the pore blurring nature of this formula. It actually has a texture very much like the Stila primer that I loved so much so it shouldn;t be a surprise I like this one.
Even though Marc Jacobs is no longer making makeup I do like this Undercover primer. it smooths and fills pores well. It is unfortunately no longer being made so I will use up my tube and let it go. But it will be nice while it lasts.
The OleHenriksen banana bright Primer is a classic and one that i will always keep around. It is especially useful for brightening the skin in the winter when i tend to look a little dried out and dull. It is one of the few hydrating primers that i really love. Perhaps it is because it focuses more on brightening.
And finally we come to the last primer currently in my collection. It is the Figs and Rouge Blurring Primer. I think it would be best to say that i am keeping it for now. It isn’t my favorite, but i want to play around with it a bit more before passing final judgement on it. And so for now it stays.
And there we have the primer declutter. I’m sure as i test out the three new ones and continue using them that more will end up empty and a few more will leave me before the year is out. But for now i am much happier now that i have eliminated some of the products from my drawer. Plus it gave me a bit of a chance to talk about primers. Hopefully you enjoyed it as well.
I’ll be the first to admit that eyeshadow primers are not an everyday item for me. I only use them on occasion and truthfully if I reach for them it is because the eyeshadow i am using is giving me trouble and I think it might help.
I am in a position where spending more than a regular workday in makeup is a rarity for me. I work from home and while I do put makeup on for video meetings, thankfully the lure of zoom has fade so most of my calls have gone back to the phone. When I do have an in person meeting I dress, go the meeting and then change when I get home. If my makeup fades after that, i am good. Again if i go out it is usually after a day of working at home and so I don’t have to go from an office look to a going out look, I simply get ready to go out.
angled wand
All of which means that I don’t often need to extend the wear of my makeup. However there are some eyeshadow formulas that simply work better with a base underneath them. It takes out the color of any veins in your eyelids and creates a single color for the shadows to adhere to and pop,
I also have to admit that for me, I will often use concealer a an eyeshadow base if I need one, rather than pick up an independent eyeshadow primer. The reason is shin tone. Typically my concealers are chosen to be slightly lighter than my skin tone. This also helps them blend in. With the Sandbar Long wear Eyeshadow Primer, I was worried that as it was a white formula it would stick out more.
And to be honest it does. Not as much as I feared and not to an unworkable degree, but it does make the lids whiter than the rest of my skin. To combat this I am careful where I apply it and make sure that I only put it where the eyeshadow will cover. which sounds like common sense but I am less careful with my concealer as eyeshadow prime approach.
the eyeshadow primer on my hand
The Sandbar primer comes with a doe foot. It is angled, which helps but it is also flat which is less help on the eyelid with the round eyeball underneath. Using the applicator to apply it completely gets a bit messy. I found it easier to dab it onto the eyelid and then use a finger to spread it around. It is a somewhat dry formula but it spreads easily enough and dries down fairly quickly. There is a slight tackiness to it at first, but that goes away as it dries down and sets. It is the sort of primer that provides a flat even color base against which the shadow can be placed.
blended out and dried. Still paler than my skin but not as noticeable
If you have a lot of veins showing in your lids, this is great for you. I found several shadows where application over a bare eyelid produced a patchy result, but over the Sandbar primer were less patchy. I didn’t see it extending the look of any of my shadows, but as I said before I often don’t need my makeup to last too long. I think if you are looking for shadow life extension then you might want to go with a product that has a little more stickiness to it.
The strength of this product is creating a smooth colorless base for the shadows to sit on top of. In this, it excels. It is a good product. I have several shadows that apply slightly patchy without a primer, but better with. Their colors are nice enough that I want to keep them around. For this purpose I would keep this primer around. This is it’s strong suit.
Does it perform this role better than other eyeshadow primers I have tried? No. Does it perform this role better than any concealers I’ve tried? Not really. The Sandbar Longwear Eyeshadow Primer is a good eyeshadow primer but it isn’t a really great eyeshadow primer. I will use it while it is here, but i see no reason to repurchase this over any other product i would use for the purpose of eyeshadow primer.
I have been a big fan of the Tatcha Silk Canvas primer for a while. It is a balm type primer and in addition to making my makeup last longer and look great, it also makes my skin feel good both while wearing it and after removal. With my last Tatcha order I received a sample of the Liquid version of this primer and I tried it out. As the sample was a foil packet, the product was enough to interest me, but not enough to let me know if I would actually enjoy this primer for a longer period of time.
Plus with foil packets I find my use is never how I would normally use it. Sometimes I over use a product because I don’t want to make a mess with an open foil packet. Plus they are a bit unwieldy so sometimes product is just wasted. Luckily for me, Tatcha has this primer in a travel size. Since I also wanted to try out the Silk Powder for longer than the foil packet allowed I also picked up the travel size of the loose powder. But that is another story.
primer applied where it is most needed
This was an interesting primer to use. I couldn’t help but compare it to the balm style. Which is both understandable and a little silly. The silly part is that balms should be compared to balms and liquids to liquid. The understandable part is that they are from the same brand and are pretty much the same product in different formats.
This primer has the same scent as the balm version which is a slightly floral, slightly skin care kind of scent. It is light and it fades out fairly quickly so it isn’t much of an issue for the scent minded. I think the scent is slightly lighter in the liquid version than the balm, but that could also be a factor of format. when you open the balm, the entire pan is exposed and scent wafts up, whereas with the pump you only smell the scent of the small amount you pump out of the bottle.
I found one pump was enough for me. since my largest pores are my noes and cheeks I tend to apply the most product there and then blend outwards towards other areas. Also my nose is where I tend to lose makeup first so a little extra primer keeps it more in sync with the rest of the wear on my face.
primer blended out. slightly mattifying in nature
It is quite liquid when dispensed. It isn’t runny but it is liquid. I knew it was because it is a liquid primer, but the scent hit me first and my brain thought of the other primer so it seemed surprising at first. What was interesting was that once applied, it simply smoothed over the face like a slightly lighter version of the balm. It almost stiffened up with air and skin contact.
It was almost like they made it just liquid enough to be able to smoothly come out of the pump before it did it’s best to turn from liquid to balm. It didn’t quite get there but it did it’s best.
Beautifully. It is a great product. It performed just as well as the balm version. It applied easily, made my makeup last longer and made my skin feel great. To be honest, the only real difference I found between the two is the fact that one is a solid and the other is a liquid. They are both fabulous products and if you are looking to choose between them then the only thing you need to think about is whether or not you prefer your primer in liquid or balm format. The liquid is quick and easy to grab in the mornings when you are rushed, but if you are traveling the balm won’t spill because it is a solid. There are benefits to both so it is just going to come down to personal preference. I will still use the travel size off and on because I am curious to see how long it will last. After two weeks of dedicated use it is still more than halfway full. I will add it into rotation and use every last drop before a refill is purchased.
I love primers. I know I have talked about them a lot. Perhaps i spent too much time with the oil paints but i do love the idea of prepping the canvas of my face before applying the paint of my makeup. For me a good primer can take out some of the redness or unevenness of the skin tone so that you have to use less concealer. It can help blur out the look of pores and it can extend the life of the rest of my makeup.
For me using a good primer means I have to use less concealer and less foundation, which helps those products last longer in the bottle. It also keeps the makeup on my face lighter and in many cases it enhances the look of the foundation. If it is an overly matte foundation, put an illuminating primer underneath. Love the foundation but know it has a tendency to dry you out? how about a highlighting primer. Notice that this particular foundation has the habit of sinking into fine lies towards the end of the day? Why not go with a porefilling primer underneath?
please ignore the multitude of bug bites. I sprayed everything with bug spray except my hands before I went watering in the garden.
A good primer can not only even out your skin tone and get you ready for the rest of your makeup but it can form a power couple with your foundation making good products even better. Of course it can also go horribly wrong if a couple is just not meant to be.
This particular primer is the Unicorn Glow Long Wear Primer. It is…”Formulated with skin loving ingredients, this nourishing primer instantly creates a smooth glowing canvas for flawless long-lasting make up while providing coverage for fine lines and pores.”
My version is a sample sized tube that I think was paired with something else I ordered from IPSY a while back. I think I specifically ordered the other item and then just put this in the drawer because it was a duo. I took it out of the drawer as I am attempting to use up a lot of my sample sized products and see if they are worth picking up as a full size. I suspected this would only last a few days. However the tube was chock-a-block full and not a lot of product is needed for each application. In fact you shouldn’t use too much of this.
When dispensed the primer looks really light and I was concerned the color would be light on the skin. The color fades away as you blend it out across the skin. I chose to use the small dots across the face for my application of this because it helped ensure i didn’t apply too much. The Unicorn Glow Primer is a thinner consistency than many primers, almost the level of a water cream. Maybe slightly thicker. if used sparingly it blended in beautifully and looked great. It had a slightly sticky texture which I like for holding on to makeup longer. Apply too much product and it takes a while to absorb and can look a little oily. So when applying start sparingly and then add more on the spots you think might need more attention.
It did a pretty decent job of minimizing fine lines. It wasn’t the best for pore filling, but the fine lines it really seemed to work well in covering, especially the ones around my eyes. It is slightly hydrating but despite the name Unicorn Glow, it is not a glowy/dewy/illuminating primer. I didn’t have a problem with any of the foundations i paired it with and will happily keep this tube in rotation until it is empty. which may take a lot longer than I anticipated. Just remember to give it a minute to settle in (which is good advice for almost every primer) and it will work well covering up fine lines. This Unicorn Glow Long Wear primer retails for $12 and I will definitely consider picking up a full sized tube when i next look to buy primers.
If you’ve read my posts for any length of time you know that I am a huge fan of primers. Perhaps it is a hold over from my art days but I like the thought of prepping the canvas before applying the paint. Or my face before the makeup.
In general I go for pore filling primers. The older I get the more I find that the blurring and pore filling primers not only blur and fill pores, but they conceal the fine lines that my skin care is currently battling to defend against.
I also find that primers can do a lot more. an illuminating primer can give you a lit from within glow or it can add depth and dimension to a matte foundation, making it look less mask like and more like real skin. Some primers have skincare benefits to them now so I like to think of it as an extra layer of protection between the skin and potentially pore clogging makeup.
Discover a radiant glow with Rodial’s Glass Primer, a sheer formula that promotes a flawless, glass-skin effect. Boasting ultra-hydrating ingredients, the primer utilises light-scattering technology, packed with microscopic glow spheres to help illuminate the complexion.
The lightweight formula is enriched with crambe abyssinica seed oil, seeking to leave the complexion feeling supple and soft. A multi-tasking hero, the nourishing primer can be worn beneath makeup or alone for a healthy-looking glow.
First off for those wondering crambe abyssinica seed oil …
is both hydrating and protective, with a velvety, non-greasy texture. An active lubricant and emollient, it is a natural alternative to mineral oils and silicones, promoting soft skin and a protective barrier to prevent skin dryness. For hair – it restores shine and gloss, conditions hair and reduces breakages.
I’m okay with skin softening benefits. I’m not entirely certain what the light scattering technology is but I know how it looks on the skin. We’ll get to that in a second.
When dispensed the primer is a light tan. The tan fades so it can be worn by all skin tones. what is more prevalent than it’s color is the scent. It is a very menthol scented primer. There is no getting around it. It smells like menthol. It is strong when you first apply it and even though it fades a little as you wear it, all day you will turn around and catch a faint scent of menthol. It is with you as long as this product is with you.
The right side of the picture has the primer on it but the left side does not (I put primer on half my face – a little more than half on my nose) The light source is directly in front of me it is much more visible on my cheeks than it is anywhere else if you are looking to zoom in.
On the skin it gives you a bit of a rainbow hue. I am guessing this is the light scattering technology at work. It feels nourishing. It is brightening and there is some pore blurring. It is mostly brightening.
While it claims it can be worn alone, I would at least put some powder over it. When worn under a foundation it just gives a soft glow to the skin. Without foundation, it has an odd rainbow look to it that I just can’t get past.
I do like this but when I wear it, I generally avoid highlighters as they are relatively pointless. The primer keeps light focused on the high points of the face. There is no need to add a highlighter if you are after a subtle glow-y look. If you want a brighter section it is easier to add just a tiny drop of this primer over the foundation in the high points of your face instead of reaching for a separate highlighter. However I may feel that way because I don’t have a highlighter that has the same tones as this primer, so I felt that not only was the highlighter excessive, but is sort of clashed with the primers highlighting tones. If you have a highlighter that is in the blue/purple range, it might work out better for you. The straight up silvery highlights as well as the more gold toned ones just looked wrong with this primer.
So in my opinion it would be better to just use a smidge of this primer in lieu of highlighter if you need a highlight. I personally thought that the primer was enough. It caught the light where I wanted it to in just the right ways.
In general I really did enjoy this Rodial Glass Skin Primer and will continue using it. My one issue is the scent. The menthol is strong and it lasts as long as the product lasts. Since this primer lasts all day (and was really good at extending the length of time my makeup could be worn) that means a full day of menthol. I never really got used to that during my trial. While it is a good product, I will have to see how often I reach for it now that the trial is through and how often I decide not to use it just because of the scent before I can decide if i would repurchase. If you are looking for an illuminating primer that does not look greasy and lasts all day, this would be a good one to try out. Just be aware of the menthol scent.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 