The best and worst of my primers

I have talked quite a lot about primers in my previous posts, since I really do believe that they make a difference to a) what your skin will look like with foundation and b) how good it’s going to wear throughout the day. I have included some primers in my recent favorites as well, so go check those out if you are interested. 

 

So currently, I have quite a few primers that I use on a regular basis. I thought that the best way to go about this is from my least favorite to my personal favorite primer, something that we already did with mascaras (click here and here to view those posts).

6^th place:  MONU First Defence Illuminating primer with SPF 15

I got the deluxe sample of this primer in the Look Fantastic Beauty Box and I’m almost out of it. It says it’s suitable for all skin types, but I feel that he is somewhat responsible for the breakouts I’ve been having recently. It’s also quite drying, which could be expected for a mattifying primer, but I feel that it sticks to the dry patches on my face a bit more and thus makes them even more apparent. I’ll give it a point for the SPF, but that’s about it. The full size costs a whooping 40 € of Feelunique website. 

5^TH place: New Baby Skin Instant Fatigue Blur (Warm Apricot)

 

First of all, I need to talk about the smell. It’s absolutely horrible, like the 1 € apricot ice cream you’d get from a store that had never seen a real apricot in its life, but had rather been smothered with tons of chemicals and additives. 

It is light orange in shade, so it’s supposed to really be color correcting and good at hiding your dark circles etc. I personally don’t see any difference in that area. Similar to the original Baby Skin primer, it’s silicone base so it does a good job at preparing your face for foundation, but really, it’s nothing special. You can get it from Asos for about 11 €. 

4^TH place: Bourjois Happy Light Matte Serum Primer

This primer has been a favorite of mine for quite some time, until it got cooler in the winter time. It says that it’s best for normal to combination skin, promises airbrush action and pore minimization  - which it really does. But in the winter, I felt that it really tug on my skin, which is probably due to the mattifying effect it promises. My foundation does look nicer and holds longer with this one, so I will not chuck it, but it’s certainly not one of my favorites. It sells on Lookfantastic for about 11 €.

3^RD place: Essence Brit-tea (Make tea not war)

This is the newest addition to my collection and as you can tell by its name, it was part of the Brit tea collection, which was in my opinion one of the prettiest of Essence so far. 

It is in reality an illuminating base, so you can either use it as a primer or mix it in with your foundation for some of that extra glow. I like how dewy my skin looks with this base, so I’d definitely say it’s summer appropriate. I believe it cost about 3 € in one of the Slovenian drugstores. 

2^ND place: Catrice Prime&Fine Pore Refining Anti-shine Base

This primer could also get a silver medal just for its long name :) It’s another mattifying primer, oil free, which – considering it is supposed to make your skin look matte – should not come as a surprise, really. It has no smell, which I highly appreciate. 

It does a very good job at priming the face and I actually also sometime use it on my make-up free days, just to give my skin a bit of evenness. I also picked up this one in a Slovenian drugstore for a couple of Euro. 

1^ST place: Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser

This, sadly, is still the best primer I’ve ever used to this date. Sadly because we can’t get it in Slovenia, meaning it has to be ordered from abroad. I’ve still got my stock from the USA, but I’d very much like it if they marked the products the same way we do in EU, to be honest. Below is an example of Baby Skin bought in USA and bought in Europe.

Anyway, I can tell this is a silicone based primer without seeing the ingredients, so if you’re sensitive to that, this is not the one for you. It will however make your skin feel incredibly even, fill in your pores and make your foundation look like a dream, which is why it is and will probably remain for some time my absolute favorite. They are right now on sale on Asos for about 8 €. 

What is your favorite primer? Are there any that a true primer junkie like me should try out?

Until next time, stay beautiful!