Monday, December 20, 2010

Best of 2010 - Face Primers


Hi ladies! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know some of you were probably out hitting the malls for some last minute shopping (I know I was!) and I hope you are now on vacation! Christmas is SO close I can't believe it - I hope I'm prepared! haha

As it is so close to the end of the year, I am doing some posts about my favourites of 2010! This post will round up my favourite facial primers - yes I said primer-s, there is more than one! ;)

Honestly, I only really started using primers this year. I have really oily skin and always found that even though primers said they were mattifying, they weren't. I would end up an oily mess by the end of the day or worse they would make me completely break out! So, the above picture is of all the primers I have accumulated this year from left to right: Tarte ReCreate Primer, CoverFX Skin Prep, Fusion Beauty Acne Control Primer, CoverFX Clear Prep, Clinique Pore Minimizer, Hard Candy Sheer Envy. I'm only going to show my favourites on this post! :)


First up is CoverFX Clear Prep. This is not only a foundation primer but an anti-acne treatment as well! Thats honestly what sold me on this product (and the sales girl at Murale said it was amazing!). This has a clear, super smooth texture - much like other silicone primers, but much lighter. It sinks into the skin and doesn't feel like there is anything on your face (bonus for us oily girls!). This also has really helped with my complexion and my skin looks much clearer (with continued use, like any skin care product!) The more I use this, the more I love it! I actually also use this at night as an acne treatment. It keeps me matte and fresh while fighting blemishes and I don't wake up with an oil slick on my face! As a primer this also works great! My foundation glides on much smoother and wears a lot longer than without primer!


Next up is Fusion Beauty Prime Results Acne Control Primer. The best invention of 2010 has got to be these anti-acne primers! This is Fusion Beauty's contender and it is a great one! This primer has a lotion-like texture as opposed to a silicone and sinks into skin very easily and completely. It has a yellow tint to counteract redness (from acne), which really does calm down the face! It contains salicylic acid and other known anti-acne properties and calming ingredients. Depending on the kind of texture I want on my face that particular day, I waver between both of these primers pretty much equally! They are both amazing options for oily or acne-prone skin! (Oh and did I mention both Canadian brands?!)


Last, but CERTAINLY not least is Clinique Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector. This is a much smaller tube than other primers on the market and is also a little different than regular primers. I like to think of this as a spot treatment or "spackle" for the face. It fills in pores like NOTHING else! I only use this around my nose and maybe my forehead to camouflage large pores and control shine. Instead of rubbing this onto the skin, you "pat" it on to fill in pores. This makes my face look absolutely flawless and keeps shine at bay all day. I usually use this over top of one of my other primers because they don't do as good of a job of filling in pores. You can use this over makeup as well, like a finishing powder - which I regularly do! If you have medium/large pores this is a must!


These are swatches of my three go-to primers! Left to right: Clinique Pore Minimizer, Fusion Beauty Acne Control Primer and CoverFX Clear Prep. As I hope you can see, the Clinique is more of a "balm" consistency that is a dry finish. The Fusion is a very light lotion and the CoverFX is a clear silicone feel. 


These are the swatches spread onto my hand. Hopefully you can see how the consistency changes. The Clinique ends up being a complete "powder" feel, which I love! The other two soak completely into the skin with no tacky feel so they are lovely for oily skin! Overall, I'm so happy that these companies have come out with primers for acne-prone skin and oily skins! I hope there are more great ones coming up in the next year! What are your favourite primers? Do you use a primer?

9 comments:

Tracy D said...

Hi Shaylee...glad to see you took my idea and ran with it as well. I'll be curious to read about your favourites. Great post.

Unknown said...

Great post Shaylee!!! I have been on a primer kick lately, but am pretty new to primers. I MUST try that Clinique one and that Cover Fx ones both look amazing! I've been testing HC Sheer envy and it's great so far! :) xoxo!!! Great review! I look forward to more "best of" posts!!! ;)

Justine (Productrater) said...

I use mac prep and prime skin, or gosh velvet primer. I am kinda interested in the mufe green primer that is supposed to cancel out redness, I swatch it on my hand every time I am at sephora and think it does nothing though and it's $37. I have used the smashbox too and it's nice.

You didn't like the hard candy one?

yourstrulypam said...

I love your best of 2010 post. After reading about your best lip products, I literally drove one and a half hours to the closest Lush store near me and bought the lip scrub. Bought 4 of them. :) keep it coming because I enjoy reading them.

Gaby Fauchon said...

I have never used primer but it looks interesting. Thanks for this post Shaylee!

brownsmoke said...

great topic.. its always great when they are introduced like this.. gives me a much better idea of their differences. :D

i havent used a primer yet but been wanting to for a while..

have heard great stuff about coverfx [i have used their foundation and love it :D] .. but i cant decide what i wanna get when i go out .. should i get coverfx or clinique.. maybe coverfx since it looks better in ur swatch :D

CleverRabbit said...

Ooo! Blemish fighting primers. Now that's an idea. I might have to try some of these. Maybe cover fx. Thanks for the great round-up!
x

clever-rabbit.blogspot.com

o said...

thanks for your review! I'm always looking for trying new primers!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for this! I have oily skin and am always looking for The best primer out there! I have been using a few different ones but none that have acne-fighting ingredients! I can't wait to try these and I LOVE that you have shown some Canadian Brands!
<3 Product HoarderMary
http://producthoarder.blogspot.com