Benefit The Porefessional Primer

When it comes to my skin I will always claim that I was born a very unlucky child. I won't bore you with my long list of flaws (I wouldn't have enough battery life on my laptop), but believe me, I have my fair share of flaws.

Using foundations is a real challenge in itself, not only do I have to trawl the shops and online trying to find the perfect pale shade, it has to also last on oily skin. Oh, but that isn't all. I have extremely noticeable open pores. I guess it's like having puddles on my face.

I give you one guess to pick the most recommended product to disguise open pores. Yes, you've got it. The cult beauty product, the Benefit Porefessional Primer.

The lightweight, oil-free primer is designed to minimise the appearance of those mammouth pores when it’s either worn as a primer beneath makeup, where it creates a smooth canvas for foundation and powder, and/or applied on top of your face paint throughout the day, where it softens the skin with a matte finish.

Not one to go on about my pale skin, of course, I was a little worried of the primers brown tint. Despite its appearance, it appears fully translucent once applied, and blended very easily and dried in no time.

(Swatched)

(Blended)

The lemony floral scent can at first seem quite overpowering, but once it had dried I didn't notice the scent once. Overall though, it smells really nice so wouldn't have minded if it had lasted the whole day. But, scents are personal.

The product does contain silicones, so if you like Smashbox Photofinish Primer like me, then you’ll probably love how The Porefessional feels on your skin. The Porefessional has a silky, lotion-like texture you get with a lot of products that contain silicone. Often with silicone based products it can feel like you're wearing a mask, but it didn't feel any different to my product free skin.

The tube packaging makes this very easily to dispense you're required amount without wasting the product. Word of advice though, dispense many small amounts instead of few large amounts. This way you don't use to much and don't clog up the nozzle.

Didn't I notice a difference? Yes, the size of my pores had visibly reduced which I was chuffed with. The only criticism is that this primer does not leave me oil-free as a lot of my other favourite primers do. I guess I have to choose which I would prefer on the day.

The Benefit Porefessional Primer isn't cheap at £23.50, but if a primer creates the flawless foundation base it could well be worth it.

Anyone found the dream product for large pores?

xox


No7 Shine Free Primer

As someone who is never satisfied I decided to take a break from my Smashbox Primer and started my quest to find a primer just as good but also cheaper and more easily accessible for myself.

 

Without a shadow of doubt, Boots was going to be my destination for mission primer. After perusing the aisles I came across this one, the No7 Shine Free Primer.

 

As someone who regularly bores you about my oily skin this sounded like the perfect product for myself.

 

 No7 claim that this primer will 'Keep shiny skin under control all day long, with this mattifying oil-free base. Light reflecting particles help disguise fine lines and flaws, while oil absorbing Biopol helps minimise blemishes and blot away shine without blocking pores. Contains watermelon and cucumber extracts to help soothe and cool your skin. Formulated to be non-pore blocking. Hypo-allergenic'.

 

The helpful lady at the No7 counter recommended that I pat this on, or at least glide it on, as opposed to rubbing it on. I followed her advice, and tried all other techniques possible when applying a primer.

 

After trialling various techniques, foundations and moisturisers with this product I have come to the conclusion that this does not do anything it claims to do!

 

When applying it was sticky, thick and has a consistency almost clay-like. If that wasn't off-putting enough it smelt like PVA glue. Every time I tried applying this I was left with lumps of product just sitting on my skin and the areas I did manage to spread onto my skin just sat very visibly on the skin. Once I had applied a foundation on top it looked even worse, it looked like my skin was flaking all over.

 

As for my already visible pores, they seemed to appear even larger with this product. Rather than gliding over them and hiding the appearance they just sat around them making them the focal point of my face.

 

The staying power is incredible, but then again this is something I would expect of clay-like product. If they managed to create a product which did leave a satiny feel on the skin it would be amazing. However, I would never use this product again!

 

If I did have to pick something I liked about this product then it would be the packaging. It's practical and not too fancy.
 

 

I think it's fairly obvious that I will not be purchasing this primer again. Perhaps the saying is true, you get what you pay for?

 

Any of you know a good primer at an affordable price?

 

xox



Priming the Canvas

It's fair to say that the majority of us want flawless looking skin. The one thing that I've realised is that, this is never going to happen to me without using a primer.

I've been quite reluctant to use primers in the past just because I hate using too many products on my already very blemished skin. However, I've decided to give a primer a go.

After spending a lot of time searching for products and reading reviews I decided to purchase... Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I admit it is a bit of a mouthful.

I decided on this primer because it is a celebrity in the beauty world, so to speak. It's won various awards for InStyle, Marie Claire and Sephora, just to name a few.

Does it live up to the hype?

Photo Finish Primer comes in a variety of forms, including, clear, colour correcting, light version and anti-shine.

The aspect that I like about this primer is that it includes Vitamin A and E, as well as Grape Seed Extract and Green Tea Extract.

I'm very fussy when it comes to the texture of products, however I liked this one. It comes out of the tube gel-like, but once applied to the skin it mattes and becomes velvet-like. It glides on to the skin very easily and does not feel greasy.

Similarly to other primers on the market it helps reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles, helps conceal pores and makes the application of foundation easier. It also helps the foundation to look more flawless.

This little wonder product costs £30 and can be bought from a number of places, I got mine from Debenhams. Although this product isn't cheap, it will last an incredibly long time as a little really does go a long way.

This is one of my favourite products as I really can't fault it.

Do you use a primer and if so, which one?

xox