Do Primers Actually Work?

During my time working at SpaceNK I was often faced with the difficult task of explaining the purpose of a primer, justifying why it be such an essential purchase and how it can be fitted into a daily make up routine. Understandably many clients would respond with a dubious look feeling overwhelmed at one more product I insisted they needed as part of their routine and rightly so! The uninspiring response of “it makes your make up last longer” isn’t enough to rev up even the biggest beauty enthusiast, however, primers have since become a bit of a buzz word both in high end and high street beauty retailers and with advanced formulas and improved textures there really is a primer out there for everyone, so do they work? 

I say they do! In a nutshell, to me I like to think of primers being like the lingerie for your skin, they smooth, flatter, conceal and hold things in place so that everything you put on top looks immediately better. It’s main purpose is to prepare the skin for make up and eradicate any skin concerns making make up application easier and faster. They do what perhaps your skincare can’t do as quickly and help blur wrinkles, minimize the appearance of large pores, correct redness, boost radiance, hydrate, fight blemishes, make everything waterproof, add SPF...The list is becoming endless but you get my point there is a primer to cover any concern you may have as well as fulfill it’s original purpose of increasing the longevity of the make up and create a silky, smooth base.  As you can imagine primers make my job much easier especially if I am having to work quickly backstage or on a shoot as they will eradicate or conceal any imperfection on the skin instantly with little effort.

I’d say treat a primer like you would your skincare, your concerns will change so really look at your skin daily to establish what your skin lacks. I tend to reach for my Laura Mercier ‘Radiance’ Primer on a daily basis as I always love that dewy, healthy glow look but for nights out where I am prone to looking pretty shiny in photos I’ll use a primer with more of a silky texture, usually due to silicone and often found in ‘pore refining’ primers- these fill pores, smooth skin texture and also work really well to absorb shine, my favorites include Dr.Brandt ‘Pores no More’ and Benefit ‘The Porefessional’. 

Use your primer daily after applying your moisturizer, if you find your skin is increasingly shiny after adding a primer to your routine likelihood is it is providing enough moisture on it’s own and can replace a moisturizer either everyday or every other. 

Here are my top 5 Priming products, in no particular order, I use frequently both for myself and in my professional make up kit, Enjoy!

1.Laura Mercier ‘Radiance’ Primer

2.Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer

3.Dr.Brandt Pores No More

4.Benefit The Porefessional

5.Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer

Oh! I almost forgot EYE PRIMERS! They are brilliant if like me you have oily eye lids or use a lot of cream eyeshadow products to stop smudging and creasing. My all time favourite eye primer is the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base.

B x