Best primer for its $
15
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Sep 27, 2010
Elize M.
My e.l.f mineral face primer works fabulous! At $6 its worth it. It leaves a nice, smooth finish to start your makeup application all while keeping your oil/shine undercontrol and makeup on all day. Only down fall is the amount. :(
Sep 27, 2010
Victoria S.
That sounds great Elize! Can I tempt you to write a review about it? :) Let's spread the love!
http://www.beautylish.com/p/elf-studio-mineral-face-primer
Sep 28, 2010
Tamara R.
The only primers that have ever actually worked well over time is MAC's Prep & Prime SPF50 & Korres Vitamin E. It's strange, generally I don't use primers because most of them will work once or twice.. then my skin just gets obnoxiously oily. So with those two exceptions, I don't bother with face primer very often.
Neither are particularly great values (but you get get free samples of both), but I thought I'd put that out there as a person with combination-oily skin.
Sep 28, 2010
Elize M.
Tamara!!! You are fantastic. :) MAC prep and prime irritates my skin for some reason. Ive never tried Korres Vitamin E. Thanks for the suggestion. You should try the e.l.f one, its cheap enough to try it out, and it works well on me.. xox
Sep 30, 2010
Kathleen N.
I personally love using Dermalogica's Barrier Repair as primer underneath my makeup. My makeup stays put and my skin remains moisturized throughout the day.
Sep 30, 2010
Charm W.
I like ELFs face primer as well. It leaves the skin feeling silky smooth! Makeup seems to go on EXTRA flawless with this product.
Oct 19, 2010
Taryn L.
ok weird but I have used a TON of primers - some are better than others I guess - Laura Mercier makes a great primer BUT I have recently started using monistat anti-chaffing gel - just a dab on my face and it works just as well - I think I bought the tube at Walmart for like 7 bucks. It leaves your face super smooth. I have found that it works well with Maybelline's Smooth Mouse (not so well with Nars SheerGlow actually). Today my face is a tad red.
Oct 20, 2010
Meghan M.
MONISTAT CHAFING GEL...smashbox photo finish primer DUPE!
http://teaseandtweeze.blogspot.com/
Oct 28, 2010
Meko D.
I like Smashbox primers a lot, but Sephora's are just as good and half the price
Nov 4, 2010
Lena N.
hope this video helps you all!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC8cnRUJ9Kw
Nov 4, 2010
Ashley A.
loreal studio secrets is a decent drugstore primer
Dec 23, 2010
Hanh M.
i <3 Loreal Studio Secrets Base! It does a great job at covering my pores and filling in any lines and still leaving it matte. Also i <3 ELFs Primer The texture is different but does its job AS for high End, Laura Mercier ;)
Dec 23, 2010
Yasmin K.
Ugh! L'Oreal's Studio Secrets base is junk for me. It feels so nasty and it felt like I was putting candle wax on my face. I had to return it to the store because it also made my foundation cake up. You're lucky that it works well for you. I rather spend the $10 on Hard Candy's primer ($6 or $8 off hand can't recall the exact price) or on Rimmel London's primer, both work really nice for "drugstore" bands.
On the high end... I like Tarte's primer (got a sample of it from Sephora).
Dec 23, 2010
Andrea F.
I agree with you about Studio Secrets, Yasmin! I was excited to try it out but the way it felt was really gross. I usually like the silicone smooth primer kind of feel but that primer didn't feel like that at all. It was like greasy and didn't help my foundation one bit!
Anyways, my absolute favorite primer ever is Smashbox's Photo Finish. They have small sizes for cheap so I'd suggest trying it out. It's great stuff. :) Laura Geller's face spackle is a good and unique product as well.
Dec 23, 2010
Yasmin K.
Andrea F. - someone listed this above don't know about you but I'm willing to try. Smashbox Photo Finish Primer dupe MONISTAT CHAFING GEL.
Dec 23, 2010
Misty H.
Smashbox is my go to primer, but I am so gonna go get some Monistat chafing gel tonight and try it out.
Dec 23, 2010
Andrea F.
Yeah, I've heard about that too! I've been meaning to test it out :)
Dec 23, 2010
Taryn L.
I used the Monistat for a while, but it caused my face to turn red a bit at the end of the day. I continue to go back to my Laura Mercier Primer - love.it! Lots of people like the oil-free but I have super dry skin so that isn't a problem - I need OIL lol
Dec 30, 2010
Susana E.
I love the Body Shop Primer in Matte...leaves skin so silky <3 When I bought it with all the discounts I got..(birthday and 10% plus 50%off holidays sell) I got mine for $2 but it originally cost $14..but I will buy it again
http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/prod4870046;jsessionid=vM7LgihFuQDBLgM+ieb49w**.bsbwilapp04-bsprd-app-101?cm_sp=OnsiteSearch-_-primer-_-Skin_Primer_Matte_It
Dec 30, 2010
Yasmin K.
^ LOL - Now that's a great steal! I LOVE sales plus any other discount I can use!
Dec 31, 2010
VividFusion B.
I've always been curious to try the Monistat... however i just can't wrap my head around the idea :S
I always us Smashbox Photofinish Primer in Light because of my oily skin.
I have also tried Coverfx Clear prep and love it as well :)
Dec 31, 2010
Nancy-Lee C.
My fave is NARS (both primers, for face and eye). Smashbox did not work for me, too greasy, and Bare Minerals / Essentials only made my makeup run off my face. The NARS products are worth their weight in gold.
And ladies, srsly? monistat? i'll keep it in my pants not on my face tyvm. LOL.
Dec 31, 2010
Andrea F.
Yeah, monistat. It's the same formula, has the same stuff as face primers. Haha
Dec 31, 2010
Serplia M.
man i dont get a lot of elf products over here where i live
Dec 31, 2010
Shelly T.
@Nancy-Lee ~ Yes. Seriously. Monistat Chafing Gel has many of the same ingredients that a lot of primers have. And, if you think about it, how is using Monistat on your face any different from using Preparation-H to get rid of under-eye bags? (Just saying. ;))
@Serplia ~ You can order e.l.f. products online; I believe they ship everywhere.
My go-to is still Smashbox Photo Finish Light. However, I've recently ordered a travel size MUFE HD primer to try out and see how it works.