Let's talk about primer -
What does it do?
It does what it sounds; it primes your skin like we prime a wall before we paint. It smoothes your skin, makes your foundation stays put, acts as a barrier between your skin and make-up, and moisturizes your skin. Many of them even has UV protection to prevent sun damage.
How to pick a primer?
Depends on your skin type, you need to pick a primer that has enough coverage, but not too much that will cause break-out. As the primer "fill-in" the uneven surface on your skin, it might also block the oil from coming out of the pore, often that causes break-out. Picking the right type of primer will not only make your skin look better, it will prevent break-out, because it acts as a barrier preventing make-up getting into pore and becomes hard to clean.
Some primer that I have used and reviews -
Guerlain Meteorites Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer - ($66)
Joan recommended this one to me. I tried it and loved it. It's like a moisturizer acting like a primer as well. If you have a slightly bigger budget for a good primer, this one is a good choice.
Chanel Blanc Universal Sheer Illuminator - ($45)
Slightly less expensive than the one above. Chanel Blanc has more coverage than Guerlain primer; it is also thicker in texture. It's a white cream, so you don't need to use much because too much will make you look too pale. You can use a bit more on the darker areas on your face like under eye and corner of your mouths. It will give you a brighter and more youthful look. It really gives you a silky and milky skin. I also highly recommend it.
Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer - ($36)
This is a primer that I used for a few years already. It reduce the appearance of lines and redness. It also won a lot of make-up products awards from magazines and professional review sites. It is also pretty thick. Although it is not as thick as the chanel primer, it also only takes very small amount to cover the whole face. However, I do not recommend this product to people with oily skin. It's excellent for normal to dry skin QBs.
Shu Uemura UV Under Base - ($32)
Unlike the other primers, which are mostly liquid, gel or cream base, this primer is a 'mousse'. Yes, it's mousse, foam.. you get the idea. This is a very light weight primer, good for normal to oily skin. It is also good for summer time too. I will recommend to use sponge to apply it instead of using hands. Although the price tag is not the most expensive one, but the bottle is small and when it's over half way through the bottle, it becomes harder to get the foam/ mousse out. Then you get liquid instead of the nice foam. I guess it is a design flaw on the bottle. So, the bottom line is, it is probably the most expensive primer on this list.
Feel free to recommend other primers you know or use. Comments are welcomed and appreciated!!
