Beauty Breakdown: Primers

Is it just me or are primers the new "cool kid" on the block when it comes to beauty products?

I feel like they're everywhere with everyone talking about them lately. It seems like every brand has their own must-have primer (or 2, Rimmel) and they all do different stuff for your face.

To be perfectly honest I got really tired of all the hype. I mean, it seems like everyone's praising primers but what difference do they really make?

Well, that's the question this post is meant to answer!

I dove right in and picked up some primers that caught my eye while at the drugstore...and a sample from Ulta because that little sucker's expensive just to try it.

I've been using the Rimmel Fix & Perfect for a while now but recently gave it up because like I said, what difference does it really make? So I put it up against some real contenders pictured above: Maybelline Baby Skin (aka the techy nerd turned cool kid), Rimmel Stay Matte Primer (every shiny forehead's worst enemy), and Benefit's the POREfessional (the primer Prom Queen)

Let's start out with the odd ball of the bunch

Maybelline Baby Skin: I have heard so much about this product even before it was available in the states so I was dying to get my hands on it when it landed at my local CVS. I seriously had no preconceptions about this product so I was honestly shocked when I squeezed the tube and found clear gel come out. What?! It was so cool. However, it got kinda weird when I went to put it on my face. 

Because it's clear you really can't tell where you're putting it on and the slick texture doesn't help that either as you get the product on your fingers and lose track of how much product is going where. 

While it took a minute to get over the strange texture the results I found around my t-zone helped speed up my decision making process a little more. This product claimed to have Blur Technology when it comes to hiding pores and I must say the word blur perfectly describes what occurs. It doesn't hide your pores but it does blur their appearance making large pores (like mine) practically disappear once foundation is applied! 

I'm giving this product a thumbs up simply because it blew my mind. While I probably won't use it all over my face it is definitely a product that comes in handy on those days that your pores look more like craters.

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro: Like I said before, I've been using this primer for a while now and really just use it as a base for my foundation as it does a pretty good job of smoothing things out. While this particularly product doesn't do much for my pores really I have been wanting to see how it would do combined with the Baby Skin product. Definitely something to try very soon!

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer: Rimmel just recently came out with a new range of Stay Matte foundations (which I also picked up) and I love their Stay Matte powders so much that I decided to give the primer in the range a shot too! Looking back on it now, I may have been swayed by the purple packaging because I have yet to see a real different between this and the Fix & Perfect. I will say that the Stay Matte is a thicker formula and does a better job at actually staying matte which is definitely a good thing but during these past few snow days I've found that it actually leaves my skin too matte so I'm definitely holding out to try this one out during the warmer spring and summer days. 

Also, I found that when I combined the primer and the foundation from this range it was way too drying, but definitely a match to try once those shiny spots caused my warmer days start appearing.

Benefit the POREfessional: This product was another bit of a surprise when I opened it as it was a nude color that really set it apart from the others. I think the color had a lot to do with how well this particular primer was able to hide imperfections as it hides pores insanely well and creates an unbelievably smooth canvas for my foundation. I really enjoyed my sample of this product but I honestly don't think I could ever convince myself to pay the $31 price tag for something that's not really essential to my routine.

I realize this looks kind of weird but I just wanted to show y'all the differences in appearance and texture between the primers: (l-r) Fix & Perfect, POREfessional, Baby Skin, and Stay Matte.
(sorry the POREfessional looks a little grotesque but that's all I could squeeze out of the sample.)
You can really tell a difference between the two Rimmel products here as the Stay Matte is clearly thicker than the Fix & Perfect and how weird is it seeing the clear Baby Skin gel? haha

I hope you all have enjoyed this little break down of the primers I've used recently. I'd love it if you left comments below letting me know your favorite primers!

until next time, darlings
xo
Merisa