Primers
If knowing your skin type is the first step, next choosing your primer can be another tool against preventing your foundation from sliding down your face or cracking and creasing into oblivion.
With your skin type in mind lets jump into what primers are and how they can help. Primers come in many forms and claim lots of different benefits, for example “blurring the appearance of pores” or “brightening” and “plumping the skin”.
Let’s start with types of primer and what skin types they are best for. The first that comes to mind are silicone based primers, (like the Benefit Porefessional) I find personally they can be hit or miss for my skin, but on oily skin, or Black/Asian skin types they can be a game changer as they tend to be thicker and “fill” the pores, giving a smooth and airbrushed appearance. I find that when you try to blend the foundation into the skin, because of the nature of the primer acting as a barrier it can ball up with the foundation and cause it to become patchy and streaky. However, there are ways around this, in the event that you’re in love with your primer and foundation because it lasts and looks great you can try using a dampened beauty sponge. (I recommend the Real Techniques sponge because its around £6 and you can always find them in TK Maxx).
Next primer type I want to discuss is hydrating/serum primers, these are some of my personal favorites as they tend to be more nourishing to the skin similar to a moisturizer, a popular example is the Too Faced Hangover RX Primer, I love almost everything about it, it smells fantastic, makes the skin feel plump and hydrated and has a slightly tacky feeling (this is great for helping foundation stay in place). I haven’t tried any of the cult serum primers like the Farsali Unicorn Essence, but the £50 price tag is not for me. Another honorable mention in this category is the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Hydrating Primer, (catchy name Rih) but despite its almost Khaleesi like title it is so good! It smells expensive but not overpowering, leaves your skin feeling plump and soft with that helpful tackiness. The only drawback to these primers is they do not fill in or diminish the appearance of pores.
Now I haven't mentioned every primer formulation in existence because there's a lot, but one I wanted to mention was "putty" type primers, I've not tried any of these primers but I would assume they have a similar effect to the silicone based primers but without the silicone they may be more user friendly. The two that I know of that are worth talking about are the elf Poreless Putty Primer and the Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer but I will mention that Tatcha currently does not ship to the UK so that could be a little pricey.
”But Siobhan, you said you’d help with combination skin types!” yes, I did and that is where we go next. So, if you are blessed to have combination skin you get to use two primers! Or you can if you want to. I like to use a mixture of the Urban Decay Optical Illusion primer potion and the Fenty Beauty hydrating primer, together, but not mixing them.
I use the Urban Decay primer in the center of my face, my cheeks, nose, forehead between my eyebrows and chin. I then use the Fenty Primer around the outside of my face where I get drier, I try to make sure there isn’t too much overlap where I use the primers so I’m not mixing large amounts of the two primers on my face. These two primers work on my face and skin personally but finding ones that work for you is important so don’t hesitate to experiment. Obviously, makeup can be expensive, so I recommend doing some research on primers that you like the look of. Be sure to check if they have good reviews (although I do have something to say on reviews on makeup and skincare). Please don’t be afraid to go into your local boots or beauty counter and ask for a sample of something you’d like to try. And always get your free samples when ordering online.