Primer Makeup, Matched to What Your Skin Actually Does

Primer Makeup, Matched to What Your Skin Actually Does

Primer makeup works best when it matches what your skin actually does, like shine by noon, dry patches or makeup that slides off. These are the blurring primers for pores and oil, the hydrating ones for glow, and the grippy and eyeshadow primers that keep everything in place.

Primer started on a photo set. In the 1990s, two brothers, Dean and Davis Factor, ran a photo studio in Los Angeles, and they needed makeup that would hold up under hot lights and close-up lenses for hours. Their answer, developed in the mid-1990s, was a silky base that went on before foundation, and by 2000 it was on store shelves. Almost every brand has made one since.

The mistake most of us make with primer makeup is buying the one everyone talks about instead of the one our skin needs. A primer's job is to fix one problem. If your face gets shiny by lunch, you want a blurring or mattifying primer. If it looks dry or flat, you want a hydrating one. If your makeup slides off, you want grip.

For pores and shine, Benefit's POREfessional is the classic, a cream that blurs the look of pores and fine lines, and the matte version keeps oil in check. Huda Beauty's Easy Blur is a silicone-free, jelly-like primer that absorbs oil and gives a soft-focus finish. Rare Beauty's Pore Diffusing Primer is a cushiony gel that blurs and helps fight shine. Sephora Collection's Smooth and Blur is a simple, silky version.

Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Eclat Blur primer adds light-infused pigment and nourishing oils, a good middle ground if you are combination. Prada's Refine primer blurs pores and extends wear. And ONE/SIZE's Secure the Sweat is waterproof and sweat-proof, the one to wear to a summer wedding or a long day outdoors.

Collage on a white background showing Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Pore Minimizing Primer, Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Hydrating Makeup Primer with Hyaluronic Acid + Niacinamide, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Huda Beauty Easy Blur Silicone-Free Smoothing & Pore-Minimizing Primer, Dior Forever Glow Star Filter Multi-Use Complexion Enhancing Booster, NARS Pro-Prime™ Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Blur Face Primer, REFY Glow and Sculpt Face Serum Primer with Niacinamide and Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base Primer & Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid.
Blurring, glowing and grippy primers, plus an eyeshadow base.

Blurring primers for pores and shine

For dry skin and a bit of glow

If your skin is on the dry side, a mattifying primer will make foundation cling to every flake. You want the opposite, something that hydrates and leaves a little light on the surface, so foundation looks like skin.

Milk Makeup's Hydro Grip is the one I reach for most. It is a gel with hyaluronic acid and niacinamide that grips makeup for up to 12 hours and leaves a dewy finish. Fenty Beauty's Grip Trip is similar, hydrating and plumping with the same 12-hour promise. Armani's Luminous Silk primer is water based and gel-like, lovely under the foundation of the same name.

For real glow, Dior's Forever Glow Star Filter is a liquid illuminator you can wear under foundation, mixed in, or alone on the high points of your face. MAC's Faceglass is a face gloss and primer in one, non-sticky, for that glassy look. REFY's Glow and Sculpt serum primer comes with a little roller and leaves a healthy sheen, and ONE/SIZE's B12 Base Thinner is a primer, mixing medium and serum in one that adds glow and lets you sheer out a heavy foundation. AORA México's INICIA is a squalane primer and highlighter hybrid.

A little trick. Mix a drop of a glow primer into your foundation instead of wearing it underneath. You get a lighter, more skin-like finish, and one less layer on your face. On days you skip foundation altogether, a glow primer and a dab of concealer is often all you need.

Hydrating and glow primers

Grip, and the eyelid primer

Grip primers are the newer idea. They feel slightly tacky when they go on, and that tack gives foundation something to hold, so it lasts through a long day or a humid night. Milk Makeup's Hydro Grip and Glow adds a soft golden glow to the original's grip. The Underglaze primer is infused with PDRN and made to glaze skin and lock makeup in place for up to 12 hours.

Eyeshadow primer is the one product that changes eye makeup more than any shadow. Eyelids are oily, and without a base, shadow fades or gathers in the crease within a few hours. Urban Decay's Primer Potion is the classic, a nude base that keeps shadow vivid and crease-free. NARS Pro-Prime keeps cream and powder shadows looking fresh all day, and Too Faced's Shadow Insurance intensifies color and locks it down.

Sephora Collection's Boost and Lock primer holds shadow for up to 12 hours. MAC's Pro Longwear Paint Pot works as a primer or as a cream shadow on its own, a lifesaver on days you only want one product. Bobbi Brown's Vitamin Enriched Eye Base is for under the eyes, hydrating and brightening before concealer so it goes on smoothly.

Pat eye primer on with your ring finger in a thin layer and let it set for thirty seconds before you add shadow. The color will look brighter and last well into the evening, even through a long dinner.

Grip primers and eyeshadow primers

Less is more

The most common primer mistake is using too much. A pea-sized amount covers the whole face, and you only need it where the problem is. Blurring primer on the nose and cheeks, hydrating primer where you are dry, grip everywhere else.

Let it sit for a minute before foundation so it can set. Pair water-based primers with water-based foundations and silicone ones with silicone, and your base is less likely to pill or separate. And if a primer does not make a visible difference on your skin after a week, it is fine to skip it. A good moisturizer sometimes does the same job, and fewer layers usually means makeup that looks more like skin by the end of the day. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Best Clean Sunscreen for Face That Does Not Pill Under Makeup and A Makeup Edit For Lips, Eyes.