If you’ve yet to incorporate a primer into your day-to-day makeup regime, you’re missing out on one of makeup’s biggest treasures. Think about a painting – a canvas always has to be primed before painting takes place to ensure better paint application. Makeup is exactly the same.
Skin is imperfect. It can have visible pores, bumps, an uneven texture, too much oil, too little oil… You get the picture. Primers bridge the gap between the skincare routine and the makeup routine to ensure better makeup application and longer-lasting results.
Designed to apply to your skin before makeup application, primers are worn beneath foundation. Here are four reasons why we can’t live without them:
They extend the wear of your makeup: Does your foundation ‘melt’ during a hot day or ‘disappear’ halfway through a night on the town? There’s a primer for that! Primers help keep your makeup in place all day or night long, eliminating the need for touch-ups or reapplication.
They make your application easier: Because they have a smooth or velvety texture, primers help with foundation application by allowing your makeup to glide onto the skin and blend in seamlessly.
Foundation looks smoother: Just like paint applies more smoothly to a primed canvas, makeup applies more smoothly to primed skin. Think of primers as Photoshop for your skin. They smooth out fine lines, blur pores and imperfections and give you a smoother and more even makeup application.
They offer added skincare benefits: Primers go a step further by offering additional skincare benefits like hydrating, mattifying or blemish-fighting formulas.
Primers are multi-functional and are some of the hardest working makeup products you’ll ever own. Finding one that suits your skin type is easy, as long as you know what you need.
The BSA team have tried and tested the formulas below – here’s why we recommend them.
For a bright and radiant complexion: wet n wild Prime Focus Brighten Primer Serum (limited edition – R219.95)
This water-based primer serum boosts your skin’s radiance as it preps and primes it for makeup. Formulated with a luxurious blend of Pineapple, Calendula, and other flower and fruit extracts that help to brighten, refine, and condition the skin, this face serum will leave you feeling positively radiant.
For detoxifying and mattifying: Revlon Colorstay Grip Matte Primer (R219.95)
The lightweight, buildable formula grasps onto your makeup without letting go all day. Triple-power action mattifies, controls excess sebum by absorbing oil, reduces the appearance of pores, and blurs imperfections for perfected, flawless matte skin. Infused with a superfood detox blend of Citrus + Aloe + Broccoli that protects skin against the effects of daily aggressors including blue light, environmental stress and pollution by neutralising free radicals. The formula is non-tacky with a non-drying feel.
For added glow: RVB LAB The Makeup Glow Amplifier Primer (R550.00)
This illuminating face primer creates a radiant effect on the skin while evening out the complexion in just one step. A fresh and luminous base with a light texture that blends perfectly with all skin types, this is an indispensable beauty product to be used alone to illuminate the face or before applying make-up. We love the luxurious texture!
For natural ingredients: essence Hello, Good Stuff! Glow Serum Primer (R119.95)
This primer is enriched with watermelon water and niacinamide, and is made of 93% natural ingredients. The light gel texture absorbs into the skin quickly and gives it an instant boost of freshness and moisture. It also ensures extra soft skin – the perfect base for make-up or simply as part of your skincare routine.
For a lightweight formula: Benefit the POREfessional Lite Primer (R590.00)
If you like weightless formulas, then this is for you. Go undercover with this undetectable, weightless pore primer. The POREfessional Lite Primer has all the power of The POREfessional (Benefit’s much-loved original primer), with a special blend of pore-blurring powders to instantly blur and refine the look of pores for 12 hours, but with a 73% water-based formula for gentle, cloudlike lightness. It feels like you’re not wearing anything at all.
Spot anything you like?
