I admit, I’ve tried the expensive and “cult-favorite” make-up primers and I never really felt like they worked for me.

I have pretty oily skin; as in my T-zone can look like an oil slick within about 2 hours of applying make-up (if I’m lucky and it waits that long) and pretty much all my makeup has melted off within, maybe, 8 hours.

It’s bad.

Part of me isn’t mad about it because people with oily skin tend to show age a lot slower than those with dry.  You don’t see crows feet and lines/wrinkles as early or as easily. Obviously, some of that is also genetic, but my mother and grandmother and aunt all have the same oily skin issues and none of them have ever looked their ages.  So, I’ll live with the oily.

But applying make-up always seemed pointless.

 

Like I said, I’ve tried primers throughout the years, particularly ones for oily skin.  I’ve tried expensive ones, I’ve tried the “cult-favorite” ones.  They kind of worked and worked for awhile, but eventually it still wasn’t enough for my skin.  I’d notice after using it for a couple months that my skin would start to look oily again in the middle of the day.  So, I don’t know if my skin was just changing or my skin was getting used to the primer or….I don’t know, but it was annoying. n

So, really I don’t dislike other primers, they just didn’t work for my skin as well as this one that I found does.

I decided about a year ago to try a primer again after giving them up a year or two earlier.  I did some research on what people with oily skin were finding most effective. Most people liked the ones I already tried and wasn’t super excited about.  Then I started seeing a lot of blogs and articles talk about a drugstore brand primer that was getting a lot of attention for being amazing for people with oily skin.

It was the Revlon PhotoReady Perfecting Primer.

Admittedly, I don’t really use Revlon products.  There’s no real reason behind it, I just never really looked into their product line that much, so I didn’t really know a ton about their primer either, obviously.  But it had so many positive reviews and since it was only about $12 at Target, I figured why not try it.

I have yet to use another primer since I started using this one.

It’s THAT good.

Even in the summer; when it’s a nice sweltering 100 degrees with 90% humidity that Maryland is so well known for, my make-up still stays on.  Honestly, I can look a little oily as the day goes on, even with this, in the summer.  But it’s summer and ridiculously hot and gross, so I’m okay with some oil coming out being visible.  My makeup is still on, though, it doesn’t melt off the way it used to.

In cooler, more comfortable months and in the winter, my face looks matte all day long; you wouldn’t believe I had oily skin.  Even at 4pm when I’m driving home, I’ll look in the mirror and say “hey my makeup is still on”.  It’s even still on and in place when I go to bed (and yes I take it off before I go to sleep). I’ve never used a primer that I can say helps my makeup stay on as well as this one does.  Nothing has ever worked this well for me.

Every morning when I get up, I do my normal morning skincare routine, which is my eye cream, a medicated cream I use for my adult acne (another perk of oily skin) and moisturizer.  I let all of that soak in for a few minutes and do a small amount (one pump) of primer all over my face, forehead and neck.  Then I let that settle and soak in as well for about 10-15 minutes before I put my make-up on.  I think doing that really gives it time to settle in and work it’s magic before putting make-up over top of it.

It has a nice smooth, almost velvety texture to it but it’s not heavy.  I pump it onto my forefinger and then rub my hands together so that I can rub it on my face with my fingers; and I can feel the texture of it on my fingers and on my face.  The texture lets me know if I missed a spot on my face since I like to make sure I cover all of it.

But it does not feel heavy on your skin.  It just leaves you skin feeling and looking a lot smoother.  If you have larger pores, like I also do, it really helps to make those appear smaller as well and I think it also brightens my face a little.

It just makes everything look better.  Your skin looks better, your make-up looks better and stays on better.  I absolutely love this stuff.

I do kind of hate the packaging, though.  Just because it’s hard to sometimes get all of the product out of the jar.  You can’t get the pump top off, which I’m sure is intentional, but the tube inside is also either too long or odd because as you get closer to the bottom of the jar; it’s really hard to get it out of the pump.  So, if I had any suggestions, it’d be to let us open the jar so we can get everything out; but that could just be me being overly picky.

Packaging aside, if you need a new primer and especially if you’re oily-prone like me, definitely give this one a try and see if it works for you.  Plus, it’s around $10 in most stores, so definitely on the less expensive side.  I’ll never use another expensive primer ever again!