Primer tends to be hit and miss for most people, the only primer I had ever really tried is the Benefit Porefessional (£23.40) which costs a pretty penny let me tell you, so I thought okay I like pore-filling, smoothing primers. They tend to be my go-to and I scoured the aisles of Superdrug and Boots and came across the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer (£8). At a fraction of the price I was hoping to find a dupe for the Porefessional, Maybelline claims the Instant Pore Eraser will not only fill in your pores leaving your skin smooth, silky and baby soft but also blurs the skin and leaves a matte finish. For reference, I have oily combination skin, specifically an oily T zone and dry areas around the lower region of my face i.e. around the mouth and along my jaw.
INGREDIENTS: Dimethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Stearyl Heptanoate, Caprylyl Glycol, Silica Silylate, Propylene Glycol, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Prunus Cerasus Extract / Bitter Cherry Extract. May Contain: CI 73360 / Red 30, CI 77492 / Iron Oxides.
I have been using this primer for the entirety of 2017 and in my humble opinion it does make my skin look smoother. This primer isn’t anything fancy and its effect is largely due to the silicone in this primer. The tube packaging makes it easy to dispense and apply, you only need very little and the actual formula is gel-like and slippery. Slightly greasy-feeling actually which can be off-putting to anyone who has oily skin (like me!), but the way I use it is to apply a very tiny amount – about half a pea – and pat into the areas around my nose where my pores are most visible. I then set that lightly with a loose powder and go in with my foundation. I do believe it blurs the appearance of my skin and reduces the visibility of my pores. I have worn this alone and feel perfectly confident in it.
It’s not a miracle worker and it doesn’t erase your pores completely but it does make a noticeable difference. It doesn’t leave a matte finish to the skin nor does it increase the wear of my makeup from my experience. I don’t use it on my nose or forehead where I get very oily as I think the texture is too slick and would have a detrimental effect on my makeup. Overall, for smoothing and blurring the skin I do like it. Do I think it is better than Benefit’s Porefessional? No, but for the price it is a good alternative if your main concern is the appearance of your pores. I hope you found this review helpful. Please share your favourite primers below, I have only tried a few so would enjoy some suggestions. Thank you for reading, hope you are having a wonderful week. Take care.
PROS
- Reduces the appearance of pores
- Blurs the skin
- Smoothing effect, great base for makeup application
- Good for dry to normal skin types
- Can be worn alone
CONS
- Doesn’t help makeup last longer
- Silicone-based primer, has a slippery texture which might be too greasy for oily-very oily skin
- Shouldn’t be used on very oily areas of the face unless you set it with powder first
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What primers are you a fan of?