Best Makeup Primers For Different Skin Types
Primer is no longer a one-size-fits-all product. Find the one that will prevent your makeup from fading away, looking oily or even looking blotchy by the end of the night. Primer can be overlooked yet has so many benefits to help address different skin types’ issues, and despite the idea that primer can be ignored, it’s the key to transforming your makeup routine. Below are our top picks for the best face primers.
Primers Best For Oily Skin
Oil-fighting primers absorb excess oil without clogging pores or drying your skin. Choose a mattifying or silicone-based product to prevent your skin from getting shiny and greasy.
Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Primer, £28 (30ml) Smashbox – smashbox.com
Make a splash with this oil-free, matte primer to help minimise the look of pores and tame oils. For up to eight hours, it controls shine and reduces pores.
Veil Mineral Primer, £17 (10ml) Hourglass- hourglasscosmetics.com
Get a flawless complexion with this foundation primer that maintains long-lasting wear. An ultra-airy, silky, cloud-like texture that provides a smooth, even canvas for makeup application concealing redness and fine wrinkles.
Primers Best For Dry Skin
Choose a primer that is moisturising and creamy but light in texture. Typically, these primers are opaque and whiter in base.
Priming Moisturizer, £18 (50ml), Glossier – glossier.com
With this priming moisturizer, you’ll instantly notice a difference in your skin’s freshness and radiance. The Oxygenating Agent infuses life into stressed skin, giving it a smooth, dewy, balanced finish. It has a lightweight, buildable texture so you can apply one or more layers whenever you need.
Prep & Hydrate Illuminating Makeup Primer, £30 (25ml), Lancome – lancome.co.uk
You can get a radiant complexion with this lightweight primer that leaves your skin feeling smooth and ready for foundation application. With its soothing and hydrating properties, this formula leaves the skin looking soft and luminous for up to 24 hours.
Treatment Serum Primer, £42 (30ml), Suqqu – suqqu.com
Introducing the moisturizing serum-like primer that covers the skin perfectly. Ideal for dry skin types.
Hangover Primer £32 (40ml), Too Faced – toofaced.com
Instantly hydrate your face with our replenishing primer. It’s designed to brighten, smooth, and brighten skin for a healthy appearance.
Hydro Grip Primer, £27 (45ml), Milk Makeup – milkmakeup.com
This award-winning makeup primer is a 94% natural gel formula that smooths skin, locks in hydration and secures makeup for up to 12 hours.
Primers Best For Combination Skin
Choose a neutral product or combine two different primers: a mattifying primer for the oily T-Zone and a hydrating one over the rest of your face.
One Step Correct, £26 (50ml), Stila – stila.co.uk
Start your journey to perfect skin in one step. This triple spiralled helix serum instantly primes, corrects colours, brightens, hydrates, and leaves skin flawless. It is formulated with three colour-correcting pigments to even out skin tone.
Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer, £15 (15ml), Fenty Beauty – fentybeauty.com
Suitable for all skin types, this smoothing primer keeps skin supple and smooth, preventing shine and pores from showing through the makeup. In a small, travel-friendly size, it gives an instant retouch effect.
Skin To Die For, £24 (30ml), Peter Thomas Roth – peterthomasroth.com
This pore-blurring and texture-filling matte primer helps to reduce the look of pores, fine lines, and imperfections. Creates an airbrushed canvas for perfect makeup application.
High-Spreadability Fluid Primer, £5.50 (30ml), The Ordinary – beautybay.com
High-Spreadability Fluid Primer creates a smooth, natural base for applying makeup. Featuring a lightweight, serum-like formula, you can smooth it over your face for seamless results.
Prep & Hydrate Illuminating Makeup Primer, £28 (25ml), Estee Lauder – esteelauder.co.uk
Hydrating, smoothing, and brightening, this primer leaves skin looking healthy and supple. To glow while you’re on the go, first prep your face for makeup, then use it throughout the day to refresh.
Primers Best For Acne Prone Skin
The best beauty products will address any skin concerns you might have whilst playing the desired role. Look for a non-comedogenic primer – one that does not block pores.
HydraBlur Primer, £45 (22ml), Dermalogica – dermalogica.co.uk
Become flawless by reducing fine lines, hydrating and brightening skin. Primer minimises fine lines and wrinkles, mattifies oily shine, imparts a silky, smooth finish. Infused with H2ORelease Complex and Abyssinian Oil to provide intense and sustained hydration.
Mattifying Primer with Anti Acne Treatment, £30 (30ml) – Coverfx – coverfx.com
Weightless gel primer for mattifying your skin and treating blemishes. Ancient African Tree Bark, which minimizes pore size and controls shine, is formulated with 1% salicylic acid for healing and prevention. Vegan & cruelty-free.
Touche Éclat Blur Primer, £29.50, YSL – yslbeauty.co.uk
Introducing YSL’s iconic Blur Primer, a primer that blurs and illuminates the skin in an easy-to-apply gel format. ‘Light-infused’ face primer evens out your skin tone, creating an ideal canvas for your makeup, that stays on the whole day.
SOS Primer, £27 (100ml), Clarins – clarins.co.uk
Are redness, dullness and dark spots plaguing your complexion? Use SOS Primer for flawless skin. Acne-prone and imperfect skin types will benefit from the concealer’s ability to even out their skin tone. Designed to suit all skin tones, SOS Primer primes according to the principles of colour theory.
Complexion Perfection Pre-Makeup Base, £26 (30ml), HUDA Beauty – cultbeauty.co.uk
Huda Beauty’s Matte Perfection Pre-Makeup Base is inspired by the unusual mattifying properties of milk of magnesia – a laxative (!) with a milky, powdery formula. Huda put milk of magnesia to the test as a primer and was inspired to create a pre-make up base that would mimic the results.
SPF Primers
A multipurpose product that will keep your skin protected from the sun’s harmful rays whilst keeping your makeup flawless.
Maestro UV Skin Defense Primer SPF 50, £43 (30ml), Armani Beauty – armanibeauty.co.uk
Maestro UV makeup primer by Giorgio Armani Beauty is a wonder for your skin. A weightless makeup primer that provides UVA/UVB protection and leaves skin looking smoother and more even resulting in a softer, younger-looking complexion.
Ultra-Sun Protection SPF 45 Anti-Glycation Primer, £80 (40ml), Chantecaille – chantecaille.com
With this highly effective sunscreen, you will be protected with an invisible shield that offers anti-ageing protection. The SPF contains sun filters that are stabilized to block both UVA and UVB rays. Infused with soothing botanicals, this lightweight, oil-free fluid mattifies and soothes your skin.
An all-in-one primer, serum, and sunscreen. Lightweight texture blurs imperfections while SPF 30 protects skin from sun damage. Antioxidants in their serum-like formula protect and soothe skin while leaving it glowing.
Colour Correcting Primer SPF15 £22 (40ml), IPKN – birchbox.com
Having a good foundation is crucial. Primer with SPF 15 creates smooth, radiant skin, refines pores, and enhances skin tone.
Radiance Primer SPF 35 £29 (30ml), lookfantastic – lookfantastic.com
NARS Cosmetics’ Radiance Primer SPF 35 will give your skin a glowing complexion. Sheer, pearlescent coverage, the lightweight, oil-free formula instantly revitalises dull skin. It smooths and unifies the surface layer to extend the longevity of makeup.
Natural Primers
An all-natural lifestyle does not mean going makeup-free. Primers that are free from chemicals and skin irritants can still be highly effective.
Perfecting Primer, £16 (30ml), Nude by Nature – nudebynature.co.uk
This silicone-free primer helps extend the wear of make-up while smoothing the skin. This makes it a must-have for natural skin.
Pure Mattifying Primer, £37.97 (30ml), 100% – 100percentpure.com
Skin-plumping seaweed collagen infuses this silicone-free primer for flawless, long-lasting cosmetic application. Filters fine lines and minimizes shine.
Organic Certified Organic Flora Primer, £26.95 (30ml), Zuii – zuiiorganic.com
With a nutrient-rich moisturising formula, the Certified Organic Flora Foundation Primer ensures an even canvas for your makeup application.
Sublim’Soft Primer, £40 (30ml), Zao – zaoessenceofnature.co.uk
Sublim’Soft is a base primer and skin perfector. When used as a primer, it mattifies the complexion for long-lasting makeup application, or you can use it alone to perfect your look. Bamboo hydrolase, macerate and bamboo powder render this product a velvety softness while minimizing pores and mattifying oily areas.
Pure Primer, £33 (30ml), Inika – inikaorganic.com
Contains rich nutrients including Kangaroo Paw Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Jojoba Oil and other nourishing ingredients to help boost hydration in the skin and create a smoother, tighter appearance.
Dewy Skin Primers
If you wish to create a makeup look with a soft, glowing base choose a rich primer that nourishes and hydrates skin.
Prep + Prime Natural Radiance, £30 (30ml), MAC – maccosmetics.com
This silky gel primer adds a luminous glow to all skin types by hydrating and refining skin.
Hyda Veil Primer, £34 (30ml), Illamasqua – illamasqua.com
This self-levelling clear gel primer, part hydrator and part primer, instantly hydrates and evens out skin tone. Microalgae, vitamin B3 and C work together to hydrate the skin, resulting in a healthy, balanced finish.
High-Adherence Primer, £3.90 (30ml), The Ordinary – theordinary.com
Wonder Glow Face Primer, £39 (40ml), Charlotte Tilbury – charlottetilbury.com
A smooth, candlelit canvas for your makeup is created with Wonderglow. This primer can be used under your foundation or on its own to transform tired, dull skin in a beauty whirlwind!
Main Photo: by Ports-1961- – imaxtree
By Tsharna Daniel
