The Hit List: Best Drugstore Face Primer
Thursday, April 14th, 2011

What’s the Best Drugstore Face Primer…?
What brand/product wins this category? What makes it so great?
Thanks to Jenny for today’s topic!
BH COSMETICS - most amazing primer I have ever tried!!!! I have oily skin and this stuff seriously is amazing! Doesn't make me break out neither! It's like $10 online and it's lasts! So worth it!!
I went to CVS looking for Monistat (or Monestat) Anti Chafing Gel Primer for $6. They had never heard of it. Please tell me where to find it and is it with cosmetics.
it won't be in cosmetics because it isn't an actual primer...it's a chaffing gel that people just use AS a primer. it might be in women's health or something along those lines.
I have tried only one primer before and it is the one in the jar by L'Oreal. Amazing product! Evens out my entire face so no pores or fine lines can make my face look like I am wearing makeup. Makes makeup flawless looking and has a thick creamy feel. One thing I like is it doesn't make my makeup last to long. And I also find it to be expensive (11 bucks!) For a small container. Even though I really like it I will not be purchasing it again. Any one else feel the same way?
Okay so how do you apply the monistat gel around the face? All over avoiding the eyes or do you use it around the eyes as a base also?
Milk of Magnesia! Weird but it lasts through everything including a hot night at the club dancing the night away (that was impossible with every other product). If you do not have oily skin (combination at the least) I would not recommend it though. Also if you do use, rub in in really well with you fingers to blend the white or it could change how your foundation color looks.
The only drugstore face primer I use is L'Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base - it rivals the most expensive ones from dept. stores (and I have a huge stash of just about everything that hits the market). It keeps my T-zone matte and fresh for 10+ hours. Not to mention it provides the smoothest finish for a great makeup application. I buy multiple jars when I find it at a discount for fear of it being discontinued. Now that's love!
Boots No. 7 Anti-redness primer is great to calm redness in my cheeks. Its only $10 and can be found at Target. They also have a matte primer and one for sallow skin.
Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel is a dupe of Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. It only cost around $7 - 8 in drugstores.
I really love L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets in the jar. But I have to say - at least for me - it's only love if I'm having a good skin day. If I have acne, it doesn't sit well and application stinks. But over clearer skin it looks beautiful!
My favorite is definitely the ELF primer, though you don't get much at all for the cost. Has anyone found anything similar? I've also tried Rimmel, but either I grabbed the wrong color or something, because it turns me so orange... I don't like the way it makes my face feel, either.
I don't know if it counts as drugstore primer, but I use Monistat Chaffing Relief as primer. And I love it :)
I like GOSH velvet touch primer - I got the regular one and the apricot one (I don't think there's any difference though) I have oily/combo skin and I usually look for mattifying primers but this was an impulse but and it's worked out great :) It's not making me break out (like Laura Mercier oil-free did) and my foundation has definately been lasting longer - although now I really want to try the Hard Candy one too.
Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel! But if that doesn't count as a Drugstore "Primer", then my answer will be Hard Candy Sheer Envy.
I forget to mention Milk of Magnesia. I use this as a mattifyer, not a primer (I still have to use primer afterward). Because even though MoM does a great job to keep oil at the bay, it did nothing to "camouflage" the appearance of my gigantic pores nor provide a smooth canvas for foundation application.
monistat anti chafing gel-makeup glides over it, although doesnt help with oilies, so to prevent my makeup from slipping and sliding, i like milk of magnesia before moisturizer and then the primer...ive also tried rimmel fix n perfect-meh if i have flakies, when my makeup first goes on, its noticeable, but then as it sets, i dont notice it anymore (maybe b/c of my natural oils?)...revlon's beyond natural smoothing primer feels like it grabs onto my foundation, but its silicone-y so i only use it when i go out on the town...i checked for pore clogging ingredients on all the above, due to my sensitive, acne prone skin and i can use them all!
I like Gosh velvet too..I would get HC or Monistant,but dont live in US,I have Smashbox photo light though(online order),not sure if it really helps..foundation slides off and or cakes around my nose:(.Anything to try high or low? I have tried many,believe me:).Mary Kay US only?
I haven't been able to find a drugstore primer that's silicone-free, unfortunately! Silicone and its fellows make my skin very, very angry, so no 'cone-based primer for me. If anybody knows of a 'cone-free drugstore primer I'd love to know about it!
If you live in Canada, I highly suggest trying out GOSH's Velvet Touch Foundation Primer! It comes in three different colours, but they all pretty much do the same. They have an anti-aging/wrinkle one, an unscented one, and one that smells like apricots. I absolutely love them, and find they make such a difference in the way my makeup looks.
i like loreal's primer in jar, rimmel's primer is good and i know it's not drugstore (i guess if your lucky you can find at target) but ELF mineral primer $6 is awesome :) i like to switch up and use a new primer every day so i switch between them all the time
ELF mineral primer is my favorite! Just hate the packaging; the consistency is to thick for the little tube. It goes on very, very smooth.
They actually carry many Rimmel products at most of my drugstores in Philadelphia :) Maybe it depends on region. THanks for the ELF recommendation, I continue to be impressed with their products, and looove their prices lol!!
I use L'Oreal's Studio Secrets primer (thick pink stuff in a little jar). I like the thick texture, and it makes my face perfect.
haven't tried any (oh wait a horrible revlon one ages ago, I think they pulled it) but notice no one is mentioning covergirl or maybelline-- bad luck? no one tried it?
I don't have any drugstore primers. I have 3 or 4 primers (Clarins, Lise Watier, MAC, Smashbox and Pur Minerals) but the "ugly truth" is that I often don't even bother...it seems that, after all the steps, we end up with 5 or 6 layers of "stuff" on our skins and I often wonder how healthy that can be...
I totally agree with you !! I could conceivably end up with 5 or so layers of different things and somehow, it seems wrong ... (no one ever seems to count SPF, for example- that's a biggie with me and is a "data hog" on my FACE). Still trying to figure it all out ...
Have you ever tried using a BB Cream? They've been a trend in Asia for a while and recently a lot of big names in the states have caught on. I don't use one because I need full coverage, but I know a lot of coworkers and clients who love them because they simplify the process... They vary depending on brand, but they are usually moisturizing, priming/perfecting, and sheer to semi sheer coverage all in one product, many have an SPF as well! If you don't need a lot of coverage, you might really like them!!
Another vote for Hard Candy Sheer Envy. Good dupe for Smashbox Photofinish Light, and excellent value for money ($8 for a 1.6 oz tube).
I really like Hard Candy Sheer Envy primer. It's only $7 at my Wal-Mart. It keeps the oilies away and gives a very smooth, almost poreless look to my skin.
L'oreal in the jar and Avon's magix. Though I hate it that I like the avon one because every time I find a product of theirs that I actually like, they discontinue it!!
I like Magix also. I just don't like having to order from an Avon rep. Wish you could just buy at a store.
This is a drugstore product per se, but Claudia Stevens Facial Prep Foundation Base (sold exclusively at Sally Beauty for only $6.00 USD) is the best dupe I have found to Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer to date.
it's not marketed as a primer, but is found at a drugstore is my holy grail product. Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel. Hands down the best primer! i can't do my makeup without it!

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