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What's your current favorite primer and foundation combination?
Too Faced Hangover RX and Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Foundation!
— Christine
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I dont use primers lately bc primers makes me more oily ( mattifying primers too). I only use my moisturizing cream + Mac studio fix fluid or EL Double Wear.
Fenty!
Same here! I truly deeply in love with Tarte Rainforest of the sea. It is a god sake foundation for me. Too sad that it’s not available in Thailand coz importers thought all citizens in the whole country have ccoily skin like bloggers.
It would be so sad if Tarte stops providing it.
Marc Jacobs Undercover Coconut primer with Milk Blur Liquid Matte foundation (+MAC pro concealer to tweak colour). After years of preferring beauty blender, I find I prefer to use an RT expert face brush to apply fuller coverage foundations. It allows me to get the right coverage without the cake.
Also worth note. I purchased a couple of FAB product kits with big S points which included their version of a coconut primer. Frankly, I think the difference between the pricer MJ and more budget friendly FAB is negligible. I will use up the MJ and happily use the FAB. The FAB has a shimmer finish, but I do not discern the difference wearing a fuller coverage foundation.
Thank you Wendy for the information about the FAB primer. I too use the Marc Jacobs Coconut Primer and try to use sparingly since it is so dang expensive. I will give the FAB a try.
Thank you Wendy for the heads-up with respect to te FAB primer! Like Deborah S., I will give it a try 🙂 Also, I like a lot what I see as ingredients.
I was fairly ambivalent about the MJ Coconut primer but I LOOOOOVE the First Aid Beauty Coconut Skin Smoothie! It is SO GOOD!
Primer: Nivea Men’s Sensitive Shave Balm. Not kidding! I read so many tips from actual makeup artists (not beauty gurus) who use this product as a primer and it really does the trick! My makeup wears well all day with no breaking up and very little oil in my T-zone.
Foundation: GA Luminous Silk, though…I’m thinking of trying that full-coverage foundation YSL just launched a month or so back once I’m out of this bottle. Ah, maybe not. I really should go to Sephora and ask for a sample first.
This is my current favorite combo, too! I love it!
I typically rotate, making it hard to answer these questions typically. But, I have been wearing the same foundation (TF Sweet Peach one) with a hydrating primer (the TF, MJ or Primerizer) since I got it…even if I sit down thinking I will put on a different one.
Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer SPF 30 Moisturizer +
Clinique 2 in 1 Foundation and Concealer or the It Cosmetics CC cream.
Laura Mercier ‘blemish-less’ primer and Smashbox Camera Ready BB water SPF 30 foundation
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer with Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation
I battle oily skin and use Smashbox Photo Finish Primer with Estee Lauder Double Wear and MAC Studio Fix Fluid (blend these two together to get my best shade match).
Primer is Maybelline Blur and Smooth and foundation usually a mix of The Ordinary Serum and CoverGirl Matte BB cream.
I have oily skin, large pores and texture.
Wet N Wild primer, MUFE Ultra HD liquid foundation!
Physician’s Formula cushion corrector+primer duo in peach/lavender with Tarte rainforest of the sea foundation in Porcelain, then set with Besame brightening violet powder.
I also use Tarte Rainforest of the Sea in Porcelain! It’s one of my favorites
Hylamide HA Blur +IT CC cream or Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream. Both CC creams have physical sunscreen and the Juice Beauty one is certified organic.
I’ve been using the Hylamide primer on my T-zone (Hylamide is part of the Deciem family) and I’m really impressed with it. I used this primer during days when it was 104F/40C and humidity here in Montreal, like yesterday, and with a little bit of Cover FX matte powder applied on my T-zone in the morning, I didn’t have to blot at all. I’m crediting the Hylamide HA Blur as I had used the CC cream+ Cover FX matte powder before and I had to apply a blotting powder later in the day. I have dehydrated, often dry skin, but when it’s hot and humid outside, my T-zone gets oily. The primer feels light on the skin despite the fact that it has silicones in it; the silicones are the reason I apply it only when it’s hot outside and exclusively on my T-zone.
In winter, I usually avoid primers and I’m using only a moisturizer under the CC cream/foundation.
I have twice almost purchased the Hylamide HA Blur, but wondered about it since I can’t test it. The price seems too good to be true from the positive feedback. I’m combo skin as well though drying more so with age.
I was skeptical as well when I read the reviews on the Sephora website. I don’t like to put on my face too many silicones but at the same time I don’t like blotting my T-zone five times/day. I’ve previously tried the Hourglass Veil primer and the Cover Fx Mattifying Primer and all I got was my nose pealing underneath while the shine was still coming through. I’ve tried the l’Oréal blurring primer (the pink one in the pot) but I found it too heavy and clogging the pores. I gave the Hylamide HA Blur a try and for me it worked wonderfully without being heavy. As mentioned, I have dehydrated/dry skin most of the time (mid-30s here) but in summer, when it’s hot and humid, my T-zone gets oily.
BECCA Ever Matte – T-zone
Smashbox Pore Primer – cheek area
Covergirl Queen 3/1 Liquid Foundation
For the longest time, my fave combo had been Too Faced POREfessional Face Primer and Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Foundation.
I recently tried pairing the Guerlain Météorites Perles Light-Diffusing Primer Les Ors with either The Ordinary Serum Foundation or Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Palette, and I was pleasantly surprised. This may be my new fave.
I wish I had a dedicated foundation/primer combo but since I can’t get Chosungah 22 foundation anymore I have been on a foundation quest. I have tried so many over the past 8 months or so from HE to DS and haven’t found anything I really love. I don’t think I am any pickier than anyone else but I have a host of things to deal with, very pale, very peachy undertones, hyperpigmentation, bone dry, lots of wrinkles and texture and then just 63 year old skin. I swear when I find another one I like I will buy everyone I can get my hands on, LOL. I pretty much use the same primer combo though and that is Smashbox Photo Finish for my nose, cheeks and chin and then Marc Jacobs Coconut for the remainder of my face.
The C&T Blend Fresh Mix Liquid Foundation?
I can get this fairly easily but I’m in New Zealand… Dying to get my hands on a supply of First Aid Beauty Coconut Skin Smoothie Moisturising Primer (Sephora NZ stocks FAB but not this product!) if you wanted to trade? Not fussed about $$$ exchanges… 🙂
I would be happy to pick up the coconut primer for you regardless of getting the Chosungah. Here is the thing, I am looking for the original Chosungah Luminous Blend which has the honey infused primer and the color I use is the 01 Porcelain. They make a newer blend that only comes in 2 shades and I think they are 21 Light Beige and 23 Medium Beige. That is not the one I am looking for. The only one of the type I am looking for that I have found on line is at Mecca Cosmetica in Australia. You Tuber Gothamista says that she sees the one I want frequently and all over the place in Korea but none of the stores that sell and ship to the US show it is stock. It is possible she is thinking I want the newer version. Anyway, long way to say that if it is the one I want then I would want to get a couple. As for the primer, do you only want one? If all works out we will have to figure out how to exchange information. Thank you for the offer regardless.
Deborah
Is this the one? http://www.meccabeauty.co.nz/chosungah22/c-t-blender-porcelain/I-025679.html They only have 2 left in Porcelain…
I can get Mecca Australia to ship directly to me, no problem, I use them all the time. It does look like they are phasing it out that, which is sad! Email me at c.m.berkers@gmail.com and we’ll work something out 🙂
Well, it *was* just using my little Fenty Foundation samples over my FAB Pure Mineral Sunscreen Moisturizer. But now that it has gotten dryer out, I will be going back to using my Lancôme Teint Idole Foundation over Benefit Porefessional. It’s one of the only things I ever bother with from Benefit. Now that my deluxe sample is half gone, I will look probably switch to using my Nyx Angel Veil Primer or returning to Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer. It’s transition time here!
Do you have any experience using the Benefit Dr Feelgood? I used it yrs ago. And rotate now with so many deluxe sames from Play boxes but wonder about the comparison of Porefessional to DF. I like the packaging of DF and wonder if they are similar
Donya, no, I have never tried Dr. Feelgood. In fact, I may not have gotten to discover The Porefessional except that I had received a deluxe sample from Ulta in my birthday month, because I hardly ever buy Benefit. Sorry!
I haven’t been using primer at all these days. I do like Smashbox Primer oil in the winter though!
I have been LOVING a glowy base lately. So iv been priming with Cover FX illuminating primer, and then I’ll mix cover fx illuminating drops into my Estee Lauder Double wear, and apply that with real techniques expert face brush!
Because of the heat here the past month or so, it’s been Too Faced Hangover and a powder foundation. Otherwise, I usually wear Nyx Angel Veil and e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation.
The body shop wonderblur primer and L’Oréal infallible matte foundation
Temptu s/b in 002 Blush Ivory w/ Lancome Genifique Youth Advanced.
I have a love-hate relationship with primers, but Lorac Poreless works well for me most of the time. As for foundation, I’ve just begun using IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness. Its original purpose was to hide and heal rosacea, but I’ve found it to be a surprisingly lightweight, full-coverage foundation that doesn’t whack out my moody complexion.
My current favourite primer is the Nude by Nature Airbrush primer and the Rimmel Match Perfection Creme Gel foundation in light porcelain. I also love the Clarins Everlasting foundation in linen – but as that’s D/C, I use it sparingly.
Hourglass Mineral Veil primer and Clinique Beyond Perfecting foundation. Honestly, I haven’t found a foundation that Hourglass Mineral Veil doesn’t vastly improve on my combo skin.
Well, with “current” being the key word (as I am so not dedicated to a favorite anything makeup wise), I’d reply that I use either my day cream (at the moment Yves Rocher’s Sérum Végétal Wrinkle & Firmness) or MUFE’s Step 1 Radiant Primer and Yves Rocher’s Flawless Skin Foundation 14H in Beige 200 the most over the past month or so. But I just purchased Estée Lauder’s Double Wear Nude Water Fresh Makeup in 4N1 Shell Beige, and I dooooo see a change on the horizon, like tomorrow. 😉
Milk blur stick, Nars sheer glow
I have a very dry/dehydrated skin, so never do I do my makeup without a moisturizer.
I got a good deal on Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil and must say that it really helps for my NARS Sheer Glow foundation go on more smoothly and my skin stays looking hydrated longer. So, I guess this is the winning combination for me. I also have MAC Prep + Prime Essential Oils Stick and it does a great job as well, but I like the Smashbox oil just that tiny bit better at the moment.
I’m not using primer in face only in eyes for certain eyeshadows as the super shock Colourpop if I remember to. Foundation Loreal Infallible Dewey. Sometimes Maybelline Fit Me real light!
Hourglass Mineral Veil primer with Makeup Atelier Paris foundation. Great for my large pores, and combo skin.
Because I usually wear IT CC Cream, I don’t need a primer as it’s “built in” but when I do need a primer, my go-to’s are Becca Backlighting Filter (especially in the cooler months) and Shiseido Ibuki Smart Filtering Smoother (it’s great for summer). I wear either of these under Clarins Skin Illusion or Guerlain LdeP foundation and even under mineral powder foundations. Lise Watier’s SunSmart is another great “primer”, even though it’s not advertised as one. It’s actually a facial sunscreen but works well as a primer and provides sun protection when I don’t want to layer on yet one more product.
L’Oréal lumi magique primer and Maybelline Dream Cushion. Gives me that dewy glow without looking greasy on my combo skin and it’s so compact and travel friendly (I’m a big fan of doing makeup last min on the bus).
Hourglass Mineral Veil primer, MUFE hydrating primer under my eyes only, and MUFE Ultra HD foundation.
Bare Minerals Prime Time Foundation Primer (I purchased it because it’s supposed to have a SPF–according to the Sephora associate, although I cannot find evidence of that anywhere. Then I fell in love with it.) + Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation.
Lovely post! I love the conversation and communication between your followers!