Beauty-fuls: Prime Time review-a-thon!

When you paint your walls...you prime them...

When you paint a car...you prime it (which btw is a suuper big trend right now to leave cars in a matte condition)

When you paint your nails...they get primed (well base coat but it's basically the same thing right?)

So it stands to reason that when you paint your face it should be primed :)

Face/ Makeup primers have been all the rage for a couple of years now but boy o' man-a-chevitz they have come a long way from the shellac feeling they used to give you.

The newest primers are lightweight yet totally effective and actually give your skin extra love (besides their normal duties)

The big job of a good primer is to-

◦ Smooth the skins surface

Even out skin tone

Create a perfect surface for your makeup

Disguise skin flaws and imperfections

Pamper and nourish your skin

Create a protective base for longer-lasting foundation

Reduce redness and inflammation

Moisturize your skin and keep it hydrated all day long

Stop oil and shine

Makeup primers work especially good for those with oily skin by reducing excess shine

Protect your skin from the harmful UV rays, some primers have a sunscreen and SPF 15 or more

Makeup primers create a perfect makeup base

Makeup primers fill in fine lines and wrinkles

Make enlarged pores appear smaller and less visible

The makeup glides on smoothly and blends easily

Here are our top 4 picks! (and 2 of our least fave to save you a few clams)

As much as we dislike Smashbox Makeup, their Photo Finish primers are really good. Just don't goop them on or they will get...well...goopy.

Smashbox seems to have the most cutting edge of all the primers in terms of duties they perform.

Not only do you get "perfect" skin with a matte and oil free finish but their primers are filled to the brim with anti aging ingredients and spf. They firm, moisturize, protect and vitalize!

WHAT?!? Perfect looking skin and more perfect skin just by using it? Um yes please!!!!

P.S. We loved using this and we had no idea they did all this fun stuff...we are on our way to pick up more right now!

Makeup Forever's HD line of makeup is amazing...well the foundation is a little crazy and thick, but every other product they make for HD and the regular line is amazing.

Ladies with dark circles..try their HD Concealer...you'll kiss us!

Anywhoo....Makeup Forever's primers are just as good as the rest of their products.

They are lightweight and oil free and create the perfect canvas for the rest of your face paint.

But the best part? Not only does it make your skin look smooth and soft but it comes in 6 different shades to help "correct" your skin!

MUF (hee hee) just came out with a new one that has 50spf!!!

Wow...no more extra step of putting sunscreen under the primer and waiting for it to dry. Silky smooth and UV protection...Done and done!

The other day we opened our new Vogue (YAY! good one) to find a coupon for L'oreal's newest addition...Magic Perfecting Base.

So being the super good and proficient bloggers we are (who are we kidding...we looove new makeup products...we are girls!) we ran our and picked up a tub o' this stuff.

Yes, it's odd that it comes in a tub but once you get the hang of dipping your fingers we think you will super heart it as much as we do.

It totally smoothed out our skin and gave it an almost velvety texture that was so good we didn't need any other makeup (besides blush and concealer of course) on top of it!

You have probably never heard of Pop Beauty UK but you should make friends with it. We got our Face Magnet Primer from Ulta and it's super good!

It fills in lines and pores a little less than the silicone based ones like Smashbox and MUF but it goes on so silkily and smooth it had us at hello.

It has caffeine and Vitamin E in it for firmer, less puffy, more matte and healthier skin. Perfecto!

Ulta usually has $5 off coupons in magazines so keep a lookout for it.

While doing the research for this primer post we came across this next primer.

We are dying to try Dior's version. Considering that everything they make is pretty fantasmic...we are guessing their Skin Flash Primer is just as amazing.

And now the 2 to pass up when you are strolling thru Tarjay or Sephora aimlessly (you know you do it) grabbing everything you think you need...

Rimmel London

It's peach tinted and goes on much like a moisturizer...which is not a bad thing at all it just doesn't do much of anything besides make your skin look a bit orangey.

It also does nothing to control the oil so when you put makeup on top of it...it slides off..

So take that $6 you would spend on that and by something else you can't live with out.

Laura Geller

It's called Spackle which is what made us swoon with cute thoughts. Nope, they should change the name to Shmackle. It costs as much as the better ones and just puts a sheer layer of what seems to be just silicone. It feels and acts very much like the 1st ones worked BITD (back in the day) and we felt like it wore off pretty fast and took our makeup with it.

P.S. Here is some super great info on eye primers for under your shadow...again, from your fave blog...

Get primed and ready to go! We are!!

xoxo things we heart