Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Adding Primer to Your Make Up Routine

  Wow! Last week I felt like I was at death's door with a viral throat infection that left me feeling the worst I have ever felt since childhood. I am wondering if this Pulling Oil had anything to do with it? I took a little break from Pulling Oil to recover and I am now going to start again and report to you my experience at the beginning of September but now I am fine and ready to blog again on the "Wisdom of Beauty".


A few years ago I was at a Laura Mercier event in Henri Bendel's and I let the makeup artist give me a very expensive cosmetic makeover. Whenever I let a makeup artist work on my face I either feel like I am wearing a mask or I end up looking like a hooker. That day I looked like a high class hooker but nevertheless a hooker. One thing the makeup artist introduced me to at that event was makeup primer. She explained to me that before I was to put any cosmetic on my face I was to smooth primer all over it the same way you would prime a wall before you were to paint it. 


I thought she was giving me the hard sell as I did buy the primer but it when I arrived home it immediately went to my makeup draw where expensive makeup goes to die and rarely be seen again.


Lately in the name of research for this blog and to save a little money, I have been doing makeovers on myself at Sephora before every event I attended this summer. I am actually a little shameless as I have hit just about every Sephora in this city multiple times (I am in danger of being put on Sephora's '10 Most Wanted List') to experiment with makeup from every brand they supply. It has been a very glamorous summer for me.


What I noticed with just about every brand was that there were cosmetic primers now featured in the displays and Sephora even has a "Sephora Favorites" display exhibiting mutliple brands of primer.


Even though I felt it was just one more useless product the cosmetic industry was pushing me to buy I decided to experiment and use the primer before I started my mad dash around the store sampling their wares. In the process I have discovered the primers of today are definitely a much more superior product that I had tried years ago. 


After applying the primer on the surface of my skin, my face felt so smooth and moisturized but yet not too dewy. When I placed some foundation on my skin it went on much more evenly than it usually does. I also noticed that I had less creases in my skin. I was very impressed!


Primer is encouraged to be put on right after moisturizing and before foundation. Because of the smooth surface your makeup stays on longer, it helps control shiny skin from oil and nourishes dry skin. 


Some of the benefits of adding primer to your makeup routine are:
  • Creates a perfect surface for your makeup
  • Smooths the skins surface
  • Evens out skin tone
  • Moisturizes your skin and keep it hydrated all day long
  • Stops oil and shine
  • Makeup primers fill in fine lines and wrinkles
  • Makes enlarged pores appear smaller and less visible
  • The makeup glides on smoothly and blends easily
  • Allows your skin to breathe normally as they don’t clog the pores and won't let makeup clog pores
  • Protect your skin from the harmful UV rays’ some primers have a sunscreen and SPF 15 or more

I am so impressed with primers that I might actually buy a tube instead of tricking the girls at Sephora for free samples. I highly recommend you trying a primer out at Sephora or your local department store makeup counter. You will definitely see a difference in the application of your makeup, the longevity of the application and a smoothness and evenness that gives you a photofinish. As a matter of fact, Smashbox named their primer Photofinish and it was one of my favorite primers. However I felt the best for me was Lancome's as they always seem to be the best brand for my skin type. Just click onto this link to research some of the most highly talked about primers and see if there is one for your skin type.


I know what you are thinking, "Thanks Natalie! Just what I need, another product to buy." Trust me I don't make money off of recommending products on this blog and I wouldn't recommend a product if it didn't give me that happiness of feeling as lovely and pretty on the outside as you feel on the inside. As a very old wise man said to me yesterday at the bar at Baltazar, "We should try to do the best with what we have". I am positive he was not talking about makeup primer but I am sure he would encourage feeling and looking our best.


Thanks!

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