Product Review: Primer (for yo face, not yo wall)

Since I have some great friends who are in the middle of a home-reno, paint primer was the first thing I thought of when I wrote my title, which is why I needed to clarify this is primer for the face! I actually had no idea what primer was until about 5 years ago when shopping for wedding-day make up. Any girl needs to know that her wedding day make up will stay put and stay flawless and primer helps to make that happen. It also helps moisturize and some have SPF protectant. I literally used it 1 time and relegated it to the bottom of my make-up bag because, as the meme goes, "ain't nobody got time for that".

Well, as I have grown out of my early 20's baby face and have been turned on to more grown up make-up, primer has actually become a regular part of my make-up routine. I have tried several and will share my thoughts about them with you here!

First up, the wedding day primer:

Make Up Forever

I just got another sample of this in my recent Sephora order and was reminded of why it works so well. This is definitely a high quality product, it is light and silky going on. The smell is light, fresh, and clean. It is very thin consistency, so a little goes a long way. It is a higher price tag than I would typically spend - $35, but a fantastic product. 

Benefit Pore-fessional 

This is another super silky product and you could wear it alone if you just wanted very sheer coverage because it is very slightly tinted and helps to even out skin and cover up pores to make make-up glide on easily. I also like this product, but I tend to get a little shiny in the T-zone by the end of a day when I use it. However, I do not like the smell of this one. I can't even describe it to you, but I find it to be icky, but not quite icky enough to not use. This one can also be pricier than I am usually willing to pay ($31 for full-size) but you can get a mini version to try for around $10.

Neutrogena Primer

This was is totally budget friendly ($10 or less) and has a mattifying effect which I loved. It is fairly light consistency and also a thinner consistency so it spreads on easily, and make up goes on easily over it. It kept me pretty matte all day, which is a win in my book. I got it at Target, but I've been back several times and can't find it again!

My fruitless hunt for the Neutrogena primer led me to try this last one -
No. 7 mattifying primer.

Whoa man. Matte for days baby. This one has kind of a sticky formula, which took some getting used to, but it is very effective and budget friendly too. I am using it every day, but probably will try to find something a bit lighter on my next trip to the store since the weather is warming up, I try to go lighter on the facial products in the summer. It is about the same price tag as Neutrogena - $10 or so.

If I had to pick out of all of them, I would go for the Neutrogena one, because it is budget friendly and it had a mattefying effect without being super sticky. However, the Make-Up forever one is definitely a winner in my book as well, and it is a brand I love (I use their foundation and blush too!) but I feel like you should save where you can.