After the lovely
Nikki asked for a review of my latest primer Avon MagiX face perfector I thought I'd do a bit of a comparison with the 2 other primers I own- Smashbox Photo Finish & ELF's Studio Mineral primer.
The Smashbox primer was my first ever, I bought the mini version (0.5 oz or 14g) on eBay for something like £12, which, in my opinion, it's reaallllly not worth, but more of that later!
In the bottle it's white and when applied it's clear (obviously!) and scentless. My biggest pore problem on my face is either side of my nose, and I've always struggled to get my makeup to stay on for long enough- like, the whole day please!- even though I've not got oily skin. I don't think it really does anything for either of those problems and this annoys me hugely having paid so much for it (compared to the other two anyway!) and after using it a few times I really didn't see why people raved about it so much, and I still don't by the way! and why anyone bothered using primer at all. I'd definitely not repurchase this, or encourage anyone to buy it, I was tempted by watching QVC (I like the make up shows ok?! :P) and was hugely disappointed.
Enter ELF's studio line!
Priced at £6 for 14g- half the price of the Smashbox primer- this was the one that changed my view on primers, smooth and silky- yummm, silicone!- on my face it leaves my pores looking much much smaller and my make up looks more flawless, stays on longer, and doesn't cling to any dry patches that I may have on my face.
I used this everyday almost without fail though the pump annoyed me as the primer was a little too thick to get through and the way the bottle is shaped means that when you're getting near the bottom it doesn't reach the primer so you have to unscrew it and use it off the pump "straw"- what do you call it!?- that goes into the bottle. Not a huge deal but niggly!
I bought Avon's MagiX face perfector because I wanted something with SPF in for the summer, having it in a primer was ideal and this is SPF 20 rather than a rubbishy 12 or 15.
It retails at £10 on Avon's website (though it's currently included in a 2 for £12 deal!) but I bought it on ebay postage free for £7. There's 30ml in the bottle, which I can't seem to convert, sorry!
My biggest problem with it is it's scent. It's really, really strong when you first get it out of the tube and it's very offputting, especially first thing in the morning.The smell disappears not too long after it comes out of the tube though and I imagine it's connected somehow to the sun protection.
The consistency of this is slightly different to both ELF's and Smashbox's primers, it's a little thicker and harder to spread over your face, but not too difficult that it's a problem, and you probably wouldn't notice it if you'd not just been using silky smooth ELF's one!
The Avon one still makes my face feel smoother, but it doesn't do anything for dry patches on my face. My face isn't dry overall but I get little bits (forehead & nose for example) that get flaky and no amount of moisturiser or exfoliator completely fixes this. This primer, unlike the ELF one doesn't help my makeup go on smoothly over these patches and I don't feel that my make up goes on as well over it, it gets a little patchy for some reason. Basically, I'm actually quite unimpressed with this, it's meant to be £4 more than the ELF one and in my opinion it really underperforms. Definitely wouldn't repurchase and probably won't even continue to use it!
Overally I'd really, really recommend ELF's studio mineral infused primer out of all of them, and they currently have free shipping for today (when ELF get a certain number of fans on their facebook page they often have free shipping, become a fan/"like" it-I still don't get that- to keep up to date with that!) when you use the code
39KLIKEELFUK.
What primer do you use?
I also wanted to say a huge thank you to all my wonderful followers, I've reached 30 today!
Rachel xx
