Oh primers. I'll be honest there was once a time I swore by primers nowadays not so much. I often find myself pondering over the purpose of primers, I mean essentially if your serum/day cream are on point isn't primer just an added unnecessary layer? The majority I have tried have left me underwhelmed (with the exception of a NARS offering & Clinique) I find they do nothing in terms of prolonging foundation and I'm almost sure the majority are to blame for congested skin. So as the weather heated up (for a day, damn you British summer) and my skin got a little more oily I decided to give primers another go, here are my thoughts on TBS's offerings-
Even with the 40% discount code there's no denying both primers left me underwhelmed, save your pennies ladies. TBS 'Matte It' primer has a clear consistency and almost feels gel like in texture. It's a silicone based primer, something I'm not usually a fan of but I thought I'd give the texture a go. This melts into the skin and feels tacky in texture. So tacky that I actually felt the need to cleanse my skin again after applying the primer. This smooths over the skin, but does nothing in terms of pores/blemishes. I'll be honest this felt greasy, so, so, greasy. If anything I actually think this made my skin more greasy after using despite it's claims to offer shine control. Oh yes, its also worth mentioning in terms of shine control (if you didn't guess by the greasy texture bit) there is none. This doesn't prolong foundation, if anything makeup had a tendency to slide and wear away more throughout the day with this primer. This ones a total no go for me and is now gathering dust at the bottom of my makeup bag. What a waste.
Okay, so I know what you are thinking there's still hope but nope I'm afraid The Body Shop Instablur left me equally underwhelmed. Now when a product makes as many claims as Instablur it really does build your expectations. Instablur is marketed as a five in one primer promising to extend make up, unify the complexion, offer 12 hr shine control, reduce pore size and even hide blemishes. So the obvious comparison is going to be to Benefits Porefessional (something I didn't like) the biggest difference is texture and colour. TBS offering is translucent making it more universal and suitable for all skin types. The texture is pretty similar to Porefessional, although a little less cakey/pasty. It terms of shine control I'd give this a thumbs down. If you've tried the NARS Matte primer or Clinique Instant perfecter (both primers that genuinely reduce shine) this primer will seem a little meh. For me this offered zero shine control my t-zone still looked oily throughout the day. I also didn't notice that this prolonged foundation. Pore minimising/blemish hiding, again I have to say I noticed no difference as this applies translucent I didn't find it to do much in terms of concealing spots. With the texture I expected this to smooth over the skin, blurring pores/spots but this sadly wasn't the case. In terms of complexion again as this is translucent I don't really see how it can 'unify' the skin, to promote an even skin tone I'd almost expect a slightly tinted primer.
It's also worth mentioning if you suffer with sensitive skin (like I do) tread carefully, as both primers had a tendency to leave my skin feeling a little congested and in good need of a deep cleansing clay mask. I feel like this was a little bit of a negative nelly one, but if you are going to market a primer as a 5 in 1 with big claims you do expect something a little more spectacular. I'm still on the fence with primers and whether they actually make a difference to make up application/longevity. Perhaps my expectations are too high, who knows. My theory is if it doesn't prolong or make application easier why bother?
Have you tried TBS Instablur? Fan of primers?
