Someone just learning about makeup is going to hear one term after another. A popular word you’ll hear is the term primer. You’ll hear all about primer for beginners and tons of products. It can make the world of primer confusing, but we’re going to simplify things a bit.
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What Is Primer For Beginners?
Primer is designed to give you a blank canvas to create a flawless makeup look. There are several types of primer designed for different places.
Types Of Primer
You’ll come across different types of primers. The primary primers are face primer, eye primer, and lip primer. These are sometimes called other names. For example, you might hear eyelid primer instead of eye primer.
Eye Primer
Eyelid primer for beginners is essential for helping your eyeshadow stay in place. There are different formulas and colors available. People with oily eyelids need a formula to help absorb some of the oil and keep their eyeshadow in place. To make your eyeshadow more pigmented, you can get an eyeshadow primer with a light base.
Eye primer is excellent but not always necessary. If your eyeshadow stays in place, doesn’t crease, and is flawless at the end of the day, you can probably get by without a primer. However, if you experience a lot of creasing or fallout, an eyelid primer is an excellent addition to your makeup routine.
HOw To Apply Eye Primer
To apply eyelid primer for beginners, you use a small brush and apply it all over your eyelid. Some people also use foundation, concealer, or a nude eyeshadow for their eye primer. Whatever works for you is what’s important.
Our Recommended Eye Primers
Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Our pick shade is a creamy nude primer that easily blends into your eyelids. This best-seller primer gives your eyelids a smooth, transparent base that helps your eyeshadows glide seamlessly without creasing. It’s long-lasting vegan formula keeps your eyeshadows vibrant and smudge-free all day long.
What You’ll Love
- Suitable for all skin types
- Prevents creasing
- Longevity
- Vegan formula
- Easy application
Ultimate Shadow & Liner Primer By NYX
The super creamy, plus hydrating formula of NYX’s ultimate shadow and liner primer provides a smooth, natural skin-like blurring finish to your lids. It is perfect for preparing your eyelids for a vibrant party eye look that enhances the sheerness of your eyeshadows and holds them for more extended periods. You don’t have to worry about creasing and fading.
What You’ll Love
- Hydrating vegan formula
- Four color ranges to choose from
- It gives a natural blurring effect
- Longevity
- Lightweight
- Easy application
PRIME TIME® Eyeshadow Primer By BareMinerals
This eye primer for beginners by bareMinerals is perfect for skin showing aging signs. It’s rich, creamy texture and nourishing antioxidant formula provide a smooth base for a vibrant eyeshadow application. Wear your creamy/powder-based eyeshadows confidently for prolonged hours using this super creamylicious eye primer.
What You’ll Love
- Longevity
- Hydrating and clean formula
- Perfect for normal, dry, and oily lids
- Prevents creasing
- Safe for lens wearers
Lip Primer
Lip primer for beginners does the same thing as other primers, but it’s for your lips. Your lips are far from smooth, which can help you get the soft look you want. It’s also a great way to help your lipstick last all day.
Lip primers are usually white and come in a lipstick tube or look like crayons, similar to eyebrow pencils. You apply them as you would lipstick, covering your entire lip in the product.
Our Recommended Lip Primer
Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Primer
Another cult-favorite everyday item that preps your lips to create a natural pouty, glossy look. This hydrating lip primer for beginners creates a colorless base to lock in your lip products for longer periods without color fading or lipstick bleeding. You can also wear it alone or pair it with your go-to lip product for a refined natural, glossy look.
Highlights
- It prevents lip color fading and feathering
- Best for glossy lip products
- Colorless
Face Primer
Face primer is the makeup term you’ll hear more often than eye or lip primer. If you wear a full face of makeup, you need a good primer for your face. A primer can help create a flawless base so your makeup doesn’t crack or crease.
Primers can also help address various other issues. Mattifying primers can control oily skin and dewy primers give you a radiant complexion. Green primers help neutralize redness to promote an even complexion.
Should I Use A Primer If I Have Oily Skin?
Yes! You probably need a primer more than people without oily skin. As the day goes on, you’ll notice that the oil on your face will start to soak through your makeup slowly. In the best-case scenario, this will give you a dewy look.
In the worst-case scenario, it will ruin your makeup, make your face look too shiny, or make your makeup cake. If you have oily skin, make sure that you use a mattifying primer.
How To Apply Face Primer For Beginners
This is the first step in your makeup routine. You should do this after your skincare routine and before applying foundation.
Squeeze the primer onto the back of your hand. Then, gently rub it into a circle to help warm it up. Do not use too much; you only need a pea-sized amount.
Next, dab it onto your face. Finally, you want to swipe your finger across your face to apply it, just like applying foundation with a beauty blender. Make sure that your primer is evenly applied all over your face.
I put little dots of primer on my face and then rub it in. You can also dab your fingers in the primer on the back of your hand and apply it. Some people prefer to use a blender, but you can apply primer however you’d like.
Do You Rub In Primer?
I tend to wipe my primer across my face more than rub. However, you get the same effect either way. Some makeup artists recommend that you rub the primer into your skin to help your skin absorb more of the product.
I’ve tried it both ways, and it didn’t make a difference with my makeup at the end of the day. It does dry and absorbs quicker if you rub it into the skin.
How To Choose A Face Primer
All the products are almost identical if you choose an eye or lip primer for beginners. That is not the case when you’re shopping for a face primer. There are so many products that it doesn’t take long to get overwhelmed. Consider these things to find the ideal face primer for your situation.
Consider Skin Concerns
Primers are designed to do different things. For example, some primers are specifically designed to help your pores look smaller. Others can help fill in wrinkles and fine lines. Color-correcting primers can help you skip the step of correcting discolorations, such as dark spots or age spots.
Desired Look
Always consider the look you want before selecting a primer. Mattifying primers reduce the shine on your face, while dewy primers provide a dewy complexion. Cloud makeup calls for a finish that isn’t quite dewy or matte, such as a radiant finish.
Skin Type
Whether you have oily or dry skin will affect the type of primer you use. Make sure you know your skin type before entering the makeup world.
If you have oily skin, you’ll want a mattifying primer. Look for a primer for beginners with salicylic acid to help prevent some of the oil.
Illuminating or hydrating primers, such as Illamasqua HydraVeil, work best on dry skin. They help keep makeup in place and give skin the hydration it needs.
Some combination primers on the market work wonderfully with oily and dry skin. My skin needs tend to change over time; sometimes, I have combination skin. Dr. Brandt Primer is great for those periods.
Water Based, Oil Based, And Silicone Based
Different primers have different bases. It’s crucial to ensure that your primer and foundation have the same base because water and oil repel each other. The two will not work together using a water-based primer with an oil-based foundation. Silicone-based primers can also make oil-based foundations look spotty as the day progresses.
Certain people will find that water-based primers work better for them, while others may benefit from silicone-based primers. The ingredient list can help you determine which category a primer falls into.
Water Based Primers
Water-based primers are absorbed quickly and work well with dry skin. They are also ideal for sensitive skin. These primers are typically packed with nourishing ingredients and are less likely to irritate. In general, water-based primers feel lighter on the skin.
When you look at the ingredient list, you’ll notice that there are no silicone-based ingredients. If there are, they are further down on the ingredient list. Some water-based primers have ingredients or silicone in them, but those ingredients are not at the top of the list because the product does not have much in them.
If you want to avoid silicone altogether, opt for a primer labeled as silicone-free. Most primers, even water-based primers, contain silicone.
Oil Based Primers
Primers with oil as a base tend to sit on the skin longer before absorption. This can prolong your makeup routine because you must wait for them to dry before proceeding to the next step.
You’ll see the word oil or an oil ingredient at the top. Look for ingredients like argan oil or mineral oil. More commonly, it will be in the product’s name, such as face priming oil.
Silicone Based Primers
Silicone-based primers are suitable for filling fine lines and wrinkles and blurring pores. However, they can cause breakouts if you have sensitive or acne-prone skin.
These primers are also great for anyone with oily skin. They typically have a mattifying effect that controls shine. The silicone can help create a barrier between your makeup and your face to ensure that the oil your face produces doesn’t mess up your look.
Silicone-based primers have a thick texture similar to jelly. Gel primers are also commonly silicone-based, but read the ingredient list. Some gel-like primers are water-based. The thick texture does help protect your skin from environmental harm, though.
If words end in -cone, -methicone, -silicate, -silicone, or -siloxane at the top of the ingredient list, you have a silicone-based primer. Water is almost always at the top of the ingredient list. It doesn’t mean that the product is water-based. Water is necessary for every liquid product to spread quickly.
Our Recommended Face Primers
The POREfessional Face Primer By Benefit Cosmetics
The POREfessional by Benefit is the OG of all pore blurring primers. This bestseller is obsessed with its blurring superpowers, like minimizing the appearance of enlarged pores and fine lines and blurring out skin imperfections.
Highlights
- Cult-favorite pick for blurring the look of pores and fine lines
- Silky-soft blurred base effect
- Translucent
- Lightweight
- Non-comedogenic
- Contains Vitamin E derivative
Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later Mattifying Primer
The mattifying formula helps create a smooth canvas for even makeup application while blurring pores for a filter-like finish. It helps control oil to prevent a greasy shine while minimizing imperfections like fine lines. It’s also sweat and water-resistant, cruelty-free, and long-lasting to deliver the look you want all day.
Why You’ll Love It
- Controls shine
- Blurs imperfections
- Cruelty free
- Long-lasting
Butter LONDON Cool Blue Face Primer
The clear formula makes this an excellent primer for every skin tone. The fast-drying formula ensures you won’t spend hours applying your makeup. Infused with skincare ingredients like Vitamin B, it’s effective and nourishing. The gel-like consistency feels soothing on your skin while this primer goes hard to work blurring imperfections. It’s so easy to use and versatile it’s a wonderful primer for beginners.
Why You’ll Love It
- Suitable for all skin tones
- Blurring
- Luminous finish
- Promotes an even skin tone
Tahitian Breakfast By Dew Of The Gods
Tahitian Breakfast is one of the latest in a long line of impressive vegan products by Dew of the Gods. The creamy formula is infused with vegan collagen for a glassy boost that delivers an instantly dewy complexion. Plant and fruit extracts work hard to give you the perfect amount of glow while ingredients like glycerin strengthen your skin barrier. It’s like a powerhouse morning smoothie for your skin.
Why You’ll Love It
- Dewy finish
- Doesn’t cake
- Vegan
- Hydrating
- Tones and evens skin
FAQ
Is Dr. Brandt Pores No More Luminizing Primer water or silicone based?
This product is water-based. Not only does it not have silicone-based ingredients at the top of the list, but you can also tell by the lightweight feel and thin texture.
Is face primer necessary?
No, it’s not necessary for everyone. If you have no skin concerns and your makeup is flawless all day, you probably won’t benefit from using a face primer. However, few people fall into that category, so most people consider it a necessity.
Can I wear primer without makeup?
Of course you can! Primer for beginners can still give you the look you want even if you don’t want to wear a full face of makeup. Many people do this to create a dewy glow or mattifying look when they have extremely dry or oily skin.
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