Primetime

Sometimes in life you find a game changer. Something that raises an inner smile, simply because, once adopted, you can’t imagine life without it.

In the mid-nineties the female population experienced a unanimous game changer with the advent of hair-straightens. Yes there were sketchy crimp-come-straighteners-come-hair-shapers before this point, but this was the time that decent irons became readily available and millions of women finally banished frizz for good.

Strangely enough I do not share the collective female joy in straighteners. Having poker straight hair (don’t think I’m being smug- I’m talking stubbornly lank), I’ve never needed them. But I understand their bewildered joy because this is the way I feel about primer.

Until a couple of years ago, most people, me included, had never heard of primer. Then, ever so slowly, it began to creep in, this awareness that foundation was not really the foundation at all, that there was another crucial step that somehow we had all been missing.

Now I can understand why some people might approach primer with skepticism. After all- the introduction of an essentially clear product to sit under your existing make-up does smack somewhat of the emperors new clothes. I probably wouldn’t have got into primer if it hadn’t been for my adoption of bare minerals, which heavily encourages it’d use. Nevertheless, since that first pump, I have not looked back.

You see primer creates a level playing field for your make-up. Start to think about it, and really it makes sense to do some land clearance before you begin to construct your face. It evens out skin texture, reducing the impact of visible pores and instead creating a luxurious smooth finish from which to go forth.

However, merely having discovered primer is not enough for me. I have now become obsessed with finding the primer- the one that that will provide me with a inner facial radiance, the smoothest complexion and a finish that lasts all day. See below for a run down of my exploits so far…

     1.     Bare minerals Prime Time Foundation Primer (£19)- As my first primer experience, this remains the yardstick against which all subsequent primers are measured. Call it first love syndrome, but this is still the best in my eyes- melting into your skin to create the lightest, yet softest textured finish.

     2.     GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer (£12.99)- My least favourite.  Had a tendency to go grainy when cold. Not a quality you look for in a primer when living in a phenomenally under-heated flat. Some mid-winter mornings it was like pulping cotton wool into my face.

     3.     Maybelline The Smoother Skin Retexturising Primer (£9.99)– Better but still had grainy tendencies. I was also finishing the pot at the time I was experimenting with nail extensions, making it a routinely morning mission, and the work of numerous cotton-buds, to access the contents.

     4.     No. 7 Airbrush Away Primer (£19.50)- The great thing about No.7 is that you always have a £5 off voucher for it, bringing the rather dull products into the reasonable bracket. The bad thing about No.7 is that purchasing from the range will invariably lead to another £5 off voucher. And thus the cycle continues. Fantastic at evening out skin texture but also left it slightly dull.

     5.     L’Oreal Paris Lumi Magique Primer (£9.99)- And so this brings us to my current fling. Quite different texturally to it’s predecessors, more of a pearlescent cream than a gel. I bought it in the hope that in would solve my reoccurring problems with lack-luster skin.  When I told my flat mate that I’d bought a miraculous new primer with luminizing properties she was terribly excited, asking me when I planned to try it out. Needless to say it was already on.

So I suppose if this post has a moral, it’s this: Don’t bother messing about, head straight for the Pime Time.