12 Make-Up Primers That Will Never Let You Down

Looking for the perfect product to help your make-up last all day long, especially in the region’s warmest months? We’ve done the hard work for you…

As we get closer to summer and the thermostat creeps up, it gets harder and harder for our makeup to stay flawless throughout the day. Primers are designed to assist with a smooth makeup application to give you that grippy clean base, and additionally set the scene for your entire make-up routine by providing you with the best canvas to start with. Some primers are also built with added sun protection and hydration that will help extend the life of foundation on dry skin.

Find our edit of the primers with ultimate staying power here…

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter

Versatile and flawlessly perfect even as a stand-alone product, Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter moisturises for up to 24 hours, blends into your skin to give you a Paris filter-like glow, and can also work as a primer underneath a more substantial foundation, to give an ultra-glowing finish.

Tatcha Skin Canvas

A friend to sensitive skin and a perfect protective primer that shields your skin from blue light and pollution, and also nourishes and moisturises the skin. Packed with special ingredients like silk powder that blurs and minimises shine while it preps your base for makeup, silk extracts that provide hydration, Hadasei-3 that support the skin and make it glow. Tatcha Skin Canvas was inspired by Bintsuke, which is a thin layer of soft wax used by geisha’s to create a smooth base for makeup that lasts all day.

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer

Oil-free face primer by Fenty Beauty, unlike a basic mattifying primer, Pro Filt’r makeup primer smoothens the skin, evens your skin tone and texture, reduces shine without drying the skin, and leaves the face feeling cushion-like without a trace. It feels lightweight and comfortable, and creates a filter-like blurring effect that won’t have you worrying about your makeup.

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer

A cult-like following for the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer that promises to last up to 12 hours and is hydrating. This 13x award-winning primer prevents makeup from looking cakey, fading, and creasing. Backed by ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and blue agave extract, the primer is best for normal to dry skin.

Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer

Over time, this primer improves the appearance of skin by enhancing its ability to retain moisture. In addition to providing 24-hour hydration and 16-hour longer wear, it smooths and plumps skin, minimising wrinkles and fine lines. Glycerin, French Mineral Water, a combination of rose extracts, and Skin Perfecting Complex are the key ingredients that work together to moisturise, protect, and smooth the skin, resulting in a more vibrant and fresh look.

Urban Decay All Nighter Face Primer

True to its name, this primer is said to last through the wildest of nights. It is famous for its staying power and for extending the life of your foundation for up to 8 hours. As a vegan primer, it adds hydration and applies sheer and light. It feels incredibly gentle to the touch. It smooths your complexion so makeup looks fresh and evenly applied, leaving skin feeling slightly lifted and reducing the appearance of fine lines. Wear this primer solo for hydrated, smoother skin and a subtle, all-day glow.

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer

This cutting-edge primer minimises pores, fine lines, and wrinkles, conceals redness, provides a smooth, even canvas for makeup, and offers broad-spectrum SPF 15 protection, all of which improve foundation wear. For all-day makeup wear, it produces a smooth, even surface that guarantees foundation applies smoothly without adding weight or leaving an oily afterglow. The smooth, light, cloud-like texture of the primer applies to skin without leaving it feeling heavy or oily. It provides broad-spectrum SPF 15 sun protection using zinc oxide, titanium, and mineral-derived sunscreens. All skin types, especially sensitive and blemish-prone skin, can benefit from the oil-free solution.

Dr Brandt Skincare Pore Refiner Primer

All skin types can benefit from pore refiner primer, a lightweight, velvety cream that diffuses lines and imperfections, absorbs excess oil, mattifies shine, and produces a smooth, flawless finish with or without makeup. For those who want to reduce pore size, improve skin texture for a perfect canvas, or are concerned about shine or skin colour imperfections, this silky formula can be used on its own, as a makeup primer, or over makeup for midday touch-ups.

Tarte Timeless Primer

This skincare-infused primer uses cutting-edge filling and blurring technology to provide a filtered, soft-focus effect. It creates the ideal surface for makeup application by smoothing wrinkles, fine lines, and pores. Mineral pigments and green bean extract calm and soften skin, while vitamins E and C are natural preservatives and antioxidants.

MAC Studio Radiance Illuminating Primer

Eight hours of calming hydration and brightness are provided by this luminous primer. With a blend of olive oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E for a naturally radiant finish, and hyaluronic acid and glycerin for immediate hydration, this hybrid water-gel solution has Moisture-Reserve Technology. It doesn’t trigger acne and works well for all skin types. Additionally, it offers both short-term and long-term brightness, which makes it the ideal partner for flawless makeup application.

Too Faced Hangover Primer

When long days of work and late nights of play give you a beauty hangover, this replenishing face primer is your instant cure. It hydrates, smooths and brightens skin for a dewy, healthy-looking finish. Hangover is a revolutionary makeup primer infused with coconut water, probiotic-based ingredients, and skin revivers that work together to boost skin’s radiance, promote elasticity, and help hydrate while locking down makeup for fresher, longer, more flawless wear.

Benefit POREfessional

POREfessional is a water-based gel that is lightweight and rapidly reduces the visibility of pores. It makes your skin look perfect by absorbing extra surface oil and reducing shine. The gel’s diamond powder reduces pores and leaves a matte, natural-looking finish. It is convenient to carry with you wherever you go due to its small size. Use it as a base in the morning and lightly tap from the middle of the face outwards to apply makeup. As soon as pores begin to appear, apply a fresh coat. Then, lightly pat the primer onto the T-zone above and blend for that perfectly smooth-looking skin.

Tarte Pores Mattifying Primer

Offers a matte-finish, this waterproof face primer uses optical matte-blur technology to screen out flaws and produces a matte canvas that is shine-free for 12 hours of use. The T5 superfruit complex, a proprietary blend of antioxidant-rich superfruits, avocado, a natural oil rich in vitamins, echinacea root and rosemary leaf extracts, and safflower seed, are the key ingredients for this primer. These ingredients help diffuse imperfections, improve skin tone and elasticity, and neutralise free radicals. Once applied, it provides a matte, shine-free surface on which to apply foundation, making it perfect for oily or mixed skin types.

Lead Image Credits: Beautynation