Prime Time for Primer
Provided by Wendy Michelle Sanders - Owner of Blood and Glitter Makeup and professional make-up artist
As a professional makeup artist I am often asked what products are my favorite and the most important, and the one I name the most is primer. Primer is one of those products that many women don’t use or may not even be aware of, but once they try it they are a new convert to the church of primer!
Primer is meant to be a base to your makeup. It helps fill in fine lines and create a smooth surface on which to apply your makeup. There are many types of primer out there, including vegan primers that you can use under mineral makeups and eyeshadow primers formulated specifically to lock down your eye makeup!
I live in Austin, TX where primer is a necessity to keep your makeup from melting off your face, but there are many other benefits to using this makeup staple.
For people with sensitive skin, primer can help you avoid makeup irritation. Primer creates a barrier between your skin and your makeup. Irritation from makeup, especially for acne prone skin, generally happens when your skin absorbs the makeup, so if you have that barrier of primer there, your skin is less likely to absorb the makeup!
Priming under your eyeshadow. Do you often feel like your eyeshadow doesn’t look as bold on as in the package? Does your eyeshadow crease after a few hours? Primer can fix these problems! Many eyeshadows will crease as your eyelids emit oils throughout the day and cause the pigments to settle into creases. Primer will create a smooth tacky surface for the eyeshadow to sit on which will prevent your skin’s oils from negatively effecting your eyeshadow. This tackiness also helps more eyeshadow stay in place and give your shadow a more saturated and bold look!
Primer helps you photograph better. As someone who works frequently in photography, film, and television, I can tell you that primer is a very important step to insure a person looks their best on screen or in pictures (I use it on men, too!). Primer effects the way your skin reflects light, and the way your skin reflects light determines the quality of your image! Your skin is naturally translucent, and the light of a flash bouncing off the different outermost 5 layers of your skin ( and facial oils!) at different depths can cause your face to appear mottled, shiny, and uneven. Primer helps create a smooth, flat surface for tight to reflect off of giving your skin a more matte, velvety texture.
Sometimes Primer is all you need! I often find myself not wanting to put on foundation, but you can still achieve a finished, smooth look with just primer. Apply your primer as you would under your foundation, and then just dust a nice translucent powder or mineral sheer on top of that! You’ll find your skin still looks more refined without being as made up, and it will help ward off shine throughout the day!
So now that you’ve gotten your crash course in primer, go out there and try some out!
