We’ve talked about quite high-end primers here at Humble & Rich before, but for some reason, we’ve never broached the subject of the Pore & Shine Control Face Primer, which is a shame because this primer for NARS Cosmetics is a really high-quality primer that we enjoyed using.
First off, the creamy texture of this primer is something to look forward to when the product is released. In the texture of the product, we felt NARS’ nature as a more luxurious brand really come out. It just feels so great to dispense the product in the different regions of the face because of its creaminess. Once dispensed and blended out, we immediately saw the pore-control component of the primer at work. It was quite impressive to see the primer do such a great job of blurring out any imperfections that might affect the long-term wear of the makeup to be placed over it. We also appreciated the luminosity of this product despite the matte dry-down. This was especially important to us because full-matte looks can sometimes appear flat, but the little glowiness this primer imparted added a certain level of depth to the skin to make it look just the right amount of radiant. Finally, this product also does excellent work at controlling visible oil production throughout particularly long days—so much so that makeup wear time is positively impacted.
Besides the more expensive price point that we’ve gotten used to from NARS, really, our only complaint about this product is that it can feel pretty significantly drying. We don’t really recommend this product to people whose skin types are on the much drier range of the spectrum, but this definitely works out well in favor of those whose skin tend to get much oilier.
At the end of the day, this product knows for whom it’s made, and it does take active steps to make sure that people with oilier skin do get that extra bit of assistance that’ll make their makeup stay on much better for much longer.
SUITABLE FOR: Normal to dry skin.