As we’ve pointed out before, primers aren’t necessarily a step that everyone finds to be essential in their own personal makeup routines, which is understandable. It’s more time and more money. But sometimes, your skin just needs that extra bit of help to get it ready for the layers upon layers of makeup that you will be placing over it.
Now that we’ve given the oily-skinned people some love, let’s talk about their polar opposite: the dry-skinned folks out there. People with dry skin encounter a completely unique set of issues that plague them, especially when it comes to makeup. Therefore, in the spirit of helping people with dry skin (and all types of skin, of course), here are some primers that’ll nourish your skin, and get it to the best possible condition it can be in order to make your makeup look its best:
Price: $9.99
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Starting off this list, we have one of the more inexpensive options on this list from Milani Cosmetics. Because primers are an extra step in one’s makeup routine, it might be good to start out with something more affordable to see if you like the feeling. The Prime Perfection Hydrating + Pore-Minimizing Face Primer gives you practically everything you might need out of a primer that’ll rescue your dry skin. Maybe it lacks a little bit in blurring out texture on your face, but nonetheless, it’s a great place to start.
Price: $39.00
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The BECCA Cosmetics brand really keeps light, illumination, at the core of every single product it puts out, and the Backlight Priming Filter is no different. While not the most hydrating or moisturizing primer in this bunch, this one is designed to give any sort of skin a healthy glow that makes it look soft, supple, and particularly rejuvenated. Use this primer if it’s the general look of your skin that you’re having trouble with, and you might just find yourself as in love with this product as we are.
Price: $29.00
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The major perks of Clinique’s Superprimer™ Universal Face Primer are centered around making the skin feel the best it can. Because of Clinique’s dual focus on skincare and makeup, this product has been formulated to try to merge the best of both, to mostly successful results. What we really love about this primer is that it really goes in on imperfections of the skin, and tries to blur them out the best it can on top of providing a large dose of hydration. We, of course, do wish this helped makeup hold longer, but generally, if you’re not the type to wear a lot of makeup, this’ll do your skin pretty great.
Price: $10.99
The “in your prime” part of the In Your Prime Hydrating Primer’s name is a pretty clear reference to age, and it’s pretty clear that this product is designed—for the most part, at least—for an older crowd. As we grow older, skin does tend to get drier, and it just doesn’t hold makeup as well as it would when we’re younger. What this primer from Flower Beauty does is try to combat those shifts that aging creates in order to create a supple canvas upon which you can do as you wish with makeup. This product does so quite admirably, and in our book, that makes it very much worthy of commendation.
Price: $38.00
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We really appreciate how Laura Mercier takes on the trends du jour of the makeup world and puts their own spin on it. The Hydrating Foundation Primer is one of the more unique formulas on this list. The creaminess of this primer’s texture makes it stand out a lot. And besides hydration, this primer also provides a decent amount of pre-foundation smoothing and evening in terms of texture and skin tone, which we really do appreciate a lot about it.
Price: $52.00
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In our review of this overtly luxurious primer from Tatcha, we gave it a little bit of flak, but when we tried it again, we got to thinking. Yes, we stand by most of our criticism for this product (especially where the price tag is concerned), but for some reason, this product just worked a lot better upon revisiting. The Silk Canvas Filter Finish Protective Primer looks luxurious, feels luxurious, and is priced luxuriously, but it works wonders for dry skin. The level of hydration is nearly unmatched by others on this list, and the “filter” for which it’s named just makes the skin look so great.
Price: $6.00
We’re genuinely impressed by the Hydrating Face Primer from e.l.f. Cosmetics. While primers—especially hydrating primers that come off as too similar to moisturizers—do tend to get a bad rep within the makeup community, we believe this primer overcomes this negative way of thinking quite well. While it does on the surface seem a little bit similar to a moisturizer or a lotion-type product, the way it readies skin for makeup application by blurring and smoothing and softening is all its own, and it definitely put smiles on our faces.
Price: $16.00
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We’ve discussed in the past how NYX Cosmetics’ Angel Veil Skin Perfecting Primer does tend to come off as a simple dupe for other more luxurious primer products, but we truly do believe in the capabilities of this product. The blurring veil is easily the highlight of this product, but the way it softens and even sort-of hydrates skin is truly angelic. We’re still a little bit bummed that this primer leaves a bit of a white cast when it’s applied, but generally, we’re not too bothered by it, especially if you’re wearing a fuller-coverage complexion product over it anyway.
Price: $34.00
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The Hangover Replenishing Face Primer was designed by Too Faced in order to combat what the brand calls “beauty hangover,” a state or condition wherein the skin just doesn’t feel quite right, weird even, when makeup is placed upon it. This primer not only blesses the skin with a plentiful amount of hydration, but also a pretty fantastic amount of smoothing and even oil control—for a primer that is. In our opinion, this is a very easy product to go to in order to take your skin out of whatever bind it’s in.
