Unpopular Opinion: Laura Mercier Radiance Primer

Laura Mercier Radiance Primer / $19.50

Another one of these posts — I don't love doing them but sometimes they just need to be done. My only worry with doing things like this is: I don't want people to think "oh she doesn't like it so I won't either" because that's not the purpose of this post. The purpose of these Unpopular Opinion posts are just to let you in on things that don't work for me specifically and the details surrounding why. Just because it doesn't work out for me, just because I don't like it for X reason, absolutely doesn't mean you won't love it! With that said, here we go.

I love me some Laura Mercier. I'm a huge fan of her Silk Creme and Mineral foundations and most other things that she does (well with the exception of this). So many bloggers love this stuff and I've seen it over on Kate and Vivianna's blogs, two ladies I trust when it comes to cosmetics. That with the fact that I've been lusting over this for ages made it all the more worse when I just couldn't get this to work with me.

I've heard people say it gives the perfect glow, smooths over your skin and blurs imperfections. What I found was it made me look shiny not luminous — I tried using different amounts of this stuff, from small to big and still, shine. Another issue was it made my pores look so crazy and huge. I never have issue with my pores looking big or noticeable so when this happened I was totally put off.  For a second opinion I even enlisted Richard to tell me what he thought and alas, he was in agreement. Although I was a bit wary, I tried it a few more times with a few different foundations. Still? Same results each time. I just do not love the look this gives my skin, which makes me a little sad inside. I have to keep reminding myself that there are plenty more primers in the sea but I just really had high hopes for this baby.

Though I am pretty bummed, it'll be alright. I still have my Pro-prime (which I really love now) and my BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector — two things that just work for me when it comes to achieving the perfect base. So that's that. Love at first sight and broken heart at first application. So it goes.

What do you guys think of this primer? What are some of your favorite primers?!

P.S. rented a Nikon for the weekend, if the photos look odd it's because I am having the hardest time getting used to it, lulz. Sowwy!

NARS Pro-Prime Multi Protect Primer

NARS Pro-Prime Multi Protect Primer · $32

While in England I took a look in Harvey Nichols (so dangerous) and hopped over to the NARS counter. Everyone is always raving about their Sheer Glow foundation so I figured I'd see what all the fuss is about. Because being in England always has this whirlwind effect on me, I find myself being way more susceptible to being talked into things I probably don't need. Primers included.

At first I didn't like this primer at all — I just didn't get on with it and I'm not sure why, but after giving it a few more weeks I actually quite like it. Is it love? Well, I wouldn't go that far but I am enjoying it.

When you first rub this into your skin it leaves a nice sheen (as you can kind of see in the second swatch photo) but it ends up drying matte. I was hoping my skin would stay all luminous and glowy, but alas, it didn't. This stuff is extremely light and leaves your skin super soft while which is a total plus. It also seems to calm my skin ever so slightly, bringing the redness down juuuuust a bit. It does also help with foundation longevity but it's not that much better than the Smashbox primer I was previously using which is why I'm still on the fence. I can definitely see this as something I'll be loving come summer, especially with that added SPF 30 (protection is important, kids). That said, as an every day, all day primer, I'm not convinced that this is the one for me.

Has anyone else tried this primer? If so, what are your thoughts? What are your favorite primers/ones that you would recommend?

Benefit The POREfessional

Benefit The POREfessional · $30

First things first — you don't have to have issues with your pores to get great use out of this product. My pores are basically invisible and I have normal skin, but this is something that I couldn't really see myself without. On days where I want more of a matte base or have specific areas that I want more matte, I'll use this. I do (mostly) use it in addition to the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm; using the balm around my eyes and this stuff on my forehead, nose, and chin. 

The POREfessional is really great for hot sunny days as it seems to help keep my makeup intact and oiliness to a minimum, no matter how much I sweat. It glides on really silky just like the bottle says and does one hell of a job for being so lightweight. It also helps even skin tone when I have a bit of redness from the heat, which means I end up using less foundation in the long run. All in all it's a pretty awesome little primer/balm and I can't wait to see how it holds up to the East Coast heat and humidity!

Have you used The POREfessional before? What do you think of it?

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm · $45

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm is a product I've heard a lot about, especially from the UK bloggers that I follow. Though I haven't really been into skincare before, I'm starting to get into a basic daily regimen. I have normal skin, I rarely break out, and redness/oiliness isn't really an issue for me. For a while I naively figured that if I had such great skin I didn't really need to partake in cleansing, toning, exfoliating, etc. but I'm slowly learning that the more I take care of my skin now, the better it will be in the future. 

Beauty Flash Balm can be used two ways: as a primer/base for makeup or as a  10-minute mask. The directions (for the base/primer) say to smooth onto the skin — don't rub — and immediately apply makeup, so that's what I did and the results were pretty fantastic. Almost immediately I saw my skin go from normal-dull to dewy and the addition of my liquid/créme foundation only made it better; I was basically glowing. My makeup lasted all day without needing any touch-ups so I'm pretty thrilled at the results. I'm interested to see the effects it has on my skin over time and if it really does "minimize signs of fatigue/stress" because god knows we all need a little help with that sometimes!

Have any of you tried this before? What other Clarins products should I check out?