40 Days and 40 Nights of Primers

Today's primer comes from the venerable House Of Guerlain. With supremely elegant products and beautiful packaging, my artist's eye is charmed and enchanted with all things Guerlain. Not to mention the fragrances! But that's not why we are here. We are here to evaluate primers. And so off to the Guerlain counter we went, my Annie and me, with my La Prairie foundation tucked into my purse, bare faced and eager to try the Divinora Pure Radiance Primer. Our SA was named Victoria and when she could not find the tester, she promptly opened a brand new box and pumped out the primer onto my hand. The most amazing feature of the Divinora primer is the presence of little 24 karat gold flecks suspended in the clear gel formula. Yes, real gold! Now I have to say, it's pretty to look at, but I was skeptical. I applied the primer to my face and asked Annie to see what happened to the gold flecks. Annie said she could not see the flecks on my face! And so Victoria started to read the enclosed brochure to us. The brochure states that the 24 karat gold particles "instantly melt into the skin" and gee, that must be true, because they weren't on my hand, they weren't on my fingers, and they weren't on my face! Gold sunk into my skin! I wonder where it goes from there???

Now onto the performance of this product. When the Divinora dried on my face, I felt a very slight tightening and a nice cooling effect. I noticed that I had much more color in my face, not from the clear product (could it be the gold?) but probably because the cooling effect drew the blood toward the surface. It did not dry completely but still felt a bit sticky when I applied the La Prairie over it. Smooth application, no blotchiness, and no tugging or pilling or rolling of either the product or the foundation. Later Annie told me that it looked pretty good. At this point, we both thought we'd consider a purchase.

Before removing my makeup later that night, I checked my skin in the mirror, still searching for gold. I found one teeny fleck of gold stuck to my skin right above my lips. No lines or cracks or creases in the foundation, but it felt very sticky to the touch. I rubbed my cheek lightly with my fingers. Foundation and primer came rolling off as if I were removing a scrub-type product. In other areas, foundation stuck tenaciously to my skin. I washed my face with my usual cleanser but needed a scrub afterwards to remove everything. The Divinora adheres to the skin better than just about any other primer I've tried so far, does not dry completely, and provides a good adhering base for foundation. I'm not so crazy about the fact that it leaves my foundation feeling sticky. But if you want a pretty product with a nice gimmick, and performs well, this might be one to try. If you ever find out where all that gold is, please let me know.
Product rating, 7.

Review by cavewoman
photo from strawberrynet.com