40 Days and 40 Nights of Primer Reviews

Primer #36

Today's primer comes from a company that offers products with promising names such as "Hope In A Bottle" and "Save Me" and "A Pigment Of Your Imagination" and "The Greatest Love" -- and who wouldn't be captivated by those names? I surely was. I'd heard that philosophy (yes, small-case p) had a primer product called The Present Clear Makeup, and so I stopped at the counter at Nordstrom where a very kind SA made a generous sample for me to bring home. There is enough product in that little jar to last me many tries, and that's a good thing. You'll find out why as you read.

Philosophy The Present Clear Makeup is also called Skin Perfector and is to be used either on its own or as a foundation primer. The promise of this product is that it "seals in moisture for chronically dry skin" and forms "an invisible bandage" and also has an antimicrobial ingredient called lysozyme. It "promises to minimize wrinkles and pores." With all these promises I almost caved on a full size, full-retail tube, but I thought I'd better at least just test first. I wondered if I had any microbes buried somewhere on my face.

My face looked really clear and bright on the morning that I tried The Present. No more blotchy, flaky, raw areas due to the unsuitable-for-my-skintype primers of last week. I felt as if I were starting afresh. I applied this very thick white cream product to my clean face, and noticed right away a very fresh scent that was nicely invigorating first thing in the morning. The scent is sort of herbal, not offensive, but scent-sensitive types may object. I had a bit of trouble spreading the thick cream evenly over my face, but when I had achieved the application, the white had disappeared and I was left with a semi-matte, smooth appearance. Pores were definitely minimized and my skin felt sort of tightened in a pleasant way. My crepey cheeks seemed less crepey, and I did not see lines under my eyes or around the mouth area. I reached for the La Prairie foundation and began to apply, with my fingers as I usually do, and right away I started to have trouble smoothing out my foundation over top of The Present. It grabbed and would not let go! As soon as my foundation touched The Present, it would not budge. It was almost impossible to even out my foundation and it looked horrible, cakey, sticky, blotchy, thick and ugly. I applied more foundation onto the areas where my face was still bare, dabbed, tapped, blended, but still it was impossible. Maybe it was the texture of the La Prairie, I do not know, and maybe I will try The Present with some other foundation in the future.
At any rate, as disappointed as I was with the look of my foundation, I did like the way my face felt and looked with just The Present alone. I thought I'd try again. I washed everything off of my face, re-applied everything without waiting this time for The Present to dry completely, and learning my lesson from the first foundation application, I worked in small areas and achieved a more even application of the La Prairie this time. I liked what I saw, somewhat. My La Prairie still appeared to look a bit too thick, but at least it was even. I went to meet a friend for lunch and came home later to check.

To my surprise, not a good surprise, the foundation had totally disappeared from the areas around and on my nose. My pores appeared to have huge holes where my pores had no foundation on them (or in them, for that matter!) My nasal-labial line was a huge crack that appeared even deeper than it actually is. There were areas of caked foundation and areas where there was no foundation at all. I tried to think if I had even touched my face all the while I was gone, and I don't think I did. I am certain that I did not stop somewhere and dig product out of my pores. My cheeks still had foundation on them, but in those areas they were dry as a bone, and cakey.

philosophy The Present is actually a very good product to use on its own. The tube even calls it Clear Makeup and I do believe it is well-suited to use just that way. I still like the way my face looked and felt before I put any foundation on over it, and I will try my sample again (good thing there is some remaining, after two uses!) in the future. I'm wondering if there are less microbes in my skin now that I've used it twice. Where did they go? Maybe they will promise not to come back. Maybe that's The Real The Present Promise.

Product Rating (used as a primer)--1
Product Rating (used on its own)--7

Review by Cavewoman
Disclosure: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman.