40 Days and 40 Nights of Primer Reviews

Primer #37

Today I could barely look at my La Prairie Concealer Foundation, let alone reach for it to apply over today's primer, so I made a compromise. Let me explain.

I've had a love-hate relationship with my jar of Bare Escentuals bare minerals foundation ever since I bought a jar many years ago. I finally figured out that my disappointment with the product was mostly due to my choosing the wrong shade, and when I went up one shade lighter, most of the problems (it made my pores look very large) diminished greatly. However, there was still too much of an appearance of pores, so when I heard that Bare Escentuals had created a primer, I was off to the BE store to beg for a sample. If you think you can get a larger sample than the half-pump that the BE SA gave me, I would like to hear if you are successful. I took my pitiful half-pump sample jar over across the mall to the Sephora store, where a lovely SA pumped more of the primer into my jar, and with a chuckle, she mentioned to me that if I liked it, to come and buy from Sephora. I reassured her that I would.

Bare Escentuals Skin Rev-er Upper is the name of this primer. It is designed to "create a smooth surface for the bare minerals foundation" and "to prepare the skin for flawless makeup application every time." It contains glycolic and salicylic acids, good for exfoliation and for keeping pores clear, but I wasn't sure that these ingredients would be good under foundation.

I applied the Skin Rev-er Upper to my clean face. It is a thick white liquid that spreads lightly and with a slippery texture, a dab goes a long way (maybe that BE SA did give me the correct amount and wasn't being stingy!) and it dried quickly with a slight tightening feel to it. I did not mind, but I wasn't too crazy about the slight chemical smell. I did notice my pores seemed tightened too, diminished in appearance, and my face felt a bit tingly but not in an uncomfortable way. Since I was just not wanting to reach for the La Prairie, but I'm using that foundation for all the primers, I thought that I should try this primer with not only the La Prairie, but also with the Bare Escentuals bare mineral foundation, since that is the foundation that BE offers to wear over top of the primer. I applied the bare minerals to one side of my face over the primer (swirl! tap! buff!) and the La Prairie to the other side.

It was easy to get a smooth, even application of my La Prairie over top of the Skin Rev-er Upper. It took much less La Prairie than I'm accustomed to using, and the primer did not mattify or oil-ify my foundation. It looked the way I like my La Prairie to look, and I did notice that my pores looked smaller. I did not notice either a diminishing or accenting of the lines in my face.
On the bare minerals side, the minerals have a slight sheen on their own, and the primer did not affect that sheen at all. My pores looked the same as they do when I apply the bare minerals without primer, not huge but still too visible to suit me. At this point I would usually apply the BE Mineral Veil (their version of a loose finishing powder) over top, but I'm doing research and there is nothing usual about wearing two different foundations. It's science, as well as beauty!)

A few hours later, I checked my face, both sides, very carefully. The bare minerals side remained without change, the tingle was still there but still did not bother me, since sometimes the bare minerals tend to make me feel a bit itchy. But the La Prairie side was disturbing. I noticed that there were areas where there was no foundation at all, areas where my foundation was dry and cakey, and there were little pills and rolls of who-knows-what all over my face. I guess this must have been the Skin Rev-er Upper doing its exfoliating thing with my skin, the primer itself, and the foundation! I rubbed a bit with my fingers. The effect was as if I had applied scrubbing grains to my face, it was that strange! I will not go into detail here because you are in front of your computer and I do not wish for you to have a reaction that could ruin your screen or keyboard.
If you have an imagination, now is the time to use it.
I will just say that I do believe that Skin Rev-er Upper is more of an exfoliating treatment product and not a primer, if used under any other foundation other than the bare minerals. That side of my face looked the same at the end of the day as it did when I applied the products in the morning. It helped the bare minerals to stay put all day, although it did not diminish the appearance of my pores as it had promised to do. I have to give this primer two ratings.

Product rating under BE bare minerals: 6
Product rating under La Prairie foundation: 1

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