40 Days and 40 Nights of Primers

Again I am turning to makeup-artist lines to try to figure out what it is that a famous makeup artist would want when she or he designs a primer. I'm sure they must see a need to prepare their 'canvas' so to speak, and maybe that's why so many of them have primers in their own lines. But I'm not so happy about the makeup artist primers I've already tried, but I plod onward in the name of the primer-needy everywhere. Paula Dorf Perfect Primer For Normal/Oily Skin is the latest primer in the 40 Primers In 40 Days project. Granted, I am not that oily anymore (and it is Winter here in Ohio, a time when I do get a bit more dry) but I was able to acquire a tube of this in a swap (did you know that the 40 days are also a No Buy For Lent?) -- but that is how clever I am in providing my research!

Before I tried the Paula Dorf, I had done a nice scrub, so my face was clean, and free of flakes and dry patches. I loved the feeling of the primer when I applied it to my face. It is a milky gel-silicone product that is a bit thinner in texture than my Smashbox. It smoothed on effortlessly and felt beautiful. Like velvet. I noticed right away that imperfections, lines and pores were almost invisible! At this point, with high hopes, I applied my La Prairie foundation over the primer. It seemed to me that it took much less of my La Prairie to cover my entire face. I'm now even more pleased. I did find that I needed to use a small concealer brush to dab areas around my nose where the foundation seemed a bit uneven. And then I noticed that I could see my fingerprints on other areas of my face where I had applied the foundation. I smoothed over those also with the concealer brush. Ok, that was not so hard. I can do that.

About an hour later, I started the checking. I have to do this so you will know. My usually dewy, satiny La Prairie was matte! The Paula Dorf had mattified my beautiful La Prairie! And where did those flakes come from? My face looked as dry as the desert. Cracks appeared where I'd never seen cracks before. My pores still did not look large or clogged, and to its credit, my usually oily nose area looked very good, as the primer was seeming to suck up the oil everywhere on my face. I don't mind if a primer does that on my nose. But the rest of my face looked old, crepey, cracky, dull, and tired.

I don't think any primer so far has reacted so strangely on my skin. So I would have to say, if you have very oily skin (and I repeat, this is what this particular formula is for) I can say without hesitation that this primer would be a great one to try. If you like a matte finish on your foundation, again, this Paula Dorf would mattify anything applied over it.

So, to be objective, if this were the formula I need for my skin type, I could give it an 8. I should give it an 8. It is not the primer's fault that it was not the correct formula for me. I think I will see if I can swap for the Dry Skin formula. If I do, I will report that one too. Do you have one to swap to me?
Product rating, 8.

available at beauty.com
http://www.drugstore.com/templates/notcoldept/default.asp?catid=9730&trx=28110
Review by Cavewoman