Most people’s makeup routine begins with slapping on some foundation, followed by concealer, blusher, bronzer, highlighter… and the list goes on. The primer is largely ignored as it seems like an “extra” step which you could save time on by eliminating it completely.
However, if you wish to achieve flawless-looking skin that looks and stay on good, it’s recommended that the primer becomes your important first step. This especially holds true for those with dry skin, as primers are no strangers to when it comes to hydrating the skin.
A great companion to moisturisers, primers work to give your skin a smooth yet strong finish for you to build your makeup on.
Here are the best primers that are great on dry skin!
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If you’re desperately searching for a way to achieve smooth poreless skin, you should definitely consider Maybelline’s Baby Skin Pore Smooth. As a primer that blurs and minimizes your visible pores in order to give you Korean glass-like skin, it is especially good for people with uneven skin tone. Users have reported that it blends into the skin easily in for a smooth finishing.
The secret behind its effectiveness? Cherry extracts, known for their antioxidant properties. Aside its extremely affordable price, the primer is so lightweight, that you’ll easily forget that you’re even wearing it. It is ideal to be applied on normal or dry skin, but not so much on oily skin.
Laura Mercier, a world-renowned brand and pioneer of the ‘flawless face’, offers a moisture-rich primer named Pure Canvas Primer Hydrating. By helping you to retain moisture on your skin, it keeps the skin bright and fresh all day, thus toning down any wrinkles and fine lines.
At the same time, because it is super lightweight, this primer is perfectly comfortable to wear under makeup while prolonging your makeup for an extended period of time.
The Pure Canvas Primer Hydrating boasts of its ability to improve complexion by refreshing parched pores. Moreover, the primer is fortified with olive extract to give your skin extra hydration, along with marine hydra botanicals that promote moisture replenishment over the long-term.
Next on our list is the Dermalogica Hydrablur Primer, a highly recommended makeup essential if you wish to achieve flawless-looking skin that’s free from large pores.
The primer works to minimize the visibility of wrinkles, and fine lines while refining pores. This primer also mattifies against unattractive oily shine to give the face a silky-smooth finishing touch. Don’t worry about dyring your skin, as the primer contains Abyssinian Oil which provides ultra-hydration and locks in moisture, ultimately smoothening your skin.
The Hydrablur Primer is good for providing light to neutral coverage. With that, it can be worn just on its own for smooth and bright-looking skin or before foundation for the makeup to remain intact all day.
On the flipside, the primer is much pricier than many other products listed here.
Suitable for all types of skin including sensitive skin, the Too Faced Hangover Replenishing Face Primer gives your skin a radiance boost by promoting skin elasticity. It absorbs into the skin quickly and easily, creating a smooth face canvas on which to build up makeup.
One of its main selling points is that the primer is infused with coconut water, which greatly aids in hydration. A bonus point is that it gives a pleasant scent without irritating sensitive skin.
Although it doesn’t really minimize the look of pores, many users love how it provides ample moisture and hydration to the skin. The bad news is that the primer has been reported to be quite sticky once it dries, due to its thick consistency.
As one of the first brands to take a dermatological approach in offering skincare products, Clinique developed the Superprimer Universal Face Primer to help consumers battle with uneven skin tone. It makes use of hyaluronic acid to re-plump the skin, improving elasticity and evening out the skin texture, making it ideal for applying makeup.
While this colour-correcting primer gives the skin a smooth satin touch, it looks almost invisible on the skin, thus giving your face a natural makeup look. The best part is that the primer is made from an oil-free formula that is suitable for all skin types and all ages, including users from the more matured age group.
People with uneven skin texture usually suffer from rough, coarse, dull, dry, and often sun-damaged skin. However, with the ability to correct bad complexion, the Becca First Light Priming Filter solves this problem by keeping your skin well-hydrated, providing elastin support and collagen to your skin.
One of its unique points is that it’s made with cool light technology, which scatters translucent violet light that brightens and evens out imperfections.
The primer contains several natural ingredients, such as ginger which energises your complexion, citrus fruits which keep your skin fresh and awake, and prickly pear flowers together with mineral-rich spring water that captures moisture to revive the skin.
Do take note that although the primer is marketed to be suitable for all skin types, users have reported that it isn’t ideal for oily skin.
Yes, it’s possible for your skin to be dry while being acne prone at the same time. When the skin is too dry, more sebum is produced by the skin glands to counteract the dryness. Said-sebum build-up then causes acne.
But we have a solution: the Tarte Poreless Mattifying Primer, created to substantially minimize the appearance of bumps and pimples on your skin.
Made with optimal matte-blur technology, this primer effortlessly blurs the visibility of pores and other imperfections to leave your skin more refined-looking. It also reduces shine that is so common among acne prone skin.
Overall, reviewers have found that this primer blends super easily with foundation. One particular user shared that the base doesn’t crease and that it looks fresh even after more than 8 hours.
A highly recommended primer for extremely dry and dehydrated skin, the Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Hydrate Primer instantly moisturizes dry skin to give it a refreshed look. It boasts the ability to keep the skin hydrated for up to 12 hours. Additionally, true to its name, the primer is pore-minimizing, toning down on visible pores and fine lines that are so prevalent on dry skin.
The secret behind its effectiveness is that it contains hyaluronic acid, which attracts moisture into the skin, complemented by shea butter, known to smoothen and hydrate flaky skin. There’s also vitamin E derivative to help protect the skin from free radicals.
According to many reviewers, the POREfessional Hydrate Primer is widely-praised for its oil-free component that makes it non-oily and non-sticky when applied on the face.
Despite its fairly low price, the Etude House Fix & Fix Tone Up/Pore Primer SPF33/PA++ does an excellent job of providing a flawless skin base that’s perfect to build makeup on. Its rose colour particularly corrects dull skin, ultimately making your skin look bright and fresh all day.
Many users love it for its colour correcting essence, which further enhances its function as a primer to create a smooth and long-lasting base. And unlike many other primers, the Fix & Fix Tone Up/Pore Primer SPF33/PA++ works as a light sunscreen as well since it contains reasonable SPF.
It is also noted that the primer cover pores quite well too, and all that for an extremely affordable price.
The area under your eyes is extremely delicate, which is why Smashbox introduced the Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer, specifically catering to the under-eye area. Made with an ultra-hydrating formula, the primer significantly reduces puffiness, dark circles, wrinkles, and age spots.
Other than that, it has soothing qualities to improve skin tone and texture. You could even opt to store it in the fridge so that when applied under your eyes, your skin will feel even more refreshed!
One of its unique points is that it’s formulated with anti-ageing caffeine and peptides. Both ingredients reduce the release of chemicals that cause fine lines, ensuring that the skin does not age quickly. Nevertheless, based on the reviews, the primer doesn’t have very good hydrating qualities although it does a superb job of minimizing dark circles.
Achieving dewy, “glass” skin is one of the most sought-after skincare goals, and you can make that into reality with the Mac Prep + Prime Natural Radiance. Rich in natural ingredients, the primer provides long-term hydration in order for you to achieve dewy skin characterized by a youthful and radiant glow.
Its silky gel emulsion is primed to promote smooth texture, soften the skin, control oil, and improve radiance. All this is possible because the primer contains Vitamin C and E that work as antioxidants, while its caffeine infusion helps to calm the skin.
Do note that the primer contains fine glittery particles, intended to create the “Lumière” effect which some would dislike due to its unnatural look. Furthermore, in terms of whether it works well on both dry and oily skin, the primer received mixed reviews.
FAQ
How does primer help dry skin?
Most makeup primers function as hydrators to draw water into the skin, making it a great tool to counteract extreme dryness. By softening down parched and dehydrated skin, primers do an excellent job of prepping the skin for makeup to keep it in place for longer periods of time.
Ultimately, primers help to make your complexion look smoother and softer so that it also looks more refined.
For people with dry skin, wrinkles and fine lines often look more pronounced, but applying a primer helps to even out these lines, along with any other imperfections on the skin such as pores, pimples, and blemishes.
While a primer isn’t a must-have in your makeup kit, it complements the other skincare products, particularly moisturizers and foundations, to give the skin a little extra hydration.