I'm actually a primer/base fanatic as I'm always for the look out for a good primer. My current go-to primer is the Bare Escentuals primer, but I've been hearing some good things about The Body Shop Skin Primer Matte It from the current Fall '09 collection, so I wanted to try it out. Surprisingly enough, the two are pretty similar.



Bare Escentuals Prime Time can be purchased at Bare Escentuals store (San Fran), Macy's and Sephora. If you've read my older blog, then some of you know that I'm not a fan of Bare Minerals - but their primer isn't so horrible. This primer goes for $28USD I believe and you get 1 FL OZ.

I like that this comes with a pump, but the only thing I don't like about this pump is that sometimes its hard to me to control the amount I want from the pump. I don't usually wear primer all over my face - I only use it on my nose and inner cheeks since that's where I get oily most. When I try use the pump slowly, sometimes it gets stuck so I have to apply more force and I get a little more product than I need. This primer is silky, goes on very smooth and I feel that it hydrates my skin. It smooths fine lines well. This also works well for my dry, flaky spots. Though through out the day, I find that this primer makes my skin a bit oily. If I were to use this all over my face, it actually makes my foundation silde around a bit - I wear mineral foundation. My pores have recently become more noticeable and I find this does nothing in minimizing the look of my pores.


The Body Shop Skin Primer Matte It goes for $14USD at The Body Shop stores and The Body Shop USA and you get 0.84 FL OZ. This comes in a squeeze tube and makes it real easy to control the amount I want. Again, this primer feels silky and glides on smoothly. I don't feel the hydration as much as I do with Prime Time, but that doesn't bother me. Again, I apply this on my nose and inner cheek area, and I find that this does a better job with oil control and my pores actually look smaller. I haven't used this on my whole face yet, so I can't say whether or not it makes my makeup slide around.


You can tell that the Prime Time has a slight runny texture while the Skin Primer Matte It has a gel-like texture. The Body Shop feels a little lighter than Bare Excentuals which I also like.

THE BODY SHOP GETS MY VOTE.

If you have dry to extremely dry skin, I'd recommend the Bare Excentuals since it is pretty hydrating, but either than that I don't think its worth the price. I'm only using it because I want to use it up for my Project 10 Pan. I'd recommend The Body Shop more since it works pretty well and cost a little less. If you don't want to spend $14USD, you can try Rimmel Fix & Perfect, Revlon Face Primer or the Monistat Chafing Relief Gel - they're all below $10USD (except Revlon $12USD) - Monistat at around $7USD and Rimmel being the cheapest at $4USD.