Ahh the age old question that I didn’t truly know the answer to until last year when I got a primer in my Ipsy bag and did some research.

There are plenty of different kinds of primers and everyone knows you put them on before you do your makeup but.. like why??? For this post I’m going to strictly discuss primers for foundation. There are primers for lips, eyes, pre-mascara primers, etc, but primers that go on as a base for your whole face of makeup are the most popular so I’m going to dive into that.

Types of Face Primers:

There are different types of primers for beneath your foundation. My favorite kind is the thicker more gel-ly like kinds, but there are sprays and liquids. Primers vary by what your goal is. There’s

Poreless- obviously to reduce the look of pores

Oil Reducers- if you have oily skin, you know it can ruin even the best foundations. These primers are meant to keep those oils to a minimum

Moisturizers- on the other end of the spectrum, if you have dry skin you know that your foundation might just flake off sometimes because your skin is so dry. These types are meant to keep this from happening.

Dewy/Matte- these are to increase either the dewy glow or the matte-ness of your foundation. This is totally a personal preference thing.

All primers have the goal of making your makeup look better and last longer and if you can find the right one for your skin type it’s truly worth the extra money. Primers can get very expensive, but I’ve tried many different ones at different price points and it’s not really about cost it’s more about finding the one that’s the right one for your skin type. So in summary you don’t need to splurge to find a nice primer, you just need to know what your individual needs from a primer are.