Review: No7 Colour Calming Primer and Elf Mineral Infused Face Primer

A lot of people don't use primers before their foundation, personally I can't wear make up without primer! It just dosen't stay as long without it.For those who don't know what primers do, they basically create something on your skin for your foundation to sit on top of, so your skin dosen't absorb it as much and it makes it last longer. Primers can be really expensive though, but it's well worth investing in one if it works for you. Funnily enough, the one I use is really cheap and it's the best one I have used, but i'll tell you about that later. Some good primers I have tried are the GOSH Velvet Touch primer and the L'oreal Studio Secrets Resurfacing Primer. Which are both pretty expensive, the GOSH one is around €18 and the L'oreal one was €20. I don't have either of these at the minute so can't take photos myself but this is what they look like:

Out of the two of these I would go for the GOSH one, you get more primer, a little goes a long way, and in my opinion anyway, the GOSH works better than the L'oreal. It's also a few euro cheaper and you get more so in my head it's a no brainer that if these were the only two primers around that I would buy the GOSH primer everytime.
BUT!! I have two primers that I use all the time, and they are neither of these! They are:

No7 Colour Calming Primer

Claims: Beautifully soft to apply and easily blendable this formula creates a perfect canvas for foundatiom while neutralising and concealing redness

I have been using this for the last year. I have pretty mixed views on it. Okay so I suppose i'll start with what it claims to do. Yes it does get rid of redness, I tend to use this when I have breakouts, or if I have had a cold and have redness around my nose and it's good for getting rid of the redness. BUT easily blendable? It is not! This stuff is creamy, but when you go do belend it in it feels sort of dry, which makes it hard to blend in. Which isn't great, considering that it is green and no matter how much you blend it in, theres ALWAYS some green left on your skin somewhere, even though I always use a small amount. While it does get rid of the redness of spots and other things, it's not the best primer i've used for making your make up stay on, which is what a primer is for.
This primer was pretty pricey too. I got this in a local chemist, though I know all Boots stores stock the No7 range. I got this for €17 euro. I think that it's too expensive seeing as it's only really good for fighting redness and not overly good for actually keeping your make up on your face, but it IS good only because it's good for redness and like I said it's good for times when you have a lot of spots, other wise I wouldn't reach for this.

Elf Mineral Infused Face Primer

The Elf website Claims: Transform your face into a flawless and smooth canvas with the mineral Infused Face Primer. Developed to combat excess oil, flaky dryness, enlarged pores and fine lines to result in a natural and youthful looking radiance. This clear multipurpose skin primer will prepare your skin so makeup goes on evenly for a lasting finish.

This stuff is my favourite primer. EVER. It's great! It's pretty similar to the GOSH velvet touch primer, but it's HALF THE PRICE! Like the GOSH primer, it's a clear gel that goes on as easy as a moisturiser, it just soaks into the skin straight away. It leaves your skin feeling really smooth and makes it look a little better too. Not only does it make your make up stay put all day but it does help with oiliness and those horrible dry patches. You only need a small amount of this though, as I found out the hard way one day by putting too much on, it made my face extra oily, but when you use the right amount this stuff really works.
Now for the best part! It's only €6. Yep €6. The only thing is you can't get Elf products in any shops in Ireland. So you have to get it off their website, (Which is amazing for other products too. I will do a seperate post on that another time though.) I'll put a link to the primer at the end of this post. The primer is in Elf's studio line, and it's also well worth looking at the other things they have on there too. I definatley reccomend this primer if you're looking for a good one or if you want to save money this is a really great alternative to the GOSH velvet touch primer!


Elf website: http://www.eyeslips.face.co.uk

Thanks for reading and take care!


XoX