No7 beautifully matte primer vs smash box primer vs benefit porefessional

Hi guys!
Over the past few months I have tried 3 different primers, the no7 beautifully matte primer, benefit porefessional and smashbox oil free primer.

The no7 beautifully matte primer is my least favourite primer of the three. It is very hard to rub into the skin, I'm not really sure how to explain it, as soon as I apply it to my face it instantly dries my skin which then makes it extremely difficult to do anything with it. This is a good thing in a way as it does mattify my skin but I hate the way it feels. At one point I had to use a flat foundation brush to apply it as it was the only way that I could get it to cover my whole face but it actually ruined my foundation brush! Occasionally it will also leave white lines on my face where it won't rub in properly. It doesn't keep my skin matte all day either.

The benefit porefessional is the one that I love the feel and appearance of the most but it doesn't keep my face oil free at all. The packaging is my favourite of the three, as with all benefit products it is super cute! The product itself is like a nude colour and blends really well into the skin, and it does blur imperfections but I stopped using it everyday as it just didn't keep my skin matte and didn't stop my makeup from disappearing throughout the day. It also has the least amount of product in the tube by at least 8ml (it has 22ml, smashbox has 30ml and no7 has 40ml) so although it is slightly cheaper than the smashbox primer it is much less value for money.

The smashbox primer is the one that I use daily, mainly because I paid £25 for it and LJ would get a bit mad if I didn't use it! But also because it is nice to use. The packaging is pretty cute and allows you to see how much product is left in it which is very handy as the other two don't,  and it is a white, creamy product. When applied with fingers it smooths on much the same way as the porefessional does and leaves the skin feeling silky smooth. It doesn't minimise pores like porefessional does, but it does keep my skin slightly more matte for a bit longer. It is the most expensive of the three primers so although I do use it every day I am not sure if I would purchase it again as because it doesn't keep my skin matte all day I'm not sure it is worth the money.

Overall, I'm not sure which primer I like best.  If you don't have a problem with oily skin then porefessional is the one for you! It is the best at minimising pores and imperfections and seems to reduce areas of discolouration too. It would be nice to wear alone if you had blemish free skin too! For oilier skins like mine, the smashbox primer is fine for days when I'm not at work but when I'm at work the air con plays havoc with my skin and dries it out making it produce more oil to compensate. If this isn't a problem for you and you don't mind spending a bit extra, smashbox would be fine.
I'm not sure I will ever find a primer that will keep my usually-not-too-oily skin oil free when I'm at work, but until I do I will just have to keep looking.

Have you tried any of these primers? Or do you know of a primer that will keep my skin matte all day?

X

No7 protect and perfect advanced serum 25+

Hi guys!

I have mentioned this product in my YouTube video and I think in my blog post about my mini haul.
The back of the product says that it takes two weeks to make the skin look more clear and radiant so I didn't want to do a proper review of this until I had been using it for more than two weeks.
The packaging is okay, it is in a white tube with blue writing and a blue cap. The product itself is white and feels quite thick,  i don't know how to describe it other than it seems thicker than a moisturiser.
I use this twice a day, on a morning and a night after I have cleansed my face and used the clinique toner. I use a pea sized amount and apply it all over my face with my fingers. It feels quite creamy to go on, and sinks into the skin really quickly. It leaves my face feeling velvety smooth even before moisturiser.
I have been using this every day since I bought it and it has now been about three weeks since I got it and honestly I can tell the difference. I didn't think my skin was too bad anymore but it seems like it has a more even skin tone,  it looks clearer and it appears more radiant than before.

This is £23.95 from boots but there are always offers on these products so you can usually get them cheaper.

I would recommend this to anyone, it is designed for people aged over 25 but I am only 24 and it works fine for me.

X

My mini boots haul

Hi lovelies,
I have also done a video on this :-)

L temporarily lifted my spending ban at the weekend while we were in Sunderland and we were in boots so I had to buy something :-)
We also bought my mam a burts bees hand cream, cuticle cream and lip balm and a vanilla body set but I didn't take any photos before I gave them to her 😯

Firstly I bought the no7 protect and perfect serum, I am not too worried about wrinkles yet but it promises to clear skin too. It was £23.95 I think but we had a voucher to get a fiver off! I haven't really read any reviews about this but I wanted a serum and this is as good as any. I started using it this morning and the only thing I noticed was how much thicker it was than the benefit instant comeback serum (which I want when I have money to spend).

I got the benefit mini box which was £14.50 but we used the points on our boots card to buy it (I persuaded L by saying technically we weren't spending money 😛). I can't wait to try these properly!! I already have a skincare routine in place so I'm in the process of working out where these can fit into it. I have wanted to try these for a while but didn't want to buy the full sized products in case I didn't like them as they are quite expensive. 

Lastly I bought my favourite thing of the whole trip, the soap & glory breakfast scrub. I mentioned on twitter and Instagram how amazing this is. It smells of maple and I am in love with it!! I didn't even want a Scrub, I still have most of the scrub of your life mini that I got at Christmas but I had to have this! I have used it every time I have been in the shower since then as it smells so delicious!! I am hoping they bring out more products with this smell as I will buy them all!!

Have you tried any of these products?

X
Prettyinpeach04

No7 exceptional definition mascara

Hey lovelies,
I have only been using this mascara for about a week but I am already in love with it!! A few years ago I fell in love with a mascara called one by one which was by maybelline and this is the only mascara I have had since then that has come close to it! The brush is different from other traditional mascara brushes, it has rubber spikes on it (same as the maybelline one) which allows the mascara to be applied to eah individual lash rather than clumping a few together which is why I love it! My eyelashes are naturally dark, long and curled so I don't need to apply much mascara and I never use an eyelash curler as it wouldn't make a difference (I don't know where I got my lashes from, my mams are short and straight!!).  Because of this the only real requirement I have for a mascara is to make it look like I have false eyelashes on without actually wearing any (I have not yet managed to apply them without looking like a drag queen) and this product does that perfectly.  It allows the lash line to look as it if it lined with eyeliner (I wiggle the brush about at the lash line a little bit before brushing it over my lashes), and as each lash is separated from each other it looks amazing.  I can not recommend this mascara enough, although if you have sparse lashes, or short lashes I am not sure how well this product will work, but for me it is my new go to mascara.

I will definately be purchasing the full sized product!

@prettyinpeach04
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Instagram mackembeauty (haven't changed this yet)
Email prettyinpeach04@gmail.com