Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer Radiance – First Impressions

I recently received Smashbox’s newest primer. Named ‘Photo Finish Foundation Primer Radiance’. On the website Smashbox say this-

WHAT IT DOES
• Packed with hyaluronic acid & shea butter for instant, all-day moisture
• 4K, high-definition spheres blur pores, fine lines and imperfections
• Micro-fine amber & bronze pearls create a warm glow
• Evens skin tone and preps skin for makeup application

From reading this I imagine the primer will hydrate my skin throughout the day, make my skin smooth before applying my foundation and other products, reduce the appearance of pores and give me a bronzed glow. I feel this is quite a lot of statements to live up to. As I have said previously I have extremely dry skin, my skin is also ghostly pale so the two statements I am particularly intrigued about are the all day hydration and the bronzed glow. I find it challenging to get a product that really hydrates my skin throughout the day, particularly at the moment with all the bad and freezing cold weather we’ve had here in Northern Ireland my skin has been crazily dry, especially around my nose and at a small rash I have on my cheek. Also as my skin is very pale, products that state they give a bronzed glow normally make me look like an orange Oompa Loompa!!

The primer is quite orange when you open up the pot and has little light reflecting particles in it. It has rather a thick consistency so I warmed it up between my fingers before applying. I applied it over my Bioderma hydrabio everyday moisturiser and below my Urban Decay All Nighter foundation. I was originally taken a back by how much of a ‘bronzed glow’ this gave me, it would probably be fairly natural to someone with a darker skin tone but to my ghostly skin it was pretty orange. Once I applied my foundation, using my Beauty Blender, on top though, the colour warmed my complexion nicely. It applied fairly easily when warmed up between my fingers, the only critique I have at this point is I felt my foundation crumbled around my nose, at my dry patches. It was almost as if the primer was preventing my foundation from sinking into my skin. I finished my makeup and set my face with my Mac Prep and Prime translucent finishing powder and Mac Fix+ spray.

Throughout the day I feel this primer got better, as it sank into my skin I think it really did hydrate my skin, the dry patches around my nose and rash looked less flaky and my foundation and makeup stayed put. I personally think my Mac strobe cream gives my face a better glow but I still liked the glow from this primer, it was just very subtle. All in all I liked this primer enough that I want to keep using and working with it and seeing if I can improve the way I use it.

Has anybody tried this primer before? Please leave comments, I’d love to hear your opinions and make sure to follow me as I’ve a few more first impressions coming up!

PaleGirlRambling xo

 

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