Complexion Perfectors

Complexion Perfectors

Bridging the gap between skincare and makeup, the trend of priming the skin before foundation won’t be going anywhere. More and more innovations are appearing in this corner of the market; from mattifying and pore refining to illuminating and skin protecting so sit back and relax while we review our top picks.

Benefit Porefessional

Elemis Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm

Sampar Glamour Shot

Nanoblur

Paul & Joe’s Primers

Vita Liberata Capture The Light

Benefit’s The Porefessional has reached cult status in the beauty world thanks to its amazing powers of smoothing and refining.  I use The Porefessional daily under foundation, it just glides right on and makes my pores look less offensive as they are rather huge! The slightly nude toned formula with a dash of silicones is perfect for daily wear and can also be used over foundation to touch up as well. £24.50

Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm.

Elemis Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm

A gorgeous, silky product from Elemis and in their typical style, is stuffed full of gorgeous natural ingredients.  This one contains uplifting notes of neroli, bergamot, lemon melange and bitter orange.   This product gives skin a really nice finish if you are going makeup free for the day, to give skin a glow under a foundation base or to mix with foundation to sheer it out and create a more natural base. £32 for 50ml from QVC

Sampar Glamour Shot – £34
A lovely mattifying product for those of us with a tendency to shine the Glamour Shot gives a flawless look to the skin without the heavier siliconey feel of the Porefessional or Nanoblur. It’s not designed to fill in flaws but to lightly absorb any shine and the super light formulation is perfect for oily skins.  Available from selected Marks and Spencer Beauty Halls and online.

Nanoblur is an optical cream designed to fill in lines and pores to give a younger look to the face. The product needs to be patted in rather than smoothed on…the patting motion allows it to get deep into the cracks and craters! This one is great for minimising the look of pores and fine lines although it didn’t manage my major fault line between my eyebrows.  Otherwise everything else looked great, nice and smooth and refined – perfect for nipping out of the house without makeup or creating an amazing flawless base for a major event. £13.33 from Boots

Paul & Joe Protecting Primer. We love this primer as it has SPF30 and a broad UV spectrum so it’s a daily wear essential. There’s a nude tone to the liquid so once on the face it creates a lovely base for foundation or just stepping out of the house without makeup!
The Moisturising primer also creates a nice base for makeup, more ideal for drier skins and there’s no colour to it so absorbs in well.

£22-£23 from Beauty Bay

Vita Liberata Skin Illuminating “Capture the Light Opaque”- £29.95

A gorgeous tinted product designed to add colour and warmth to the face, the Illuminating range has a number of shades – the one we use in the summer is Latte and we recommend Buttermilk in the winter for paler skins. Used up around hairline, cheekbones collarbone or add to foundation for an amazingly radiant glow.  It also has an SPF 25.  From their online store.

L-R Sampar Glamour Shot, Benefit Porefessional, Nanoblur

L-R Paul & Joe Moisturising Primer, Paul & Joe Perfecting Primer, Vita Liberata Capture the Light