The 9 Best Natural-Looking Makeup Primers, Tried & Examined
After years of glassy, ultra-dewy pores and skin, there was a noticeable shift in the way in which that we’re all sporting our base make-up this yr, and that features the best primers. Autumn/winter 2026 has ushered in a extra subtle strategy to pores and skin, with blurred, soft-focus finishes that look polished with out wanting closely made up. And we’ve seen the impact throughout purple carpets too, with celebrities stepping out with pores and skin that appears {smooth} and luminous whereas nonetheless retaining a way of actual texture. Because of this, I’ve discovered myself gravitating away from “no-makeup makeup” looks, packing away my skin tints and embracing extra velvety foundations and concealers. However, whereas I used to see make-up primer as an non-obligatory additional, my pores and skin has modified and so has the way in which that my make-up wears.
Now that I’m 37, my as soon as excessively oily pores and skin is now concurrently vulnerable to shine and dehydration, which means that carefully-applied basis can fade, cling to texture and usually look much less contemporary because the day goes on. So whereas, for a very long time, I noticed make-up primer as an non-obligatory additional—one thing that I’d attain for earlier than an enormous occasion however hardly ever bothered with daily—it now seems like a needed step in protecting my natural-looking base intact.
What Is a Makeup Primer?
From hydrating choices that {smooth} over dry patches (see our information to the best primers for dry skin) to oil-controlling primers designed to cease your make-up from going patchy by lunchtime, these merchandise provide a lot extra than simply longevity. “Primers are good should you want your make-up to final or just need to blur any imperfections, and are particularly good in areas like across the nostril,” explains superstar make-up artist Tania Grier. “Anyone can use them so long as you match them to your pores and skin sort, and there are many choices in the marketplace for dry to oily pores and skin.”
Latest Videos FromWho What Wear
How to Use a Makeup Primer
As somebody who likes to maintain my make-up routine as easy and streamlined as potential, including a primer was by no means excessive on my agenda. However, I nearly consider it because the final a part of my skincare routine. After making use of my SPF, I have a tendency to use a small, pea-sized quantity of primer utilizing my fingertips and focusing particularly on areas like my brow, chin and nostril the place make-up tends to fade first.
“I wouldn’t say they’re important for most individuals, however an excellent primer positively has its place, and I all the time have a range in my professional package,” says Grier. “For brides, it actually will lock that make-up in in the course of the day and for any occasions lasting various hours, I’d advocate a primer simply to maintain make-up in place, particularly in a sweaty nightclub or on a trip in a damp atmosphere.”
The Best Natural-Looking Makeup Primers
1. Vieve Skin Nova Instant Radiance Primer
Pros
- Instantly boosts radiance
- Can put on alone or combine with basis
Cons
- Might be too glowy should you’re used to a matte base
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
I’d have prevented a radiance-boosting primer just like the plague a decade in the past when my pores and skin was an entire lot oilier than it’s now. However, I’m now 37 and for the previous few years I’ve had one intention for my make-up, and that is to rework my quite boring and tired-looking pores and skin into one thing vivid and glowy, and Vieve’s Skin Nova does simply that. It turned a staple in my make-up bag after having my first baby after I’d put on it alone so as to add prompt radiance, however now that I’m again into sporting slightly extra make-up on my face, it acts as a glow-boosting prep step. Infused with beta-glucan, niacinamide and rose water, it has a stunning skincare-meets-makeup high quality that makes my pores and skin look contemporary earlier than I’ve even utilized basis, and I really like that it provides a layer of hydration in addition to extending the longwear of my make-up.
2. Prada Refine Blurring Extending Primer
Prada
Refine Blurring Extending Primer
Pros
- Gently exfoliates and smooths pores and skin
- Minimises shine with out completely mattifying
Cons
- Won’t swimsuit very dry pores and skin varieties
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
If I’m going to make use of a make-up primer then I would like one which does a lot extra than simply serving to my make-up to stay to my face for longer, and Prada’s Refine Blurring Extending Primer is the right instance. Aiming to enhance the precise texture of the pores and skin by means of a mix of exfoliating acids (salicylic and lactic, to be exact), it reduces the looks of nice strains and pores to create a very {smooth} canvas for no matter you apply on prime. I’d say it’s significantly good for mixture pores and skin that may be each dry and oily, in addition to anybody like myself who has fairly uneven texture. Combined with a layer of pores and skin tint or concealer, the result’s velvety-smooth, gentle matte pores and skin that appears so costly.
3. Airyday Pearl Glow SPF50+ Dreamscreen
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
Appealing to these like me who need to maintain their morning routine as streamlined as potential, this ticks off my each day sunscreen step whereas additionally doubling as a brightening primer. While it is available in two different shades—bronze glow and golden glow—pearl glow is my end of selection, because it provides a luminous glow to my pale pores and skin with none apparent shimmer or glitter. I’m all the time impressed by how fresh-faced I look simply with this on, however I really like the way it shines by means of any product that I apply on prime too for some additional dewiness.
4. Maybelline Grippy The Serum Primer
Maybelline New York
Grippy Serum Makeup Primer
As the title suggests, this can be a devoted gripping primer greatest suited to lengthy days, particular events or sizzling climate—any time if you really need your make-up to stay round for a lot of the day. It initially feels extra like a hydrating serum than a primer, because of that niacinamide-infused components that brightens and smooths, however as soon as you have smoothed it into your pores and skin, it transforms right into a barely sticky-feeling layer. I used to be hesitant at first, however it’s this tackiness that actually helps any make-up that you simply apply on prime to stick and keep in place all day. The secret is to go away it on the pores and skin for 20 seconds to permit that serum-to-grip transformation to happen, however the pause is greater than worthwhile for the longevity that it presents.
Pros
- Lightweight serum texture
- Really helps make-up cling
5. Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer
Tatcha
The Liquid Silk Canvas Primer
Now that I’m in my late 30s, I’m discovering that my make-up simply isn’t sitting on my pores and skin in the identical approach that it used to. And on events the place I do apply a full face, I typically step again and look within the mirror to seek out that the merchandise are clinging to patches and exacerbating issues like pores and uneven texture, quite than disguising them. However, after I attain for this primer, I discover that any merchandise I apply on prime glide on like a dream—and Grier charges it too.
“This is the primer that I decide up most in my package because it fits most pores and skin varieties, blends shortly, smooths pores and works properly underneath all my foundations,” says Grier. “It’s additionally nice after I must lock that make-up down for limitless hours. I had a shopper who flew in from Malaysia for a photograph shoot and, as a result of her timings, we would have liked the make-up to final from 8 am till 8 pm, and I wouldn’t even have the ability to see her for touch-ups. She messaged me the subsequent day to say her make-up didn’t transfer an inch, and the one factor she reapplied was her lipstick. Now that’s an excellent primer!”
Pros
- Versatile, longwear components
- Protective skincare advantages
Cons
- It’s very costly for a primer
6. Armani Luminous Silk Illuminating Primer
Armani
Luminous Silk Glow Extending Primer
Pros
- Gives pores and skin a post-facial glow
- Wear it alone or combine with basis
Cons
- Doesn’t provide a lot in the way in which of shine management
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
Armani’s iconic Luminous Silk foundation has all the time been certainly one of my go-to bases. In truth, the end is so pleasant that I wore this actual basis on my wedding ceremony day. The primer feels very a lot consistent with that luxurious, radiant end, however what makes it significantly interesting is how hydrating it’s too. The water-based components is superbly light-weight and signifies that it really works simply as properly on oily pores and skin because it does on dry pores and skin and makes a surprisingly huge distinction to how basis sits on prime. Best of all, although, it immediately provides pores and skin that covetable lit-from-within glow, and it actually lasts.
7. YSL Touche Éclat Blur Primer
Yves Saint Laurent
Touche Éclat Blur Primer
Pros
- Blurs uneven texture and enormous pores
- Adds a pure glow
Cons
- Doesn’t provide main oil management
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
While the plain advantages of a make-up primer are what it could possibly do for any merchandise that you simply apply afterwards, there’s one thing very interesting a few primer that makes your pores and skin look higher earlier than you place every other make-up on. YSL’s Touche Éclat Blur Primer does precisely that—including a delicate luminosity to pores and skin and diffusing any uneven texture. I wasn’t certain concerning the gel texture, however it blends effortlessly into pores and skin, making a smoother, extra even-looking base with a contact of trademark YSL radiance. If you discover that illuminating primers are usually a bit too shiny, and mattifying primers too drying, then that is the right in-between choice that leaves pores and skin wanting refined and softly lit in the easiest way.
8. ILIA The Base Face Milk
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
I skipped primer for a lot too lengthy, as I assumed it meant including one more product to my morning routine, however ILIA’s The Base Face Milk takes a barely totally different strategy to priming. It’s successfully actually a hydrating skin-prep step quite than a conventional primer, and that’s precisely why I feel it is going to enchantment to anybody who finds that their basis appears worse when their pores and skin is dehydrated.
Walking the road between light-weight moisturiser, milky toner, and hydrating primer, it drenches pores and skin in squalane, glycerin and several other types of hyaluronic acid to actually plump and hydrate your complexion. While it gained’t provide you with that apparent gripping or pore-blurring impact, when you have dehydrated pores and skin and your basis tends to catch on dry patches or emphasise texture, then this can be a stunning place to begin.
9. Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Primer
(Image credit score: Mica Ricketts)
This is way nearer to the type of primer I used to gravitate in direction of in my 20s, when oil management was my greatest concern. However, there’s one key distinction: this has a silky, weightless texture that makes my pores and skin really feel smoother quite than a few of the thick and chalky primers that I attempted in my youthful years. On my mixture pores and skin, I discover it significantly helpful by means of the centre of my face, the place basis can begin breaking down first, whereas I’d most likely use much less on areas which can be feeling dehydrated.
The components makes use of microspherical powders to blur the looks of pores and nice strains whereas absorbing extra oil, so it’s a sensible choice if texture and shine are your essential make-up frustrations. Plus, I really like the translucent end, which takes down shine with out making my complexion look fully matte. I wouldn’t essentially select it on a day when my pores and skin is feeling parched, however for a long-wear base or a extra polished end, it has a really helpful function.
Why Trust Us
At Who What Wear UK, we all know that magnificence isn’t one-size-fits-all. Our editors have examined hundreds of merchandise over time—spanning skincare, make-up, hair and nails—and work intently with trusted specialists together with dermatologists, make-up artists and main business insiders to make sure each information is well-researched, inclusive and related to you.
We give attention to formulation that ship, whether or not they’re inexpensive favourites or luxurious investments. Our product choice relies on tangible outcomes, ingredient know-how and what we’d actually advocate to a pal.
