Staying Matte Where it Counts (Pore Minimizer)

Lately there's been a large trend surrounding dewy/glowing skin, and I think it's a beautiful look on certain people, but oddly enough, it looks terrible on me ('oddly' because I have dry skin, I should be living for this trend). It makes me look oily rather than glowy, and when I switch out my matte-finish foundation for my Tru-Match Lumi, I just end up looking like I've gone to the gym and sweat up a storm. It's not a good look, and I realized that it's because it's making me dewey in the wrong places.

When you want that glow, that nice sheen to your face that makes your skin look healthy and warm, you want it to be in the right places on your face (i.e, your cheeks and anywhere the sun would naturally hit-- the highest points of your face). In a perfect world, we would all look like J.Lo a hundred percent of the time, but this isn't a perfect world. I've noticed that instead of being glowy in the right way, I've been glowy in the worst places. Around my nose and on my T-zone. Ew. I found that I was powdering my nose and T-zone way too many times throughout the day to avoid that greaseball look, and instead it was making it look cakey. I couldn't win.

The problem:
I've attributed part of the issue to the primer that I was using. As the weather's getting warmer, priming your face before putting on a foundation really helps it stay all day in the hot sun. the primer I've been using the last few months has been doing wonders for my skin, but that was winter time, and in the warmer days, it's just not cutting it.

I've been using the Smashbox Photo Finish Face Primer, which is an excellent product, but when I would put it around my nose (where I think I need it most) it winds up making me feel and look too greasy in the warmer months.

The products:
While I was trying to think of an alternative solution, I suddenly remembered the Fall season of last year. While I worked as a cosmetician, Lancome was one of the main brands that we sold in our department, and I attended their training seminar for a new product launch. Among the new products was their Oil Free Instant Pore Minimizer ($43.00); it was launched with their Illuminizing Hydra Glow ($46.00).

When I left the seminar, I received a bag of gratis makeup and was asked to choose which of their new primers I would like to take home. Being a matte-finish obsessive, I opted for their Pore Minimizer. After trying it out a couple of times, I concluded that I actually wasn't a fan and tossed it into my collection of makeup to be lost for months, perhaps years.

Well, I remembered it while I was moaning for a solution to my grease problem and decided to give it another try. I realized that the reason I hadn't enjoyed it earlier was because I was using it in the winter time, when my skin is at is driest. Of course a pore minimizing primer wouldn't have enhanced my Sahara-desert skin. All I'm thinking now, however, is that I'm glad I didn't give this product to a friend right off the bat, because it's a life saver now.

What I've been doing lately, for my primer routine, is using the Smashbox primer under my eyes; that sounds like a weird place to put it, but it honestly makes that area very soft and keeps it from creasing/getting dry throughout the day. I've then been using the Pore Minimizer around my nose and T-zone, and I get the best of both worlds doing my makeup this way. I get the glowy skin on my cheeks and around the high points of my face, and I get the matte finish in the creases of my nose and on my T-zone.

Let me just say that I'm kind of in love with this primer routine. I haven't just worn it once for a few hours and decided that I'm obsessed, I've been critical with it. I work 10-hour shifts at the bar consistently, and as I live somewhat far away from work, this essentially means that I leave my house to drive to work and then don't get home until 12 hours later. That's a long time to be wearing a full face of makeup and expecting it to still look as good as it did when you first put it on.

My face doesn't transcend time, and of course nearing the end of a long day, or a long shift, it starts to get a little dry and stops looking as amazing as when I first applied it. That being said, and all things considered, my makeup looks amazing after all those hours. This primer has saved me from looking like a total greaseball, and it has saved me from looking like a total cake-ball from powdering so much.

All in all, I'd really recommend this primer for the warmer months if you're anything like me and you tend to get a little greasy in certain areas! I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone who would want to use it all over the face, because it isn't meant for such uses. It's quite thick in consistency and the applicator is so small that it's really intended more for applying only in the areas you need it most.

Final thoughts & summary:

The finish: silky, smooth, matte.
The scent: slightly perfumed, wouldn't recommend if you're sensitive to scents.
The wear-time: longest I've gone wearing it would be 13+ hours. I'd say it looks best the first six.
The packaging: flawless. The tube looks like a pearl with writing. Luxurious.
The price: pricey. I didn't purchase this item, it was given to me as gratis from my previous job, but as of now I would purchase it myself as nothing else has worked for me.

Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed my detailed review of this product, and I'd love to know your thoughts!

How do you stay matte in the warmer months? Give me recommendations! 

Until next time, sunshine,