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L’Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base – A Review

ByCordelia

Back towards the end of October, the lovely Grey of LeGothique listed L’Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base as a Pick of the week. I loved her review of it so much it made me want to go out and buy it, so I did. Grey later pointed out that she feels it is exactly like NARS Skin Smoothing Face Prep. So for about 1/3 the price of NARS you get a great product.

Anyway, I liked the product so much that I decided to try wearing it the way Grey mentioned, with only a finishing powder. I’ve also tried tried it in various combinations with Meow’s Purrfect Puss foundation, Pampered Puss foundation, Aromaleigh’s Ultra Resolution Finishing powder, Revlon’s PhotoReady Translucent Finisher and Hard Candy’s Moon Glow powder.

Now, I’ve tried a lot of primers in the past several years. My favorite primers have actually been indie, with Fyrinnae’s Velvet-Gel Silica Primer (which I feel I should point out, it has no silicones) and Camellia Rose V2.0 Skin Smoothing Primer.

L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base says that it gives a perfect skin texture, smoothes lines, hides pores and banishes imperfections. It also claims it’s suitable for all skin types and non-comedogenic.

First off, I’ve found the best way for me to apply it is to stick my (clean) thumb into the jar and get out a tiny bit of product and then smooth that over my cheek into the thinnest layer possible. I repeat this for my other cheek, then chin, nose and forehead, smoothing it down my jawline. You want the thinnest layer possible. When I got too much, things looked streaky on my face and powder clumped. It looked icky.

Secondly, I hate the fact that the product comes in a jar. While you only need a tiny, tiny amount of product to get good results, I HATE sticking my fingers in a jar. I know I am not alone in my hatred of jars, which has expanded to me hating all products in jars.

You can see I’ve been using this every day for over a month and I have maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a jar left, since I’ve just hit pan, so to speak, in the center. The color of the primer is a very pale baby beige pink and the texture to me is sort of spongy, like a mousse maybe.

The ingredients are:
cyclohexasiloxane, dimethicone, dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, silica, acrylates copolymer, disodium stearoyl glutamate, aluminum hydroxide { /- may contain CI 77891/ titanium dioxide/ CI 77491/ iron oxides} FIL D30587/2

This product is Vegan!

Packaging:
I HATE the packaging. I hate jars. I hate sticking my fingers into things because I inevitably end up with stuff under my nails. However, the small size is ideal for travel.

Price:
Normally $10.99, I believe I got it for $10 from Walmart for .5 oz of product.

Here you can see the various ways I’ve tried the primer.

This is the primer with Revlon’s PhotoReady Translucent Finisher.

This is the primer with Meow’s Pampered Puss foundation in Inquisitive Siamese.

This is the primer with Meow’s Purrfect Puss foundation in Inquisitive Siamese. This is the sheerest foundation from Meow.

This is the primer with Aromaleigh’s Ultra Resolution Finishing powder.

This is the primer with Hard Candy’s Moon Glow powder.

Would I purchase again?
Yes! I like the way it makes my skin feel. I feel like it lives up to its claims. I feel like it’s an excellent primer. I like that it’s vegan. However, I HATE the packaging. I completely and utterly hate the packaging, so I’ll be writing a letter to L’Oreal to tell them how I feel about the packaging. Perhaps if enough people complain about jar packages companies will stop using them so much.

Have you tried L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base Primer? If so, what did you think?

What’s your favorite primer? Or do you use a face primer?

Product was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Cordelia Frost is the creative force behind Phyrra, a treasure trove for cruelty-free indie and goth makeup enthusiasts. She's the author of the game-changing 'Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual' a must-read for hooded eyes makeup.

Cordelia's world is a kaleidoscope of alternative beauty, gothic fashion, and life-enhancing tips, making every visit to Phyrra a journey into a more colorful and inspired self.

29 Comments

  1. I was trying various pore-perfecting primers from Sephora and this one beats all of them. I’m really impressed with it! It seems to blur the spot you put it on, it takes away the shine, minimizes the look of pores and I need less foundation when using it. It works wonderfully underneath loose mineral foundation too. Awesome-ness!

  2. I got a free sample of this and it’s actually the first primer I’ve tried, and I really love it! I’m definitely going to buy a full size. But I agree that it would have been better if it wasn’t in a jar.

    1. Even with my very short nails (as I’m sure you’ve seen) I still manage to get stuff under my nails, which drives me crazy! That’s why jars are so frustrating to me.

    1. I need to buy Fyrinnae’s primer again because I went to look for my container of it, was down to about 1/4 of the container and can’t find it. I also think they’ve tweaked the formula since I last tried it.

      When I used it, again you only needed the tiniest bit of primer to use it. It used to be in a jar but now it comes in a squeeze tube (better packaging for the win!), and it made my foundation look awesome.

  4. Phyrra, I own a pot of this primer & used it everyday for a while about 4 months ago. The reason why I stopped using it, is because it made me look like an oil slick by noon. I love it though. It makes everything look smooth. But now, reading your review, I wonder if I’m using too much. I’m going to try it today & apply it very thin. I hope maybe that will solve the oil slick prob.

    1. Yeah I’ve found if I applied too much stuff would look streaky. You only need the thinnest coat 🙂

      I hope it works for you!

  6. I just may have to give this a go soon. I’ve gone through 2 jars of Fyrinnae’s primer but haven’t placed an order in awhile so I’ve been using Urban Decay’s De-slick in a tube and I think it sucks for the price. Sure my face feels smooth at first but when I put my makeup on top it sort of hangs on to it too much and gets streaky if I’m not quick enough.

  7. I realllllyyyyy really like this stuff but the bottle peeves me too… especially when my nails are a bit longer and it gets under them ARRRGGHHH!!! I guess the only other alternative packaging that might work with the texture of the product is some sort of squeezey tube. I always scoop a bit out with the end of an eyeshadow brush, and then plop a little wad of it onto the back of my hand. It is a bit of a hassle.

    1. I think a squeeze tube would be perfect!
      I wrote a letter to L’Oreal to give them feedback on the jar. I can only hope they’ll listen and adjust.

  8. Just in time 🙂 I’m about to run out of my Too Faced “Primed and Poreless,” so I’m going to buy this later this week!

  9. I’ve used this primer and I really like it. The only thing is it’s AUD$40! However, my absolute favourite is (surprisingly) the Avon Magix Face Perfector. In Australia, they just recently released a new version of it with sunscreen in it! Plus it comes in a tube, rather than a jar.

    1. I’ll have to go peek at the Avon primer! It’s crazy to me that this primer would be $40 AUD!

    1. I had to look online. From what I can tell, they currently test on animals and are going cruelty free in 2013.

      It seems a bit tricky to me though, because some of the companies that don’t test on animals bought recipes from companies that did test on animals?

  12. I thought about trying this as well, now I’ll have to pick one up next time I’m out.

    I agree, jars = icky. I’d prefer a tube.

    1. Woot! Let me know what you think of it. I figured after using it for a month, if it was going to break me out, it would have by now. It’s just been great for me.

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