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Too Faced Primed & Poreless Face Primer Review

ByCordelia

Recently I purchased Too Faced Primed & Poreless Face Primer from Apothica. I’d been curious about the primer since it’s supposed to be fantastic.


The primer has a slight tint to it. That amount is enough to cover my entire face with a very thin layer.

The Website Claims:
This one-of a-kind makeup primer was scientifically formulated to wear under bronzers and foundation powders, or alone, to achieve the look of flawless skin without makeup! Vitamins A & C, Mulberry extract and a powerful dose of Retinol virtually banish pores while tired skin is left hydrated, firmer, and detoxified. Primed & Poreless creates the perfect canvas to allow powders, bronzers and foundations to airbrush onto the skin seamlessly and perfectly blended. Skin appears brighter, fresher and younger. Color stays true and in place all day.

The Ingredients are:
Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethiconol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crossploymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Mica, Phenoxyethanol, Silica, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Cyclodextrin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Retinol, Diacetyl Boldine, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi Leaf Extract, Morus Alba Bark Extract, Polysorbate 80, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hedra Helix (Ivy) Extract, BHT, Cycloheptasiloxane, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Bioflavonoids, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Allantoin, Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499).

Price:
$29.70 for 1 fl oz. from Apothica, $30 at TooFaced.com & Sephora.

Does it live up to its claims?
Well, I think it does ‘create the perfect canvas’ for my foundation. I’ve been applying a very thin layer all over my face. Then I’ll apply a bit of contour, blush, and foundation at my t-zone and under my eyes. It also looks pretty nice on its own on my face with a bit of mattifying powder on top. The light beige color works well on me, but I can see it not working well on darker skintones. It hasn’t caused me to break out, which is what I was initially worried about with it. I do feel it does a great job smoothing me out, probably due to the silicone in the product. I find it quite flattering.

Would I purchase again?
Probably. I do like it, but I’m not sure that I like it more than the other primers that I really like, and it’s the most expensive of my three favorite primers right now. I do think it’s a good product. I think if you take into consideration the multi-tasking of the product to be not only a primer, but a product with Retinol and vitamins A & C, it’s certainly a good product. I’m just not sure if it’s worth paying three times the amount of my other primers.

Have you tried Too Faced’s Primed & Poreless Face Primer? If so, did you like it?

Product 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.

18 Comments

  1. I think it’s nice that Too Faced tried to upgrade this primer by adding retinol and vitamins E and C, but looking at the ingredient list, I wonder if they’re just there for show; to “justify” the price. There’s a lot of silicone in there before you get to the retinol and vitamin E, which makes me wonder if they’re really concentrated enough to make a difference.

    For people like Tea, this might be a good thing- after all, it seems strange that Too Faced would formulate a primer, presumably made to be used during the day, if the retinol were strong enough to induce photosensitivity. Also, remember, OTC retinol is 20 times less potent than prescription, so Tea, as long as you wear a sunscreen during the day, I really don’t think you’d have any problem wearing this when the sun is up.

    For those concerned about breakouts related to silicones: I’ve done a lot of research in this area, and the fact is, silicones are very safe. They’re non-irritating, and allergies to silicones are very, very rare (silicone is actually applied to post-op incisions to speed healing, hypodermic needles are coated with silicone to help them pass more easily through skin.) Most sensitivities blamed on silicones are actually from other ingredients in the product. Additionally, claims that -cones clog pores are incorrect- the structure of a silicone molecule is too large to penetrate the pore, so this isn’t an opinion, it’s scientific fact.

    Sorry about that tangent 🙂 I just had a guest post on my site addressing silicones in hair products, and I was astounded at the comments that supported these common misconceptions- even with scientific evidence to the contrary, people want to blame the -cones…I really don’t get it. To me, it would be a relief to realize that I probably wasn’t sensitive to such a widely used ingredient- yet it seems like some people just want to pin the blame on -cones instead of looking for the actual source of their problem…but here I go again 😉

    1. Hi, thanks for the heads up :). I have worn it during the day once or twice when I knew I wasn’t going to be out in the sun for very long and was fine, but try not to to err on the side of caution. I stay out of the sun in general (my skin is the kind that tans if I have direct sun exposure for more than 10 minutes), but I can only wear a specific sunscreen that is pretty thick so I don’t put it on my face. All other sunscreens cause contact dermatitis :(.

    2. Ah! So do you think there’s not enough retinol in it to matter?

      I always use SPF 30 moisturizer before I put on primer, so I always feel like my face is protected.

      I’ve never had a problem with silicones that I’ve been aware of.

      Thank you for sharing all this information! I really appreciate it.

  2. I tried this last summer at some point and it completely broke out my face. I think it seemed to be clogging up my pores instead of making them seem non-existent.

  3. I appreciate the list of ingredients – on the advice of my dermatologist, I steer clear of Retinol. This is one for me to skip.

    1. I try to always list ingredients when I do reviews because it seems like they sometimes get skipped. I was nervous of this originally because of the retinol but I’ve had no problems with it. Yay 🙂

  4. The huge list of ingredients kind of freaks me out. At least there are no parabens.
    What are the primers that you are using? Are they creams too?

    1. The other primers I’m using are the Fyrinnae Velvet Gel Silica Primer and the L’Oreal Studio Secrets Perfecting Base.

  5. This is one of my favorite primers! I find that the tint disappears in to my skin, which is fairly pale with olive tones in the winter and slightly tanned for the 2.5 months of summer that I get (I usually get about 2 tones darker). But my “pale” is probably still a few shades darker than you, so hopefully that helps some people :).

    Since it has retinol, I only use it in the evening. During the day I use L’Oréal Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base.

  7. Tried this and ELF Primer but one of them broke me out and I don;t have a sensitive skin at all. Thing is I dunno which one coz I kinda used them one after another ( different days) and now I’m afraid to try them again, don’t want to break out again :(((((

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