Review: Budget Friendly Primers

I am on an endless hunt for the perfect, budget-friendly primer. I have heard good things about Smashbox but not quite desperate enough to splash out on that just yet. In particular I have oily/combo skin, so looking for a mattifying primer (or at least one that doesn't exacerbate my shine!)

The first primer I ever bought was Australis. RRP $14.95.

As it was my first primer I didn't have any expectations, so I was pleased with the results. It did seem to make my make-up application a bit smoother. However I couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than just this. It certainly didn't have negative impacts, but whether it actually did anything for my face or foundation was questionable.

So next primer on the 'to try' list was the Face of Australia Face Base Primer which has countless times been compared to Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot. It has an RRP $11.95.

Again, the results for me with this one were 'meh'. If anything I thought this one made me a bit more shinier than the Australis one. This is an interesting note they've made in their beauty tips online: "If you have particularly oily skin you can skip the moisturiser and go straight to the primer after cleansing." Hmmn. I don't know how I feel about that!

Finally, this one is perhaps not so budget friendly but the only other primer I've tried to date is the Nude By Nature Airbrush Mineral Primer, RRP $29.95. I received a sample size of this with a Nude By Nature purchase.

I thought this one would work well as I am currently using the NBN make-up so you'd think they'd pair together okay. I didn't really find that to be the case though - if anything the primer made my face feel a bit sticky, and it felt like it didn't really absorb. I won't be buying this one, the cheaper versions which are a 1/3 of the price do the same, if not better, job.

So, I think seeing as I have two full tubes of the Australis and the FOA I will stick it out and use them up! They seem to do an okay job, and will be fine for me for the time being. Once those tubes are gone though I may have to reconsider Smashbox or NP Auto Pilot - it's just so hard to know if something will suit you until you try it for yourself first!

P.S. Review on Nude By Nature make-up will be forthcoming very soon!