To Prime Or Not To Prime

Apparently "not to prime is a crime" and I must say I totally agree, although at first I just thought everyone was on a hype and it was just another marketing ploy to get women to buy yet another makeup product. I wouldn't give in and buy it mainly because I do take my skin for granted! I have very soft skin and I hardly ever get spots. I just have a few blemishes from where I scratch my spots but i'm not majorly fussed. So because my skin is in pretty good nick, I hardly bother with any facial regimes such as facial scrubs or masks. I shouldn't be admitting this, but 7 out of 10 times, I don't even wipe my make up off at night time (unless it's really heavy make up). A CRIME I KNOW! I can admit it's partly down to laziness but I thought well if it ain't broke why fix it! I had been doing this for years and my skin is just fine.

But one day after watching some youtube beauty videos, I felt the urge to go and try one of these supposedly amazing primers... just to see what all the fuss was about! So I went about researching which brand to get... I immediately went to MAC as I use their foundation and concealer... but I really wasn't feeling their prices. In fact, I wasn't feeling any of the brands prices! NOT ONE BIT! The top primers that kept popping up were MAC Prep and Prime, Smashbox Photo Finish Primer, Nars Multiprotect Primer and Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. Now, I'm not no cheapo, I will spend money on quality products.... BUT.... this was a trial... a TEST, just to see if it lived up to it's hype! So NO, you're damn straight I would not be spending that much money on a product I didn't even know was going to work for sure. I've done that too many times with other beauty products... getting caught in the hype... and I was left feeling majorly disappointed and pissed off that I wasted my money and couldn't return it because it had been open! 

So having sampled these top brand primers and not feeling happy with the silly price tags, I jumped back on the net and typed in alternatives to makeup primers on google, which led me to yet another beauty video on youtube, but this time the woman was reviewing a chafing gel powder as a primer substitute!!! Hey! If it worked, why not!!! I was a bit dubious at first. I mean was she just giving such high reviews because she had been sent the product to review or was what she was saying genuine. I watched quite a few more videos reviewing this product, then I jumped back onto google to find written reviews. I WAS SOLD! I went straight to one of my favourite sites...Ebay and purchased the gel. What was the product I hear you all asking? Well, it's called...

MONISTAT CHAFING RELEF GEL POWDER

OMG I LOOOOOVE this product! Yes, I know it says for intimate care but don't be scared off! Just IGNORE that bit! lol. It has exactly the same ingredient in as all the expensive primers, which is silicone.... but at a fraction of the cost!!! I brought mine for about £7.50 inc p&p but I think it's actually cheaper in the shops... I just couldn't find it anywhere (think is's more readily available in America)! That's fine, even it is a few pounds more, i'm still saving bucket loads of money, which I can spend on other lovely things! It's a blimming bargain for how excellent it is!

This product is amazing and in my opinion (after sampling the top brands), there is absolutely no difference! I moisturise my skin as per usual and then apply a thin layer of Monistat Chafing Relief Gel to my face. The gel goes a long way, you literally need about four tiny blobs on your finger to do your whole face. It glides on and dries to a gorgeously silky finish. It's hard to describe, but it kind of feels like velvet! So so soft and silky! Then I apply my foundation on top of it.

Before I started using this, whenever I wore foundation, my face would shine a couple of times throughout the day and i'd have to pat it down to get rid of the shine. No word of a lie, with this gel, ANY foundation I use pretty much lasts ALL day and all night. Sometimes, I may have to pat down like once throughout the day, depending on how busy I am but that is a HUGE improvement from before! There literally is no shine, which means I don't have to keep retouching my makeup! I have a combination of dry and oily skin but my face never feels greasy and my foundation seems to glide on much more smoothly... it doesn't get stuck in the lines under my eyes!

Now, remember I said this was initially just a test to see if I liked it. So, I would have ended up buying it anyway because I LOVE it... but i'm just glad I found this product rather than waste my money on a top brand, when this does EXACTLY the same!

What primers do you guys use? Have any of you tried this out before and what do you think of it?