I have always had an appreciation (but not necessarily the budget) for Shiseido as a brand and when the Beauty Review March Beauty Box contained a deluxe sample of this primer I was stoked. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed.
The primer, dual named Glow Enhancing Primer/ Base Eclat Intensif comes in a gorgeous little silver tube with a black cap. Like all Shiseido Products it's quite elegant and simple in its packaging.
The primer itself is a white cream with a vaguely pearlescent glow in the right light. It is odourless and the colour disappears on the skin.
I applied this under my makeup every day for about 6 weeks and was expecting it to make a difference to the way my skin appeared. It simply doesn't. It offers up a dewy look on first application but for me that seemed to be about all it did. Once my makeup was on I could do one side of my face with and one without and see absolutely no difference. Again, in the right light, you can notice a faint sheen before your makeup goes on, but that's about it.
I have a similar product from another brand that is far superior to this primer and a lot cheaper. I have heard other girls rave about this and kind of wish I'd given my sample to one of them rather than battling on because it doesn't seem as if it was the right one for me personally. At $65 there is no way I'd buy it again.
The pluses? It feels nice, didn't break out my skin, did help my foundation go on more evenly - and it was free.
A silvery sample sized tube sat there glaring at me when the March beauty review beauty box arrived, the first thing I thought when I saw it? "Meh". But how could I be so foolish to judge something so small and so plain when I hadn't even used it?
To begin with my skin on a regular day is normal to combination skin. My T zone can get quite oily and the rest of my face is just normal.
The formula is white and thick, but it absorbs into your skin very easily, a small amount goes a long way, I like to dab extra amount under my eyes and let it soak in for a few minutes before using my ring finger to glide away, it makes a huge difference in filling in those fine lines even though that isn't its main purpose.
The priming power of this is incredible, after priming my skin it feels like a silky smooth canvas, and adding liquid foundation or BB cream just slides over the top, I have been using a stipple brush for foundation and since I have been using the primer beforehand it has made buffing my foundation easier and cut time down.
As for the glow it is there but subtle, I would compare it to wearing a foundation with a dewy finish. And comparing it to wearing foundation with and without this glowing primer you can noticeably see a difference.
The cons with the primer is it does not make my foundation last long and my T zone is very oily by the end of the day.
The pros for this primer is it creates a beautiful silky base for applying my foundation, it gives a radiant glow that isn't overpowering, it fills in my fine lines under my eyes and gives a nice velvet finish after applying my foundation.
When I have the money I will definitely be purchasing a full size of this. Thank you Beauty review for sending this with the March BRBB or I wouldn't even know this existed.
Tips: Applying extra under your eyes and letting it soak into your fine lines before gently dabbing it away. It does an amazing job for masking those fine lines :)