I generally balk at the prospect of paying more than £8 for a high street/drug store product, but I had seen/read a few reviews of the new L’oreal Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer and was too excited by the “resurfacing” claims not to at least check it out.
My skin isn’t too bad and I’m generally fairly content with it… however, improvements can always be made right? and the thought of poreless, mattified smooth skin was one temptation too far. So, I left Superdrug clutching my little 15ml pot of miracles whilst trying not to growl too loudly at the £12.99 receipt sat in the bottom of the bag.
Please excuse the stock image, I’ve still got the sniffles and the thought of digging out my camera feels far too energetic!
The consistency reminds me of a slightly less fluffy Maybelline Dream Mousse product, it’s a pale pink colour and a little goes quite a long way as it spreads smoothly and easily across the skin. It feels quite heavy thanks to the silicones, although this feeling does fade after a little while you’ll be pleased to hear. After application, my skin feels very velvety and soft – but unfortunately, that feeling fades aswell.
L’oreal say:
Inspired by professional make-up, this primer masks wrinkles and uneven textures in the skin, making the complexion incredibly smooth with a velvety touch. Skin feels soft as if resurfaced.
The high elastomer content in the Smoothing Primer means that it has a beautifully smooth texture and is incredibly effective at disguising wrinkles and pores. The combination of soft, light powders gives a matte look and a silky finish.
Bold claims huh?
Well, this is where I stop talking and let you decide. I’ve uploaded a picture… a great big massive ugly close up picture. Here are my pores and wrinkles for all the world to see. I’ve primed half my face with this product before applying my foundation whilst the other half has the foundation applied on bare skin.
Please excuse the wild hair and slightly goofy bug-eyed expression – my camera’s wide angle lens is not the most flattering (but great for pinpoint focusing accuracy on those pores!)
Click the image to make it SUPER-SIZED! (if you dare)
Are you back? Do you need therapy?
So what do you think? Is there a discernible difference? If there is… is it worth £12.99 of your money?
Personally, I don’t think I’ll bother repurchasing.
Tell me what you think!
Personally I don’t see any difference. I have a few different brands, none of which I would buy again. In my opinion, waste of money!
I’ve actually brought this myself today and don’t think its anything special. But ill give it another go because in fairness i did do something naughty and used it on top of the makeup i had on at work as after buying i wanted to try it so put more makeup on.
But the only primer I’ve found to be absolutely fantastic is YSL top secret its £38 but i wish id not wasted the £15 i spent at sainsburys today and put the extra and brought more YSL my makeup lasts all day when. i use this i come out of work after 9 hours with my makeup looking as freshly applied as on the morning. So if anyone wants a fantastic primer defiantly buy YSL top secret.
Haha you make me chuckle. You don’t even have visible pores OR wrinkles you nutter! Your skin looks gorgeous but If I’m honest I can’t actually notice the difference between primed and unprimed(?). Maybe that’s just me. Still, I found this really helpful, as I was considering buying this after reading about it in Saturday magazine! I won’t be forking out now 🙂 (Any excuse to be cheap!) xx
I don’t see any difference between the two sides! I guess that means you have amazing skin,you lucky moo lol!
@AlicatAHL – thanks for commenting… I don’t see ANY difference and in honesty, I thought that I would until I looked at the picture. I’ve tried lots too and none have any real visible effects.
@Nicola – I DOOOO, look at the sides of my nose and cheeks in the super humungous piccie! All my foundation has sunk into ’em. No, I think there’s a fair bit of hype around this product atm and it does feel nice.. but for me, nothing visible happens.
@Jen – shutup, did you even look at the big picture? You is blind! But no, there’s no discernible difference imho. I wanna find a primer that really does prepare the skins surface properly.
I don’t see any sort of difference between the two sides. Your skin looks amazing as is anyways, so I think you’re right in not bothering to repurchase later. Jealous of how fresh your skin looks! 🙂
The unrpimed side looks better than the primed side!
I was really happy that we were getting a High Street primer actually calling itself a primer and not anti chafing gel in disguise, however, it seems that nobody really likes to..I haven’t seen anyone rave about it.
I used a Smashbox primer once (it was a sample and I think it was photofinish) and that made me look airbrushed.
@Cassie – You’re too kind.. but glad you’re in agreement on the not repurchasing front!
@Rhamnousia – hehe at anti-chafing gel, I so have some of that and yes, I’ve put it on my face before… Smashbox is another bleh to me.. feels nice for about 5 minutes but that’s it.
Weird, I’ve seen tons of raves for it on youtube and blogs. Maybe I wanted to try it so badly that I ignored all the bad reviews.
In my last reply I said “nobody really likes to..” when I should have said “nobody really likes IT”. Don’t quite no what I was thinking…
I like the anti chafing gel but I seldom wear foundation and the foundation I do have lasts all day anyway so I’m happy with it as it is.
I wanted to get the L’oreal lash serum today but it was totally finished in Boots, one lady nabbed the last one (it was the tester) and she still paid full price for it.
And I did it again! *Goes for a much needed lie down*
I really like this product (with the longest name ever! haha) but I don’t think it makes my skin look much more different- it’s more because I love how smooth it makes it feel and it makes my tinted moisturiser apply so easily 🙂
I really am on the fence about primers in general, i cant see a difference on you and im not sure if it due to you having great skin or because they just dont work?!
I rarely wear face prim er and i find my make up applies and lasts just as long without it as it does with it. The only time i wear rpimer is for a special occasion..why? Just because i feel like it will do something special, some how, it just doesnt 🙁
I can’t see any difference between the two sides. I don’t think it was a big ugly close up picture either! You have fabulous skin and as far as I can see, don’t really need a primer at all! 🙂
well I supersized and zoooooomed in and you’re still ugly 😉
I can’t see any difference at all. I thought the same when I used the free sample I had. Send the picture to L’oreal and ask for your money back 😀
xxx
This has been on my list of things to buy for a while now. It has just been promptly struck off. Thanks for saving me a penny or two! x
@Rhamnousia – What foundation do you have that lasts all day? Gimme.
@Daisy – Hi Daisy *waves* I’m really pleased it works for you, it does feel nice doesn’t it? But that feeling doesn’t last very long for me ;( and at £12.99 for a teeny tiny pot that’s a lot of money. And yeah, the name isn’t exactly catchy huh? LOL
@Ally – I’m not convinced they work… well maybe they work but they don’t really live up to their claims for me (although there’s obviously stil a gazillion primers I haven’t tried). I think maybe we share the same problem and have expectations that are too high?
@Tackblueeyeshadow – Well that’s very nice of you xx
@Sian – You’re going daaahhhhhhn! I wish we coud get our money back on things like this – booooo sucks (to be you).
Well my dear, the other ladies have said it already but I can’t really tell the difference… you must have fab skin you lucky, lucky lady!
x
I don’t see much of a difference on you. But you have such nice, flawless skin anyway!
However, for people like me that have acne scars, it’s a pain when make up fades away during the day so the scars are noticable. But when I’m using this primer, my make doesn’t fade at all. I would defo be re-purchasing! Not happy about the price though, bluh.
xx
Omg, am I the only one who looooooooooooves this product? I really feel the difference when I put it on. I have massive volcanic pores, and i really feel the product is helping filling them in, and prepares the skin nicely for the foundation afterwards. This is one of my top 10 products at the moment. Love it. Rowena is selling it in her blog tomorrow, at amazing price, god i would love to be able to get my hands on it *prays so hard*
@liloo – awwww I wish it had the same effect for me too 🙁 Good luck with the blog sale, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you x
I bought it on saturday and think its brilliant. It definitely fills in some of the wrinkles and all of the pores… and it is worth 12.99 because you only need a tiny bit for your whole face. It will last at least a month using it every day!
Your skin is great already, and that makes your review quite unhelpful for people who would actually benefit from using this product. It’s like somebody testing a hair dye that claims to cover all grey hairs on a person who has no grey hairs in the first place! Can you tell the difference? Surprise surprise, there are no less grey hairs after using the hair dye: so that means it doesn’t work…?!
My mum and I both use this product and while it doesn’t work miracles, there is a definite improvement in the appearance of the skin surface after applying it.
I tried it on last week for first time…. it was dry … and felt dry under eyes area especially… not value for money and not worth it for £14.00.
i don’t see the differnce in the picture! your skin is so beautiful aghhhhh makes me so jealous. honestly speaking if i had that skin i would walk out the house with no make up and just be proud of my skin. unfortunately i am one of those people who have uneven skin tone, fat pores and marks and is always in need of foundation before leaving the house. Because my foundation doesn’t sit properly on my skin i really wanted a primer…….i suppose i’l have to look elsewhere because every primer Superdrug sell; gosh, loreal etc they have really bad reviews.
if anyone knows of a primer that sits well with foundation, doesn’t make you break out and hides the pores pleazzzzeee let me no!!
Wish I saw this before I bought it! Picked it up a couple of days ago from Boots (BTW it costs €21 here in Rip Off Ireland) and thought I was going crazy when I could see no difference. In fact for some reason now I can see the tiny wrinkles under my eyes that I couldn’t see before – so perhaps it actually looks worse! Also as the day progresses I find the texture of my skin and the look of my foundation goes a bit blotchy, maybe because my skin is a bit oily at times? Either that or I’m doing something wrong. Wow, what a bargain huh?