L'Oreal Studio Secrets Anti-Redness Primer

L'Oreal are appealing to the makeup artist inside all of us and have created the Studio Secrets range that boasts it will 'share all the secrets' of the world's top makeup artists. There are five secrets - two of which are primer ranges, one foundation range, one eye range and one lip range.  I don't agree with their theory of choosing lip and eye colours (based on hair and eye colour - pft. Break those rules, baby!) but I do like that they are introducing primers (and a RANGE of primers) into the bathrooms of the general makeup-wearing population. They can iron out many skin issues before foundation comes into play (dullness, redness, shine and fine lines are targeted in this range) and makes it easier for us normal women to look picture perfect. Even if we're just popping out to get the milk.

There were two that caught my eye - first one was the Anti-Shine, but when I tested it at Priceline it left a greasy film on my hand, and the assistant said they have had a lot of negative feedback from customers for that reason.  An anti-shine primer that's oily... that's a problem L'Oreal really needs to deal with.  So I picked up the Anti-Redness primer which promised to 'eliminate my red patches', which is why it is a delightful green colour.

Basic colour theory tells us that to cancel out a colour on the face, the opposite colour on the colour wheel must be used to counteract it.  So if you have purple under-eye circles, you'll go for a yellow concealer.  If your circles are more of a bluish tone, then try for a peach/salmon colour.  And if you have redness - green is your friend.  Your best friend.

There is one obvious issue with this - nobody wants a green face.  It's not attractive.  So can you see the green in your skin after you apply your foundation?  For me, that was a resounding NO.  But you have to use the product sparingly.  Blend it out, get rid of the green tone without wiping away all the product.  And it's easy to do.  The primer feels very hydrating on the skin and is easily blendable.

See the comparison here - the primer is on the left, the non-primer is on the right.  That's obvious.

With foundation over the top, the effect was dulled but there was definitely a smoother skin tone going on:

Look, I'll be honest - my foundation didn't wear longer.  But I expected that.  I will admit that I love the idea of primer in that regard, but to be honest I've never found one yet that my makeup lasts longer whether I do or don't use it.  But e redness was certainly knocked out of my skin though, and as you can see the difference was amazing.  It did fade along with my foundation, but I would love to see the results on a normal-dry skin.

Have you tried any of the primers?  What did you think?