REASONS FOR PURCHASE

I bought MAC Prep + Prime from a lady I know who has a large collection of MAC products. I'd wanted to try this and she was selling it for about a tenner because she'd tried it a few times and found it wasn't for her. I have some other MAC Prep + Prime products so I thought I'd give their all over face primer a go.

WHAT MAC SAY

"An ultra-fluid lotion formulated with special-effect silicones. Calms and soothes the skin, blots away excess oil, and evens out skin redness. Improves the laydown and application of foundation or powder."

PRICE / AVAILABILITY / APPEARANCE

This 30ml tube retails at £18. It's usually hard to find MAC products discounted, but you may be lucky if you purchase them from Debenhams or Selfridges (online or in store) and happen to have a money off voucher code that can be used with cosmetics! Not all Debenhams and Selfridges stores have a MAC counter, so if the one nearest to you doesn't, you're best ordering online.

You can buy online through MAC's own UK website, where you will sometimes get free postage, depending on their deals at the time and how much you spend.

If you're local to London, MAC have stores in Soho and Covent Garden, as well as a few more smaller ones dotted about and counters in department stores.

Don't buy your MAC from anywhere other than the official stocklists, there are a lot of fakes around! Especially on ebay!

This primer is 30ml which is the size of a usual pot / tube of foundation. It comes in a black plastic tube, and like all of the Prep + Prime range, has a greeny / bluey / silver glitter sheen to the plastic. The product details are all in white lettering. The tube comes with a lid and has a pump applicator.

MY THOUGHTS

Press down the pump and a white pea sized blob of the primer will be released. My first impressions were that the texture of this primer was quite odd! It's somewhere between oil and lotion, but not greasy when you rub it in. It leaves a matte finish and dries quickly.

I applied two of the pea sized blobs over my bare face which I had previously cleansed and toned (not moisturised, but that's just personal preference!). It was simple enough to blend all over with my finger tips.

I noticed that the primer left my skin feeling more matte than it usually would. I wouldn't say it deceased any redness though! And it didn't fill my pores either, which may be a good thing (not clogging), but doesn't leave the flawless looking skin that I would have liked!

So I applied the rest of my makeup on top, my foundation, under eye concealer, powder, blush, and all the rest (I wear a lot of makeup!).

While I didn't notice that my foundation looked any better at first, or notice that it applied any easier / smoother, I did notice that it lasted longer throughout the day. With no primer my foundation would start to separate a bit by mid afternoon, and crack around my eyebrows (I don't know why this happens!).
With this primer, I definitely got a few more hours of wear from the rest of my makeup!

OVER ALL

I would not buy this primer again :(

There are so many new primers coming onto the market all the time, so it wouldn't make sense to stick with one that only did some of what I wanted it to.

My ideal primer would be long lasting, but also reduce pore size and redness / blotchiness. Unfortunately MAC Prep + Prime Skin did not tick all of my boxes.

When this finishes, I will move onto another brand of primer and hope to see better results!

If you have flawless skin and are just looking for a primer to make your makeup last longer, then I don't see why this wouldn't work for you. £18 isn't unreasonable for a face primer either, as even the high street / chemist brand primers start at around £10. This 30ml tube has lasted for ages, so I can't see it running out before at least 3-4 months even with use every day.