Most of the time, I skip makeup primers as I don’t think it’s a completely necessary step pre-makeup and for those of us in a hurry, it just takes up time. After all, you’d have to wait for the primer to settle into skin before applying foundation but there are days when applying a primer is useful for enhancing skin appearance and for making foundation last longer.
One primer that I have tried over the past year is Shu Uemura’s Stage Performer Instant-Glow Immediate Radiance Skin Perfecting Creme, what a mouthful. I doubt I can commit it to memory. I just call it the Instant-Glow. Shu’s official US website describes it as “stage-inspired multi-functional beauty cream to enhance makeup finish and deliver a natural glow, contains Ginkgo Leaf extract to fight oxidation, instantly, skin appears more luminous, translucent and smooth. provides 24-hour lasting moisture,”
This primer has a medium-thick consistency and it isn’t difficult to blend into skin. It does give an instant radiance/luminosity to my skin. It’s not at all shimmery but there is a definite glow which makes my skin look less tired and dull.
As the primer only gives a slight dewy effect to skin, this effect is much more apparent on bare skin. Skin doesn’t look so luminous once foundation/powder is applied. It’s a nice skin enhancing product if one usually goes without make-up.
At RM165 (US$50 on Shu’s US website) for 50ml, it is expensive for a skin primer.