Couldn't believe when I first heard this connection, so I looked up the ingredients myself and sure enough, they had all the same ingredients as high end primers.

I love this as a primer, one hint that I was told is to completely let it dry before placing makeup over it. Sometimes I add a bit of a yellow toned foundation to it so that it covers some of the redness and then I add a touch of my foundation over the top when gives me the perfect coloring.

The primer helps to reduce the appearance of pores and fines lines. I have no problems with acne breakouts, altough I am especially prone.

I have recently gotten into using primer (I'm 53 now). I can see the benefits of using one, but I can't afford Smashbox photo finish, which I think is the best. Enter Monistat. You get a ton of product for about $6. I think that it works just as well as Smashbox. Very happy with it--definitely HG for me.

NOTE: I have combo skin, and have never had a breakout from this, but women with more oily skin may not have good results.

I keep seeing reviews saying this is gives horrible acne & I'm starting to worry. I have extremely cystic acne prone skin & I've been using this for the past few days, I haven't seen any acne yet(thankfully). I've been using this over Milk of Magnesia as my skin is extremely oily and the two together keep me oil free all day. I work 10 hour days & commute for 2 hours a day, so I'm in a face full of makeup for a long time everyday. I really needed something to keep my makeup looking good for that many hours & this is so far doing just that. I will update on the acne part but I'm really hoping this doesnt cause any for me cause this is exactly what I needed for my makeup to stay put all day!

**UPDATE** OH MY GOD. THIS HAS CAUSED THE WORST BREAKOUT OF MY LIFE & I HAVE DEALING WITH ACNE FOR YEARS. I HAVE NEVER BROKEN OUT SO BADLY BEFORE. MY FACE HURTS AND I AM ASHAMED BE TO OUTSIDE LIKE THIS. IT WORKED BEAUTIFUL FOR A WEEK AND THEN HUGE CYSTIC PIMPLES ALL OVER MY FACE.

I have combination-oily skin and a serious love of a bargain - this product suits both perfectly. When I use powder foundation (like BE), this is my go-to primer, as it makes the foundation last all day without any shine. I think this works just as well as any of the more expensive dimethicone-based primers and is easily available at big box and drugstores.

DO NOT USE IF YOU HAVE ACNE PRONE SKIN!!!!!
It made me break out horribly.

I decided to try the Monistat Chafing Relief Powder Gel as an alternative since a lot of people said it was comparable to the Smashbox Photofinish which I LOVE. This gives a smooth finish and the tube lasts a LONG time. A little product goes a long way. The only con is that it doesn't give me the same lasting power as the Photofinish. By the time I get home from school my makeup has somewhat faded. Being a poor student, the only reason I keep buying this is the price and above average performance!

I'm not a huge fan of primers unless I'm (a) going somewhere ridiculously hot (b) I'm wearing heavier makeup than usual (i.e. for photographs or HD videos). As a primer this is pretty comparable to Smashbox. It went on smoothly and took only about two minutes to set. Makeup applied evenly over the product. If you have acne prone skin, or oily skin I would not recommend this product. I would do a skin test first. Otherwise, I'm surprised by how well it worked.

For the purpose of a facial primer this was awful on my oily acne prone skin. Everything just slides right off of it and it did nothing to block oil.
I give it 3 lippies for its actual intended purpose, which it actually does quite well.

It rocks. Totally comparable if not better than Smashbox & DHC. If you have oily skin though, or are prone to breakouts - this may not be your answer. For me, it works PERFECT as a primer & makes foundation application a breeze :)

I've been using DHC Velvet Skin Coat beneath my foundation for a couple of months now, and much to my joy and surprise, I found this in the reviews for primers.
What?
Anti-chafing?
What?

Ok, so I've been using it for a couple of weeks and I can discern zero difference between this product and the DHC product.

My foundation applies just as well and it lasts perfectly well, too.

I have an oily nose, so nothing really holds there, but VSC by DHC didn't do anything better or different than the Monistat CRP-G.

As far as a perfect primer, I don't know, I haven't yet reached nirvana, but for me, this one works pretty well.