The POREfessional Face Primer

I used to hate this primer. It's literally the only primer I own now and continue to buy. I use a pea size amount and put it where my pores are the biggest and spread it outward. Then the key I think is it needs to set. I give it like 5 minutes and do undereye concealer, prime my eyes, do my brows. Then I apply foundation I also used to find this to be terrible, and that it pilled, and made my makeup look bad. I don't know what made me try this again a few years back, but I did. And for some reason I waited to let it "set". That really seems to make all the difference.

I generally like or love Benefit products, so bought a tube of this at Ulta hoping this would be a reasonable alternative to the primer I had been using that is available only by mail order. I like the option of being able to purchase in person at a store rather than always ordering online. But this product does not perform the way I feel a primer should. First of all, it doesn't do anything beneficial for my skin in the way of minimizing pores or other flaws. Second, it does not work well with any makeup that I put over it - it flakes and looks patchy. I tried both foundation makeup (Lancome) and BB/CC creams (Tarte) without success. I actually look better without using this product! Too bad, because I had high hopes.

Definitely has a silicone-y feel to it, so keep that in mind when pairing with foundation/BB/CC cream. Has a tint to it that is a decent match for my AAB/NC25 skin, and goes on sheer. Has a very faint aroma of grapefruit. Took more than I expected to adequately spread across my face. It made my skin tighten and feel dry, and emphasized patches of dry skin and lifted previously unseen dry flakes of skin, yuk. Also, it doesn't seem to do much for me by way of priming my face for makeup - I followed this with IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better SPF 50 CC Cream and it drew the tint into every line and crevice. I don't have a pore issue but this doesn't blur anything. This product is a big fat miss for me. UPDATE - Benefit just came out with a hydrating version, which felt a lot better on my skin - hoping/willing to test drive that version.

I found this was pretty much useless, unless worn on its own, with just a little loose powder on top. It did a minimally ok job of smoothing out pores and making my skin look slightly more even. HOWEVER, this refused to work with ANY foundation I owned. I tried using this under NARS, TWO FACED, ESTEE LAUDER, BECCA, L'OREAL, MAC.....I always get the same result of piling and a lot of patchiness, especially on my cheeks. This did not work with powder foundation either. Also on spots where I had to use concealer, the piling was extreme. I have oily skin and never experience dryness on my cheeks at all. I exfoliate regularly and don't usually experience any problems with my foundations getting patchy with, or without Primer. I usually use Two Faced's Hangover primer, or the Hourglass Mineral Veil. I have also had fairly good experiences with Taste primers. I know that silicone based primers can be tricky, but when a primer refuses to cooperate with ALL of my foundations (and I have a lot!), I don't see the point of it. So I found this a total waste of money. I get better results putting foundation on bare skin. On its own, it did minimise my pores -- but I can't see myself reaching for this even on no-foundation days....its expensive, and I'm better off with a BB cream or a drug store pore filler...

When I first put this on, it seemed to hide my pores really well and impressed me. As soon as I put on my foundation it began to get patchy instantly. I gave it another shot and used my bb cream on top of this primer instead but still the same obvious patchiness happened. I tried it again this time layering only a very small amount of foundation on top but it still came up patchy. I do not have dry skin or texture on my skin, my skin is actually oily, so I know it wasn't my skin that caused the patchiness. Basically this is great for minimizng pores only if you use just this and nothing on top, but the point of a primer is to prepare your face for the base you will layer on top of it, so this definitely does not work for me.

For many years my secret trick for disguising large pores was by cutting in half and completely drying out: a tube of Clinique's Pore Refining Solution in 'Instant Deep'. However as of the last 2 years, each time I've headed over to a Clinique counter I'm always told it's out of stock but not discontinued (out of stock for 2 years, everywhere, really?). I found that drying out the Perfector made it lose its dewy-silicone feel and look, and instead it would turn into a pliable clay that would instantly mattify and 'fill up' pores, the secret being to tap/press it into pores, not rubbing it in. Now on the search for an alternative I used first the Becca Ever Matte Poreless Priming Perfector (not good for pores, helps with oil control somewhat) and then Maybelline's Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser (good for small to medium size pores but not bigger ones). Porefessional however has been the best of the bunch so far! It goes on fairly matte and helps my foundation stay on considerably longer than it usually would, as a bonus it also helps fill in the dreaded pores on my nose, something neither of the others could do. Doesn't fill in quite as well as my dried out Clinique one did but as I can't get my hands on that any longer, this is about as good as it's gonna get. No breakouts or sensitivity to this either.   Selena x  ~ My HG list ~  (As I've sampled 100s of skin, hair and m/u products over the last decade and a half, I thought it might be useful to share my top 10 must-have products, subject to change if and when I come across something more effective. I love constantly trying out new stuff - usually sample sizes via e-bay, also plenty courtesy of a friend who works at Sephora) 1. Hair Loss Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Hair Oil  2. Lip Balm: 'Nuxe' - Reve De Miel Lip Balm  3. Pigmentation + Anti-Ageing Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Facial Treatment Serum  4. Cleanser: 'Paula's Choice' - Skin Balancing Cleanser  5. Concealer: ‘Mac’ - Studio Finish Concealer  6. Lash Growth Serum: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Divinelash  7. Foundation/SPF: ‘Juice Beauty’ - Stem Cellular Repair (warm glow)  8. Face Scrub: ‘Sisley' - Botanical Gentle Buffing Cream  9. Moisturizer: ‘Lush' - Enzymion  10. Hand Cream: 'Origins' - Make A Difference Rejuvenating Hand Treatment

This product is alright. I didn't notice any real difference when I used this because I could still see the pores on my nose. The product itself feels weird when it goes on your face. It feels like a silicone but it also feels like a powder as you rub it in. Overall its a decent primer but it doesn't really do much for filling in pores.

Porefessional minimizes my pores and mattifies my skin at the same time, without causing breakouts, something no other primer could do for me in the past. I find it's best to apply it to my fingers and tap it repeatedly into areas where my pores are huge and it just kind of fills them right up. I can use this with BB cream and get an almost flawless look. It's not perfect and it does contain silicones but it does work for me.

This is the first face product I have tried from Benefit. The price is around £20-27 here in the UK. I consider this expensive for a primer. Packaging is cute. Product feels very siliconey. I have large pores on my cheeks so I asked for this for my birthday and I dislike the product. It does nothing for my pores. The product leaves bits on my face and doesn’t work with my makeup. I wouldn’t buy again.

I have gone through several tubes of Porefessional and it was my gateway product into more advanced make-up. I find that a little bit in my t-zone is all I need to cover up my rougher pores and unevenness. On busy days, I may only add a touch of blush and powder and go. When I want to do a full face, I add a BB Cream or foundation plus concealer over it. Either way, I find that Porefessional really works for me but I use it only in key spots rather than a full make-up primer.