The bad? So. Much. Sparkle. If you believe (as our testers do) that the best primers are the ones you don't see, this shimmery formula is not for you. But if you want a luminous shimmer underneath your foundation, knock yourself out — you'll love this primer.
We also found the pump on this face primer to be a bit too generous. A little product goes a long way, but one tap and a full stream of product shoots out, which makes for a messy container and too much wasted product.
One tester said that both the peach and lavender primers brightened and evened out her skin tone and kept her foundation in place all day. She also noted that these primers have a blurring effect: "It was like seeing my skin through a soft-focus lens," she said.
For our redness-prone tester, the yellow primer did a great job muting the irritated red patches around her nose and cheeks, and she also found that it lightened the dark circles under her eyes. This was her top pick because "it didn't sink into my skin the way some primers do — it created a smooth barrier between my skin and foundation, so the coverage was as close to flawless as it gets without professional help or Photoshop."
But for the price, this little tube needs to wow us more than a great drugstore primer (like L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur, $19). DermaBlend's SkinPerfector didn't completely deliver on its promise of "full coverage" of irritated, red skin or rosacea. This color-correcting primer also loses a few points for poorly designed packaging. Too much primer pours out when you squeeze the coated aluminum tube, and you can't easily stop the flow.
And despite billing itself as a color-correcting primer, if you read the fine print on the back, it lists "sunscreen" as its purpose and in the directions for use. Sneaky? Yes. But on the bright side, it's a color-correcting primer with SPF 15.
The upside? Although these primers appear chalky on bare skin, they do offer color-correcting benefits. The green formula masked redness and created a smooth surface for foundation, but after wearing it several days in a row with different foundations (YSL Touche Eclat Illuminating Foundation, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Matte Liquid Foundation), one tester said her makeup felt heavy and oily by mid-day.
The peach primer did a noteworthy job brightening another tester's skin. She also noted that the paraben-free, non-comedogenic, and oil free formula didn't make her break out (bonus!), but overall gave it a thumbs-down because "it felt sticky and turned my face into an oil slick."