Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil vs. NYX Hydratouch Oil Primer Review and Swatches

The newest thing in face primers is primer OIL. I first started noticing this trend last year and I expect more makeup companies to come out with their own in the future. I purchased three popular brands of face primer oil. I'll be reviewing them this week for you. Two popular ones, that are often compared are Smashbox's Photo Finish Primer Oil and NYX Hydratouch Oil Primer. With Smashbox having a price tag of $42 many say NYX at $14 is a dupe. I've tested both of them for a couple of weeks now on my dry skin and below are my thoughts. Let me know your thoughts.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff)

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil - Supersweet

You guys may remember my review of Smashbox's Primerizer Primer in January. I loved it. Well, I love Smashbox's Primer Oil EVEN MORE. It is really good! I've never used a primer that makes foundation apply so beautifully and you use LESS FOUNDATION. The results are amazing. Let me give you a little background. This primer is Vegan, Cruelty Free, Non-Acnegenic, and Dermatologist Tested. It contains 15 lipid-rich plant extracts and essential oils including moisturizing jojoba & calming chamomile. Smashbox states this primer oil reduces the appearance of dry, fine lines (it does). They state it instantly absorbs & adds radiance (it does). They also state it preps the skin for makeup and moisturizes for seamless makeup application (it does).  You only need a couple of drops of this primer oil. Remember oil spreads. Too much and you're going to be a slick mess. So a little goes a long way. Work the primer oil into your skin and let it sit for a few minutes to absorb. This oil doesn't completely dry down, but as it absorbs into the skin your face will feel really soft. Apply your foundation. I use liquid foundation (Too Faced, NARS, Tarte) and I found that the best result was by using a Beautyblender. Using a brush was ok, but using a sponge made my results beautiful. I tried this primer oil with all 3 foundations and all the results looked SO BEAUTIFUL! I can't tell you enough how amazing the results were. As I bounced the foundation into my skin, my foundation looked like my skin. It didn't look like it was atop my skin. I didn't experience transfer. The makeup didn't break up. I didn't look an oily mess. Smashbox gives you 1 fl oz of oil. With using only a couple of drops, this will last a really long time. It's also important to note (and I'm going to start including this in my reviews), that this primer oil is good for 24 mos! Two years! This worked great for my DRY SKIN! But what I concluded, was I don't think this would work well for OILY SKIN TYPES and I was right! On Smashbox's website it states, "This product is NOT IDEAL FOR OILY SKIN". I would even say, not for Combination either. This will work best for DRY & NORMAL SKIN TYPES. I would recommend the Smashbox Primerizer for Oily and Combination Skin Types. I know I'm all over the place, but I love this primer so I can't contain myself. Smashbox says you can use this as a moisturizer, but I wouldn't. It's a primer. It makes foundation look beautiful and that's it. It has a light airy scent. It doesn't smell like oil (so that's good). It does feel like an oil, that's why you don't need much. The dropper is long (the bottle is long), but it doesn't pick up much oil (but again, you don't need much oil). I was very impressed and think you'll love it.

NYX HYDRATOUCH Oil Primer - Bittersweet

A lot of bloggers and YouTubers have been comparing and contrasting the NYX primer oil with the Smashbox primer oil. Some have stated the NYX is a DUPE! I have to disagree. Initially I thought it was a dupe. I applied a couple of drops. It worked into the skin really well and absorbed to a point into the skin. I applied my makeup and everything looked beautiful. When I looked at my skin closely, the oil and my foundation started separating. The NYX primer didn't give me the cohesiveness that the Smashbox primer oil gave me, nor did my makeup look as polished as when I applied the Smashbox primer oil. Just as with the Smashbox, I tested the NYX on all 3 foundations (Too Faced, NARS, Tarte). It was the same problem over and over. Just oiliness seeping through and foundation separating. I just purchased the new Tarte foundation (hydrating & matte). The NYX primer made the Tarte hydrating foundation look an oily mess. I'm bringing this up, because if you use a foundation that promotes hydration, illumination, radiance etc, this NYX primer will present some problems for you. The Smashbox primer oil worked well with the new Tarte Hydrating Foundation. I wasn't impressed with the results I achieved with the NYX Hydratouch primer oil and I wouldn't repurchase. The dropper works much better on the NYX. The NYX oil also has a light airy scent. But again, I didn't like my results. The NYX primer oil also has skin loving ingredients such as jojoba and rice oil. A lot of people love it, but I couldn't get it to work for me. NYX gives you .67 fl oz and the primer oil is good for 12 mos (1 year).

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