Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer Review

I've been on the lookout for a primer to wear underneath my foundation to make my makeup last a little longer throughout the day. Ideally, I wanted an oil free and silicone free primer however, these are few and far between when shopping on the high street (they are available if you want to invest in the more high end brands). So, after a little research on the internet I came across the Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer. Everybody seemed to be raving about it and after popping into my local store and seeing it on offer it seemed like fate that I should pick it up.

Now although it doesn’t claim to be oil or silicone free, the reviews I read suggested it was different to many silicone primers and didn’t irritate the skin or cause breakouts for those who had used it. Therefore I was willing to overlook my requirements and test it out anyway.

Firstly, I personally like the feel of the packaging. The bottle is made of glass, which for me makes it feel a little more expensive than it is. Although some may disagree as it’s not ideal for travelling and I imagine it’s going to be tricky to extract the product when you come to the end of the bottle. The bottle does contain a pump, which makes it easy to dispense the right about of product (usually 1 pump is sufficient to meet my needs).

The product itself is white in colour and I did need to give the bottle a good shake before use as the first few pumps were quite runny in texture. However, when mixed you end up with a nice creamy product. Unfortunately, when you first dispense the product, there is quite an overpowering smell to the primer. I can’t quite describe what it is, but it’s not appealing and definitely doesn’t smell as though I should be using it on my face. That said, once applied to the face and absorbed into the skin, the smell does disappear.

The primer does sink into the skin really quickly and leaves a smooth, almost matte finish to the skin. It also seems to slightly improve the look of my skin and forms a nice even base for foundation. I have used a few foundations on top of this primer and some do seem to sit better than others. I’m not too sure why this is, but if it doesn’t seem to be working on the first attempt, it might be worth trying it with another foundation. This is a bit of a disappointment as I would like and expect it to work with all of the foundations I own. I would also advise to use the ‘less is more’ mantra when applying this primer as using too much also seems to ruin the foundation application and can create a bit of a patchy mess.

However, after playing around with the primer, it does seem to make the foundation last longer than normal and this is what I was after in the first place. I feel more confident that my makeup is staying in place throughout the day when I have this on underneath. It also (touch wood) hasn’t caused any irritation to my skin, which is a major plus point for me.

Overall, this primer is ok! I am a little disappointed, as after reading other reviews, I was hoping to love it, but the fact that it has a strange scent and only works with certain foundations in my collection means that I don’t think I will be repurchasing this.

The hunt for the perfect primer continues.

Do you have any primer recommendations? If so, get in touch and let me know.

Jade x