This or That | Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer vs. Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer (Redness Correcting)

Hi Everyone!

Today, I’m comparing two high end colour correcting primers: Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer- Adjust and Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer- Redness Correcting Primer.

I own the travel-sized Smashbox primer, but used the 1 oz price to compare it to the Make Up For Ever primer.

Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer- Adjust

Look less red! This green-toned primer color-corrects redness, blurs pores, evens skin tone & reduces the appearance of fine lines.

Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer- Redness Correcting Primer

REDNESS CORRECTING PRIMER instantly neutralizes and evens out red tones for flawless foundation coverage. Green Spectraflex® pigments color correct redness and boost radiance while moisturizing agents provide hydration. Skin tone is evened out for a flawless makeup all day long.

The Smashbox primer didn’t reduce any redness, when you blend it into your skin. It’s like they added a green tint to their silicone photo finish primer that blurs pores. The green sort of just moves around and doesn’t blend in as well.

The Make Up For Ever primer has the consistency of a moisturizer/serum and when you blend it into your skin, it actually neutralizes redness. Although if you constantly have to cover up redness, I suggest investing in a colour correcting concealer instead of a primer.

WINNER: Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primer- Redness Correcting Primer

If you’re looking at which primer actually conceals redness, Make Up For Ever is the winner. If you prefer Smashbox Primers, I would just buy the Photo Finish one and then use a colour correcting concealer on top of it because when I was blending the swatches on my hand, I was just moving green chunks around on my hand.

I get red on and around my nose and chin, and sometimes the Make Up For Ever primer doesn’t cover it. I think if you get very mild redness, then the primer is okay, but if you constantly need to cover up redness, I think it’s best to invest in a colour correcting concealer and just get a regular face primer. I absolutely love the two other Step 1 Skin Equalizer Primers that I’ve tried: smoothing (For Large Pores & Fine Lines) and hydrating (Universal formula for normal skin with occasional dryness). They have a light scent to them, like a nice perfume. Make Up For Ever has four natural finish primers: hydrating, redness correcting, nourishing and smoothing. They also sell a mattifying one and radiant finish colour correcting primers (blue, pink, yellow, peach, caramel and mauve).

Some recommendations for a colour correcting concealer: Urban Decay’s Naked Skin Color Correcting Fluid and the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer Wand- Green. The Urban Decay and NYX ones are similar, the NYX one is a dupe for the Urban Decay one in terms of the type of product, but the shades of green are very different and the NYX one is thicker. Even from my swatches below, you can see that the NYX one has absorbed into my skin a bit and the Urban Decay one is more liquid.