Ooh, gurl, have you heard the chismis?
(Chismis is Tagalog for “gossip.”)
Apparently, and you didn’t hear this from me, but Too Faced Hangover Primer is making MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance totally jealous with a capital J-E-L.
See, MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance and I — we roll deep. I’ve been using it almost daily for years.
The stuff works great, and I also love how it feels like a lotion going on. Plus, it doesn’t give me breakouts, for which it gets extra credit from me because almost everything gives my combo skin fits.
I can’t stand it when face primers feel heavy, you know, like they’re sitting in lounge chairs on my face.
Ugh! It gives me the willies just thinking about it…
Thankfully, MAC Prep + Prime doesn’t do that. It feels light and wonderful to me, and my skin looks like real skin when I wear it!
Well, like real skin…only more radiant and smoother. 🙂
Like I said, Prep + Prime and I have been buds for years, but lately I’ve been hanging out with this new Too Faced primer called Hangover, and after only two weeks, we’re already like this (you can’t see me, but I’m crossing my fingers here).
I’ve actually been reaching for Hangover’s silicone-free formula more than my bottle of Prep + Prime.
JEALOUSY!
So what is it supposed to do?
Say you’re suffering from a beauty “hangover” — you know, pulling too many all-nighters, partying too hard with Kanye, staying up late re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy — what have you. This Hangover is supposed to be your cure.
Basically, it’s designed to prime your skin before foundation while bestowing skin care benefits, too. You end up looking like you got a full eight hours of sleep (lawd knows I need that right now) and have been drinking enough water — you know, all the good stuff you know you probably should be doing, but may not be (and by you, of course, I mean me). 🙂
It was just released with the Too Faced fall collection, and now it lives in the permanent line.
Its raison d’être is to revive tired, depleted, overworked skin while simultaneously prepping it for foundation, so it’s like a skin care elixir and a primer in one.
The unscented, colorless formula doesn’t feel sticky, and it’s also lightweight. On top of that, it absorbs quickly.
Ingredients include coconut water and probiotics, which Too Faced says help brighten and smooth your skin, while improving its elasticity and tone and replenishing moisture levels. A 1.35-oz tube with a pump goes for $32.
Great for: hydrating and prepping your skin for foundation
I’ve only been using it regularly for a couple weeks, which isn’t really enough time to determine if it delivers on those skin care claims, but I can talk about how well I think it works as a primer.
Ingredients: Aqua/Water/EAU, Lactobacillus/Salix Alba Bark Ferment Filtrate, Propanediol Dicaprylate, Propanediol, Ceteareth-6 Olivate, Olive Glycerides, Lactobacillus Ferment, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Cellulose Gum, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Pectin, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Xanthan Gum, Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil Unsaponifiables, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Juice, Lauryl Alcohol Diphosphonic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Lecithin, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Parfum/Fragrance, Lauric Acid, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Citric Acid.
The two things I can tell so far: 1. that Hangover is great for prepping skin for foundation, and 2. that it’s loaded with moisture.
As far as I can tell, my skin definitely looks smoother and feels better and more moisturized when I wear it. Whatever foundation I layer on top of Hangover looks smoother and lasts longer. I’ve used it with a bunch of different formulas, too — tinted moisturizers, cream foundation, stick foundations, liquid foundations — and it looks good with all of them.
Skin that still looks like skin!
When I wear Hangover, my skin still looks like skin — which is one of the things I also like about MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance.
And I actually think Hangover is a little better than Prep + Prime in terms of how my pores look. When I tested this, I actually used Hangover on one side of my face and Prep + Prime on the other. Then I checked my makeup throughout the day.
At the end of the day, the pores on the Hangover side of my face just looked better.
Not “OH MY GOSH THAT’S AMAZING YOU’RE FREAKING ME OUT!” better, but yeah, my pores looked smaller, for sure. I could see a difference.
Is it the end-all, be-all of primer existence?
Well, I probably won’t stop using MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance altogether (because I’m dedicated to it like that), but I like Hangover, and I’m sure I’ll use the entire bottle.
If at the end of the bottle it hasn’t given me breakouts, I may even restock it, especially if I start to see some of those skin care benefits.
It’s available now at Too Faced counters and toofaced.com.
Starting tomorrow: Laura Mercier Friends and Family Sale
Not Too Faced related, but worth a mention. Laura Mercier’s latest Friends and Family Sale starts tomorrow (starting Wednesday, June 24, at 12:01 a.m. CST). 🙂 Get 20% off and free standard shipping on any $75 purchase on lauramercier.com.
It runs through Friday. Also, everything is while supplies last, so no promo code needed.
I’ve been wanting to grab another tub of Laura’s awesome Verbena Infusion Gel Moisture, so yay!
Happy shopping. 🙂
Other than that, onward to the hump! I hope you’ve been having a good week so far.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I’d love to try this primer, it sounds really good. Hope you had a nice Tuesday. I am excited about my day off tomorrow and a trip to Sephora 🙂
I’ would love to try that.
I’m usually scared of primers because they just don’t work out for me but I might try this! Thanks for sharing! Nordys price matches do you think they would match the price for laura mercier stuff while they have the friends and family sale going on? I know they price matched when lord and Taylor had friends and family…
Probiotics in a primer? That’s a first (I think) but I guess in theory those little buggers could outcompete nasty acne-causing bacteria… or they would just die on your face because the environment is no where near the same as your gut (home sweet home to Lactobacillus). Curious! I love the feel of silicone-free primers- silicone in primers is a bit of a deal-breaker for me. I have quite a few right now that I’m trying to get through but I will keep this one in mind for the future. Good to hear it’s gotten two paws up so far!
I have a hard time believing that there are *active* probiotics in a cosmentic product that has any shelf life. This doesn’t have to be refrigerated, like yogurt, cheese, or a quality probiotic supplement, right? And, presumably, it’s not going to continue to culture, like yogurt would at room temperature.
It’s more likely that something in *dead* lactobacillus is providing a positive effect. I’m betting on peptidoglycans, the sugar-amino acid complex that makes up the bacterial cell wall.
“Probiotic” sounds a lot sexier that “dead bacteria parts”.
I really want this primer! It sounds heavenly! I can’t wait for the next Too Faced sale
It’s awesome that you’ve found another primer that you like! You know me, though. I love my “-icones” for their slippery feel. I’d probably be complaining about the texture of this like I do the Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer. 🙂 PS Happy Hump Day!
Hello Karen!
Do you put the primer on top of your sunscreen?
Hmm, this is interesting! Primer is kind of wasted on me so far – I *think* it makes my makeup go on better, but honestly all the ones I try kind of do the same (or they all do nothing?). I like the idea of a really hydrating one, though, as my main skin problem is dryness and tiredness. I wouldn’t mind a primer that plumped me up a bit 😉
How does your foundation hold up for a day with this underneath, Karen? When does it begin to wear off (e.g. when the oilies peek through, any changes in appearance)? Would the MAC perform better in this department? You’ve got a different skin type than mine (I’m acne-prone/oily).
Thanks and happy hump day to you and Tabs, too, girl. 🙂
I’m beginning to think we have rather similar skin so I’ve been waiting to see how this worked for you. It sounds super impressive! Do you wear it over moisturizer or skip that step? Bonus points for pore minimizing (ugh…my nose!) and having a pump!
I’ve got mixed feelings on primer. NARS and Becca have worked well for me. The Korres ones also did alright but everyone else I’ve tried has been bollocks. I’ll certainly sample this as soon as I go back to Sephora!
This seems awesome! a primer without silicone and working pretty well. I hope you could give a follow up review after long use for us to see if this primer lived to its claims. 🙂 *and if it didnt cause any breakouts. ^_^ it’s still not available here in Canada but I’m looking forward to purchasing it once it’s available at Sephora.
I was waiting until a sale to purchase the new Verbena body cleanse, so I hopped on the site early, but …surprise! They are out of it!
I’ve never used MAC’s prep&prime because I just assumed I’d break out! Good to know that its been good to/for you Karen! I’m so biased to cute packaging and I’m loving the packaging on the Too Faced one. Thanks for sharing!
This sounds really intriguing… Even though me and P&P Natural Radiance really don’t get along well at all! But I love Too Faced, I really want to try this!
Girl, I’m all ABOUT the chismis! Not that I’m a tsismosa or anything though ^ ^ Props for dropping in some Tagalog. I’m gonna keep an eye out for this primer – though I’m pretty loyal to my Hourglass Veil Mineral 😉
OMG…it’s so hot in hurr!!! 97 degrees so far, which makes this the perfecto time to tell you that I got this primer on your recommendation and I am so glad I did. It is light, but still moisturizing and makes my skin look brighter with no slippery, waxy feel. It’s some amazing stuff, I tell ya! Thank you for the chismas…but it ain’t really gossip ’cause it’s the truth!
I love how hydrating this primer is and couldn’t agree more! Have also put up a review which you can check out here: http://zizzleblog.com/2016/03/04/too-faced-hangover-face-primer/