The primers you need to preserve your makeup

If you don’t think you need a primer to help your makeup stay put, you probably haven’t tried the right one—yet. This extra pre-application step rarely gets the recognition it deserves, even though it goes a long way for preventing makeup from settling into fine lines and other nooks and crannies, or basically sliding off your face. Yes, there are plenty of options to choose from, including color-correcting primers as well as products designed to hydrate, mattify and more. But one new primer has beauty buffs buzzing, and it’s Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip Primer.

There’s so much going on in this novel primer that I almost don’t know where to start. In addition to giving all skin types and tones a steady all-day stream of hydrating ingredients like aloe water and hyaluronic acid with just two pumps, it owes its priming power to blue agave extract, which forms an invisible layer on the skin for makeup to stick to—but you need to give it one minute to dry for optimal grip. This dreamy gel also has a slight green tint that dries to a crystal-clear finish—and you can wear it sans foundation if you want to try the whole glassy-skin look.

I’m a big believer in eyelid primer as well, and I’ve been using Tom Ford’s Eye Primer Duo for YEARS. This pot features a flesh-toned cream that you apply first to help even out skin tone, and a translucent powder in the cap that dust over your lids afterwards. Together, they work to minimize creasing and maximize your shadow’s staying power. I am consistently impressed with how good my eyes look when I get home at the end of a long day (or night) after using this primer—and I don’t ever see myself using anything else.