Hope everyone has been well since my last post!
I just wanted to post about my experience with the Tarte Clean Slate Face Primer that I had blogged about a couple weeks ago.
For a while now, I've been on the search for a perfect face primer. For me, the "perfect face primer" would be one that doesn't break me out (this is a must!), evens out my skin, makes my skin smooth for foundation application, decreases the appearance of large pores, and controls oil. Most of the primers that I've tried have failed in the "doesn't break me out" category as most primers have silicone or dimethicone crosspolymer, which my skin seems to have a bad reaction to. It's too bad since silicone is what helps with the pores and makes the skin feel really soft.
I really liked the MAC Prep & Prime face primer (w/out SPF) since it made my skin really soft. However, I ended up getting some bad cystic acne on my forehead. I tend to break out mainly on my forehead and occasionally around my nose. Never really on my cheeks.
I went into Sephora determined to purchase another face primer (after trying several and failing) and this time I was set on getting one without silicone. I read all the ingredients carefully for each primer and most of them had the word "silica" which made me cringe and put it down. One of the Sephora sales associates picked out the Tarte Clean Slate Face Primer as she said that it contained no silicone. Low and behold, she was right and I felt ecstatic. I thought to myself that "this may be the end of my search for a HG primer!"
The Tarte Clean Slate is made of all natural ingredients and contains these benefits:
It all seemed too good to be true and I tried some on the back of my hand and loved the consistency of this primer. It came out in a clear gel consistency:
After rubbing it on the back of my hand, I loved the finish as it felt smooth and matte. Perfect for foundation application.
I was so excited to share this purchase on my blog and posted the picture of the ingredients to share that there was no silicone in this primer.
However, after posting, one of my lovely blog readers informed me that this primer does contain silicone as it contains DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, which is basically a fancy way of saying silicone. When I discovered this, my heart dropped. My high hopes for this primer went down low for me.
Prior to using and purchasing this primer, I've been dealing with some strange cystic acne that I've never really had before. Mainly all over my forehead and for the first time ever, I got acne on my cheeks. If you're a twitter friend, you may have read a few tweets about my skin. The cause of the acne was unknown for me since I didn't really change any skincare routine minus one moisturizer. However, I was using brand new makeup products and it hit me that these makeup products may contain "dimethicone crosspolymer" that may be triggering my strange acne.
The first thing I went for was my HG face powder, MAC Blot Powder in Medium, which I blogged about earlier. I was nervous to look at the ingredients but I bit my lip and checked to see that it contained dimethicone and silica. A double slap in the face for me. >.<
After this discovery, I stopped using MAC Blot Powder altogether, but I still wanted to give the Tarte Clean Slate primer a shot since it was $30 and I had promised to review it.
So the outcome?
The Tarte Clean Slate Face Primer broke me out. Or to be more specific, my acne didn't get any better. Actually, they ended up looking more red and puffy than usual (ewww).
It's such a pity since the primer itself is great! I think this primer won't disappoint those who don't have over-sensitive skin or to those who don't mind using silicone on their face.
For people like me.... you should stay away from this primer!
It's interesting since after I stopped using MAC Blot Powder and Tarte Clean Slate Primer, my skin drastically improved within 2 days. I've also changed my skincare routine (which I will be sharing later in a video and blog post) and my acne has gone down and almost disappeared. It's pretty crazy actually by how fast my skin recovered.
Since I can't use my MAC Blot Powder in Medium any longer, I am planning on selling it on a blog sale or to anyone who's interested. I still have sooo much of it leftover and it's too much of a waste to just not use it or throw it out. The Blot Powder is really a great powder since it even was at one point, my HG powder. If you want to learn more about this powder, check out my blog post about it HERE.
Let me know if you're interested in purchasing it from me. :)
Hope this post was helpful.
Make sure to read those ingredients lists carefully. Don't be fooled like me! LOL
-minky
