Review: MAC Prep & Prime skin base visage.

I've been on the hunt for a good face primer for a while and after trying numerous brands including No 7 and MUA and being fairly disapointed I thought it was time to splash out. Now, I was originally interested in Benefit's Porefessional, but decided against it. The reason being I'd read many mixed reviews and most importantly the price completely put me off. I know I said it's time to splash out but quite frankly £24.50 for 22ml of product is in my opinion, outrageous and I couldn't justify spending that much to try something out.

Anyway, let's get back to the whole point of this post; MAC Prep and Prime. I decided on this one as I was going into MAC anyway, as I'm a bit of a MAC addict and I've never been dissapointed with a product. (How many times can I fit the word 'MAC' into a paragraph, jeez!) It costs £19.50 and you get 30ml of product in the bottle.

Packaging: I'm actually a really big fan of the box it comes in. It's plain black with white font and looks clean and professional as all MAC outer packaging does. It's also covered in tiny sparkles which is lovely and my girly side can't stop looking at it as it hits the light. It has an almost galaxy effect so my inner hipster is very happy.

The product itself comes in a plastic bottle using the same colours; also with that little bit of sparkle, yay! It's got a pump top which allows for easy access to the product and means you're not going to be struggling trying to get those last bits out when it's nearly empty. The only downside to the bottle is that as the plastic is opaque black, you can't actually see how much primer you've got left which is slightly annoying.

Score: 8/10

Product: When I got this home I couldn't wait to try it out, so, as I was wearing a face of make-up already I decided to get it out and put a bit on the back of my hand to see what it was all about. The product comes out white, as most primers do and has a cream like texture. It's fairly thick but spreads very easily as it includes silicone; this made a massive difference and makes my skin feel so silky and smooth.

I did notice that it has a few sparkles in, which is interesting and I realised this is why the packaging is so lovely and glittery! They're not too noticeable after foundation is applied but I took a trip to the local shops and decided to wear it alone on top of my daily moisturizer and when I looked in the mirror my face did look slightly glittery, especially when in broad daylight, so be warned if this is something you don't want. The sparkles did however give my skin a nice glow and left me looking awake and refreshed.

Now for the all important question, does it work? Well I have to say a deffinate yes! It leaves a soft, silky base for my foundation to be applied over and no matter how good your foundation, it needs a nice clean, smooth canvas to look flawless. It also makes my make-up last A LOT longer. My make-up usually needs topping up after a few hours but I can honestly say I noticed a big difference whilst wearing this. I have a fairly oily t-zone and this keeps my skin matte for most of the day.

Score 9/10

Overall opinion: I would definitely repurchase as it has a lot of advantages; my make-up stays on for longer, it keeps oil at bay on problem areas, it leaves my skin feeling ridiculously soft and my foundation really does look better when I've applied this before hand.

Yes, the price is quite steep but I've got a feeling that it will last a long time and as it's MAC I know it's of a high quality.

I also have quite sensitive skin but this gave me no problems at all. MAC's Studio Fix Fluid foundation tends to make my skin break out and this was a worry for me when purchasing the primer, but I've had no problems whatsoever. Thumbs up from me!

Score: 9/10

Have you ever tried this primer, what do you think? How does it compare to others on the market?