Howdy. I have another review for you all, which you probably already realized since the whole title of this post INCLUDES the giveaway word… of “review.” Ha. I’m sarcastic today… you’re welcome.
Anyways, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer. [FULL DISCLAIMER: I received this product, for reviewing purposes, from Influenster. If you are unfamiliar with Influenster, click here.]
So as the clever (*cough* obvious) title of the product says, this is a mineral foundation primer. Mineral makeup products are made with natural-made minerals such as iron oxides, talc, zinc oxides, etc. It doesn’t contain a whole lot of filler ingredients nor does it tend to contain emollient oils and waxes, fragrance, and preservative ingredients found in conventional formulations. Some say that mineral makeup is better, but I leave that up to you. Everyone’s skin and preferences are different.
I don’t know about you, but anytime someone brings up ‘mineral makeup,’ I automatically just assume it’s something to do with Bare Minerals… since that’s what THEY are known for. When I think of Hourglass Cosmetics, I tend not to think of mineral makeup… I think about its hefty price tag. Which, I’m not going to dance around this point – this 1oz bottle of mineral foundation primer is $54USD. That’s insane, but let me talk about the pros before delving into the cons of this product.
I’ve had this little gem for over a month now. I’ve used it enough to get a good feel for the formulation and performance and figured that now’s a better time as any to get my review out and into the Interwebs. This primer is the SECOND Hourglass product that I’ve added to my collection. The first was a GIRL Lip Stylo lipstick/lip stain that I bought about two months prior thanks to so nudging from Influenster’s Virtual VoxBox campaign about the Lip Stylos and the GIRL campaign.
The entire range of Hourglass is probably one of the more spendy brands at Sephora (at least one of the ones that have products and a full kiosk in stores). It’s not as pricey as a few others, but it is well out of my price range. I was happy that Influenster included me in one of their Hourglass Voxboxes because I am a sucker for new-ish makeup and who doesn’t like “free” stuff. [I say free, but it’s more of a free product for reviewing and plugging on social media type situation.]
Before I go jumping into my full thoughts, let me give you some of the info on the product:
Cost: $54 USD for 1oz bottle of product
What it is: An oil-free primer with a silky, airy texture that leaves a smooth canvas for makeup while reducing the look of redness, pores, and wrinkles.
What it does: With a texture unlike any other, this silky primer extends the wear of makeup while also concealing redness, minimizing the appearance of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles, and providing broad spectrum SPF 15 for a perfect complexion that lasts. It leaves a smooth, even surface so that foundation effortlessly glides on and stays put for all-day makeup wear. This unique primer has an airy, silky cloud-like texture and layers onto skin without added weight or a greasy after feel. It delivers Broad Spectrum SPF 15 sun protection with mineral-derived sunscreens. It’s ideal for all skin types, even sensitive, blemish-prone skin, and it repels water so makeup stays looks freshly applied all day long.
What it is formulated WITHOUT:
– Parabens
– Sulfates
– Phthalates
What else you need to know: The perfect complexion starts with Veil Mineral Primer. As the first step in your makeup routine, it creates the ideal canvas for your makeup to effortlessly glide on and stay on for all-day wear. The silky, weightless texture smooths and evens out the skin for perfect application and wear every time. It’s the one product that will elevate your foundation to unprecedented performance.
The primer comes in a metallic bronze colored cardboard box. The packaging of the primer, itself, is very sturdy and has a wonderful weight to it. I am a sucker for clean, minimalist packaging and this sings to my graphic designer soul. The container itself is thick, frosted glass with a heavy plastic pump top that is simulated to look like metal – but it’s not. I love that it has a pump dispenser so that you can get the same amount of product out every time without even thinking about it.
I also should let you know that I have tried samples of this product in the past although it’s been long enough that I don’t honestly remember what I thought about it — other than it was OUT OF MY PRICE RANGE FOR A PRIMER!
I have dry, finicky skin. Part of that is due to chronic illness stuff, and the other is just because I have dry skin. I also have some adult acne, not cystic – thankfully – but pesky hormonal crap. My skin isn’t perfect, and I am trying to get better about taking care of it. Honestly, I tend to stay away from ‘mineral’ makeup because, in the past, it has aggravated my dry skin or dried it out even more.
Enter the Veil Mineral Primer.
I filmed a first impressions video where I actually did multiple check-ins, although I’m not sure if that video will ever see the light of day… we will see. I’m not sure about how I feel about parts of it, and I was scatterbrained while filming it. [/insert me being hyper-critical of myself] I will go ahead and tell you what I noticed. In total, I wore it for about 10 hours, and this is a long time for me in makeup. I filmed videos and had a few video conferences. Did stuff and things.
When I first applied it, it gave my skin a weird cast to it. My skin is very pale and neutral in tone. Upon smoothing it on, it looked like a white-cast with almost a cool hue to it. It was weird… not even the ELF mineral primer that I was testing out last year did that to me. The application was easy, and it didn’t pill up on my skin, which is a good sign. The foundation that I was wearing for that day was one of my old standbys, Tarte’s Double Duty Hybrid Gel Foundation, which went on fine over the primer with my beauty blender. I could still see some of my pores on my nose, my forehead expression lines, and a little of my usual face redness peeking through the foundation. I did the best I could, finished my makeup, and went on with my day.
By the 2-hour mark, I could start to see weird micro-expression lines on my face, specifically under my eyes. Now, it shouldn’t be that shocking to find out that I have undereye wrinkles. I have dry under eyes, and I don’t sleep that much – thanks to insomnia. It struck me as odd because, yes, normally my concealer and or foundation would settle into my normal wrinkles, but there was this weird area just below those normal wrinkles that had these weird lines in my foundation where the product had broken up. Also, I was noticing that my face felt tighter… and not the “OH! My face feels firm and tighter” good way… more of a “Geez; I’m drying out like a fish outta water” feeling. Other than that the foundation was wearing fine.
Check in again at the 6-hour mark, and the foundation is starting to break up around the sides of my mouth, around the sides of my nostrils, and the wrinkles on my forehead are REALLY starting to show…. as well as a few more of those weird micro-expression wrinkles in the foundation around my undereye area. OH, and my nose was getting SHINY. The rest of my face was holding up pretty well… so there’s that.
By hour 10, I was done. I wanted it to get off of my face. I was worried that it would cause more problems. Thankfully, aside from some additional dryness, it didn’t break me out. HOORAY. I know that mineral makeup is known for not causing breakouts, but my skin has a mind of its own sometimes. The foundation didn’t seem to have any “extra” holding power. Honestly, by that point, my foundation just slid off of my face at the slightest touch — or dog lick (Charlie decided to show me some love).
I tried using it again about 10 more times, off and on, since then with different foundations (liquids, creams, powders, gels, etc…) and while I found that I didn’t have an issue applying those different types over top of the primer, I still experienced dryness and those weird lines around my undereye areas. I still don’t know why it does that. I have a very expressive face, I make A LOT of faces throughout the course of the day… but that’s just odd. I have never had a foundation or primer do that to me AT ALL.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
I know this is a “cult” favorite from Hourglass and I think that my case is probably one of those rare experiences that didn’t enjoy it. Also, this primer is EXPENSIVE! $54 for one fluid ounce of primer? COME ON! I understand paying higher prices for skincare, GOOD FOUNDATION, and stuff that will last me for a long while without expiring… but this price point for the primer is ridiculous. If it was AMAZING and made my foundation last and stay perfect all day and night without creasing or budging, that would be one thing, but it didn’t do any of that. I have had better results with my Make Up For Ever primer, or Becca First Light Primer, or hell, even my ELF Mineral Primer – which I think is a functional dupe for this.
The Pros:
- I loved the packaging and dispenser.
- The product glides easily over the skin for application.
- It doesn’t seem to interact negatively with any foundations that I’ve tried (APPLICATION WISE) nor did I see any added oxidizing or that sort of stuff.
- Didn’t have any weird smell that was off-putting or triggers a migraine.
The Cons:
- HOLY FRAKKIN’ EXPENSIVE THING, BATMAN! I do not think that it’s worth the pricetag.
- Didn’t “prolong” my foundation
- Didn’t even out my complexion, texture, or give me any added benefits.
- It did wear oddly around my eyes/center of my face.
This product would probably work with folks who have normal, combo, or oily skin. I’m happy that I got to try it and try it for a good long while. Guess what?! Almost every makeup-themed VoxBox from Influenster tends to have an Instagram Party. That’s a set day that everyone comes together and posts photos of their box. I attended and was one of the WINNERS!!!
I was blown away by the amount of support and love that I received on this post. To date, this is the most engaged picture I have EVER had on Instagram. I don’t know where everyone came from on this post but just know that I love you and am extremely thankful for you. I love to do all sorts of looks, and this one has me hankering to do more glossy eyed looks. Should I do a tutorial, maybe? Lemme know.
Anyways… I received my prize pack the other day. It included the Ambient Light Blush in Mood Exposure, Ambient Lighting Bronzer in Luminous Bronze Light and another Hourglass Veil Primer. (All pictured below) I happily passed two of the three items on to a friend because the bronzer was too dark for me and I already had a bottle of the primer. I am quickly falling in love with the blush though. It’s so pretty. I forgot to take a swatch picture, but I’m sure you can find them somewhere on the internet.
I am extremely grateful to be able to try products and review them for you guys. Many thanks to Influenster and Hourglass Cosmetics for giving me the opportunity to try the Veil Mineral Primer. If you guys would like to join the Influenster community – go ahead and click here —> CLICK ME! [That’s a referral link]
Thank YOU for sticking through this MASSIVELY long post. I wasn’t expecting it to be this long but oh well…. c’est la vie. Do you have a favorite primer? Have you tried the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (or anything else from Hourglass Cosmetics)? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments below or shoot me a little message over on social media – you can find me @ohjaechaos pretty much everywhere.
FTC DISCLAIMER: I DID receive the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer from Influenster.com for REVIEWING PURPOSES. All opinions are expressly my own and completely honest. I believe in being 100% translucent with you guys so know that if I didn’t feel a product review would be worth your time, I wouldn’t post it.
