The POREfessional by Benefit Cosmetics Review and Swatches
By Contributor: Srishti Gupta
This is my first post to VNA, hope am much accepted by all you readers. Going out for 2-3 hrs? In a hurry? No time for makeup? Plus your skin is very oily? Ummm..what to do? You just cant go bare skinned. It appears rough, raw, the pores are prominent…. argghh! You hate it! To add to it open pores on oily skin imply dirt and grime which result in blackheads. And don’t you know pores tend to expand under the pressure of heavy oil flow? (now you do) You have just five minutes at the most to rush off and soo much to think! Please gimme a break ..and Ta-da ..heres it Benefit POREfessional face primer specialy made only for your pores. Yes you got it righ ! It is the same primer that won Vogue Beauty Awards 2013 and it truly deserves it.
Benefit Claims: oil-free, light-weight,translucent,silky. Pro balm to minimize the appearance of pores.
It does what it claims. It gives almost a beautifully velvety texture to the skin. As soon as it is applied, skin looks smooth and toned. It gives skin a whiter but natural tone (atleast to mine it does) .
Packing: its comes in a smaller than a palm size tube.
Firstly, I will talk about it as a face primer. As a primer it evens out the skin smoothly like a smooth canvas, evenly and skillfully hiding the pores..making the skin look almost dentless. Make up applied on it last for 5-7 hrs without much of a problem (obviously given you are not exposed to the sun most of the time) .
Secondly, I will be talking about POREfessional as the emergency back up option. On casual outings when the weather is pleasant or you are going to stay in air conditining then this is a not a bad option to go for. As for oily skins it keeps your skin smooth, pretty and oil free for about 2.5-3hrs and skin is easy to carry around, you won’t have problems giving a slight touch up with it after sometime and for normal or dry skin it will last longer on your face than it does on oily skin.
The problem with it is that its too expensive for its worth. Having paid the cost which was between Rs.2000-3000 ..I don’t recall exactly..you won’t like to finish it that fast. If you use it occasionaly and wisely it might last for 4-5 months.
Here are the before and after swatches on my face. Excuse my acne..I am recovering. The difference is not prominent in the pictures because its very natural. But in reality you see it on your skin.
Pros of Benefit The POREfessional:
- Its Oil free.
- Makes my skin super smooth.
- Translucent and natural.
- Pore appearance reduced by 70-75%.
- Easy to carry and travel friendly
- Slightly fragranced..nothing strong
- Wonderful emergency option
- Very natural
Cons of the primer:
- Very expensive for the quantity
- Not long lasting
- So natural that the difference is not much
I was wondering how did I happen to buy it? Errrrrr…. I was fooled into buying it. It so happened my family was the only customer in Sephora..while my parents were busy buying frangrances, I was being hounded by nearly the rest of SAs when one of them started talking about my oily skin and remedies… oily skin – aah my weakness. The SA targeted just the right thing and god knows how she managed to sell me the primer and that too not only one but two tubes ..stupid me! And then its soo bloody expensive!
Price: Between 2k-3k (I dnt remember exactly) for 22ml ..which btw is pretty expensive for a small tube. ($28 internationally)
VNA Rating: 2.8/5
Should I buy it or not? Benefit The POREfessional Primer is a good option when you are in a hurry and can’t do your makeup. It smoothes my skin and reduces the appearance of pores. It also takes care of my oily skin but I would not suggest you people to go for it because there is no use paying this much with so many options available in market but yes if you don’t mind keeping a quick option with yourself , then POREfessional is just the thing to go for.
If you are looking for a budget primer then do read our review of Colorbar Perfect Match Primer
