Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics- Mineral Primer

I'm a primer fiend. If you're a regular reader you already know that (and you use one. Right? RIGHT?). A good primer create the smoothest base for everything that comes on top, allow you to use less foundation and get a better coverage and keep makeup looking fresh for long hours, even in extreme weather conditions (NYC in mid-August). Silicone-based face primers have become the standard and many companies offer one. They rarely vary, though some are thicker than others and all of them use some form of Dimethicone Crosspolymer as the main ingredient. The differences are in the minor additives and I've discovered that a few can be slightly pore-clogging.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics have their own primer, and looking at the list of ingredients it is, as they claim, chock-full of mineral and plant extracts. It's hard to say how much of it (if any) actually gets to work on my skin, but what I like about this Mineral Primer is that it actually feels lighter than than several other similar products I've been using. I wanted to take a photo comparing a drop of three or four silicone primers, but between my camera's limitations and my lack of skills I couldn't capture the difference. So you'll have to take my word for it- the Youngblood product looks the clearest and has the lightest texture. It doesn't affect performance, though. I still get the perfectly smooth canvas effect that works well with every foundation I've tried to use over it. Makeup stays vibrant and fresh from morning to night and I've not experienced any skin issues. Knowing that the primer is made of things like malachite extract, honeysuckle flower extract and also includes jojoba oil is just a bonus.

 Mineral Primer from Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics ($37.50) is available from Henri Bendel (highly recommended to visit the counter, where you can get some good advice and match the products to your needs) and from the comany's website, ybskin.com. I've been testing a sample that was a GWP and recently received a full-sized product directly from the company.

Photo of Princess Natalie Palie in Paris, 1937 from myvintagevogue.com