Best Primers by Skin Type: Find Your Perfect Match

Key takeaways

Dry or oily skin, large pores, sensitivity or ageing – match your skin concern with a targeted primer.
Choose a mattifying, hydrating or blurring finish.
Hero options include Grippy The Serum Primer and more.

Why to use primer

You’ve nailed your skincare, chosen the right foundation shade and created a perfect look – yet by lunchtime your base looks patchy. It’s time to say hello to primers.

A primer creates an even canvas between moisturiser and makeup. Think of it as double-sided tape for make-up: invisible, weightless and hard-working. From smoothing lines to reducing shine, it helps your makeup stay put from a 9 a.m. meeting to after-work plans.

Best primer for aging skin

Fine lines and a drop in firmness are totally natural, but a smoothing base can soften their appearance. Adding a touch of hydration, primers help fill fine lines and stop foundation from creasing.

Our top pick for youthful skin: Fit Me Luminous + Smooth Primer. With a silky texture, this dewy primer smooths the look of first signs of ageing and creates a perfect base for a medium coverage foundation.

Work a pea-sized drop from the centre of your face outwards, using fingertips for warmth. Let it set for 30 seconds before brushing on foundation.

Best primer for dry and dehydrated skin

Flakiness makes even the best foundation look tired. A primer for dry skin tops your moisturiser, sealing in hydration for the day.

Our hydration hero: Poreless Jelly 24h Hydrating Blur Primer. A lightweight gel moisturises without heaviness and plumps the skin, working perfectly under BB cream or a sheer-finish foundation.

Press our best primer for dry skin onto any flaky spots with a damp sponge – works like a charm.

Best primer for oily skin

If mid-morning shine is your nemesis, you need an oil-absorbing base that stays feather-light – and doesn’t transfer onto your phone!

Our shine shield: Fit Me Matte + Poreless Primer. Our best makeup primer for oily skin and sebum control, it minimizes the appearance of pores and mattifies skin, working well under both liquid foundations and face powders. And, as named the best primer for blemish-prone skin by Vogue, it has cult status.

Apply the mattifying primer on the T-zone, then gently press to create a matte finish.

Best primer for minimising pores

Visible pores can steal the spotlight in selfies. Solution? A blurring primer that keeps pores at bay and works like an Instagram filter.

Our smoothing solution: Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer. Oil-free and non-sticky, it creates a weightless airbrushed look.

Warm a tiny amount between fingers, press it over pores and wait ten seconds before foundation. Concentrating on placement beats slathering it everywhere.

Best primer for combination skin

Oily forehead, dry cheeks – the classic combo conundrum. If only there was a solution to tackle oiliness on your T-zone while keeping cheeks and dry patches hydrated…

Enter the hero: Grippy The Serum Primer. A serum-gel texture adapts to both oily and dry areas of your skin, creating a tacky base for any foundation for up to 24 hours.

Alternatively, try primer layering to balance your complexion. Apply Smooth Fit Me Matte + Poreless Primer on oily zones, followed by Fit Me Luminous + Smooth Primer on cheeks and areas that need hydration.

Best primer for sensitive skin

For sensitive skin or one prone to redness, choose products labelled fragrance-free, non-comedogenic and alcohol-free.

Our gentle formula: Facestudio Lasting Fix Makeup Setting. It’s an alcohol-free mist that locks in make-up while keeping skin comfortable.

If you have sensitive skin, always patch-test new products behind your ear overnight. If there’s no redness by morning, you’re good to go.

Quick primer checklist:

Define your concern – sebum, pores dryness, sensitivity or fine lines.
Decide on the finish – matte or dewy.
Pick the texture - gels for heat, creams for colder weather.
Layer well – have a couple of primers at hand to match your makeup goal.
Finish strong – a spritz of setting spray pairs perfectly with a primer.

A good primer turns your make-up from “good” to “how is it still flawless at 8 p.m.?” By pairing your skin’s needs with the right Maybelline formula – whether that’s a dewy primer for dry cheeks or an oily face primer that keeps shine in check – you set yourself up for success.

Find a primer for your skin type in the Maybelline range