Can Essence do a good primer? Sure they can! Their Glow Serum primer has been touted as a dupe for the Glow Recipe Dew Drops so yes, the brand can definitely do a good thing. Is their newer Hydro Hero primer as successful? Let’s find out!
This is not the first Essence primer I have tested out. In case you are curious, you can find all the Essence primers I reviewed in the past by clicking here. I think my favorite one would still be the Skin Lovin’ Sensitive one in the dropper packaging. I may have to pick up a new of one of that instead of trying out all these new things.
Review: Essence Hydro Hero Primer
Essence being Essence we all know this is going to be affordable. At around €4 a piece this is really not an expensive product. It depends on where you buy it how much it sets you back. As with a lot of newer Essence products it may be more difficult to find depending on where you are located. If you are in the EU this may be easiest to find.
What does this primer have to offer?
My reason for testing out so many Essence primers over the years is two-fold. On the one hand they are affordable and so it is easy to try out a lot. With primers I tend to use them up and then move on to the next one and I use one up ever 6 – 8 weeks or so. So it’s definitely one of those work horse staples in my makeup collection that I would be repurchasing all the time, which is why I prefer those products to be more affordable.
On the other hand, I have never really found more expensive primers to be worth the money. I have dry/ dehydrated skin that doesn’t need a lot to make my makeup last all day. With primers I prefer it if they add a bit of glow or hydration but I am not expecting it to make my makeup last throughout the day. And for hydration I rely on my skincare routine for the most part.
How does this primer swatch?
The squeezy tube packaging on this makes it very easy to control how much you need. However, I feel I need to give it a good squeeze to get the amount of product I need. For a hydrating primer, I don’t find this overly dewy. It has a soft, yet silicone feel to it. In terms of hydrating primers this is definitely not the most hydrating primer I have ever tried. I find it blends in easily and you can pretty much apply your foundation straight after it.
What does this primer look like on the face?
So while this primer works, it is just not my favorite. It was good enough to use it up all the way (I am nearly done with it) but it’s not one I will be repurchasing. And the reason for that you can see here: it makes my skin go red. Not because it is irritating, but because when I rub this in my skin reacts. I also have this with some skincare products, but definitely not with all and I just prefer it if my skin doesn’t react at all. The texture feels nice enough on the skin but I wouldn’t call this hydrating as I find it too thick and silicone like for that claim.
Should you buy the Essence Hydro Hero primer?
While this is not a bad product I don’t think this is Essence’s best primer they have ever done. Does it get the job done? Yes and if you want a primer without spending an arm and a leg this is a good one. And that’s how I feel about Essence primers in general: they are affordable, fuss free and get the job done. If you don’t have too many demands for what your primer needs to do, this is nice. If you do need your primer to be the work horse of your makeup routine you may want to skip this one.
You can buy the Essence Hydro Hero here *.
*Link is affiliated