Generally speaking, it’s fine to wear a primer every day.

Primers come in two main categories, water-based and silicone-based formulas. Silicones can trap sweat, dirt, and bacteria to further exasperate issues, particularly in those with acne-prone skin. While silicones based primers are considered a low hazard for human use and many skincare or beauty influencers swear by their performance, water-based primers are preferred for daily use.

How to Choose a Primer for Daily Use

Many of us have unique triggers that can cause breakouts, flare-ups, or other skin irritations, so always test a new primer in a smaller area for a couple of days to ensure you’re not overly sensitive to it. The good news is that there are many primers that offer a lot of variety to cater to the various skin types.

Looking for products that are labeled as non-comedogenic is what you should look for. These are specifically formulated to minimize pore clogs and issues, which we can all benefit from.

Primers are tailored towards the 4 major skin types:

• Normal
• Oily
• Dry
• Combination

Some are specifically tailored to help matte your natural shine (for oily skin) whereas others add hydrating elements (for dry skin).

What’s great about primers is that you can use them alone without adding additional foundation or make-up. This approach can be desirable for many who want to achieve a clean and refined no-make-up make-up look. If this is what you want to achieve, then wearing primer daily would be even better than your previous routine of products, as it lessens the number of products you apply each day and that gets absorbed in your skin.

How to Make Your Primer Last All Day

Some tips to give you the most mileage from your primer and skincare routine include:

Step 1: Apply your moisturizer within the first 2-3 minutes of exiting the shower. This is known as the Two-Minute or Three-Minute Rule. We recommend this because that timeframe from exiting the shower is when your skin will be most receptive to moisturizers, so by applying them then, you ensure the most absorption.

Step 2: If you use SPF each day, apply that next. Combination products exist and there’s no harm combining the moisturizer + SPF, but you want to make sure they’re applied below the primer.

Step 3: Add your primer once both of those products have dried. There are even combination primers that include SPF, which is better than nothing, but I’m a firm believer that having a designated SPF is important as its own layer.

If you go by the above approach, you shouldn’t have any issues wearing primer daily – whether that’s part of a skincare routine or a standalone product.