Top 10 Best Primers For Acne Prone Skin – 2024

Updated on August 18, 2024

Do you want your makeup to last for a long? Don’t skip a primer during your makeup routine. Applied before your foundation, a primer blurs skin imperfections, and acne scars, absorbs excess oil, and creates a smooth base for your foundation. It helps your foundation stay intact and prevents it from sliding and caking all over your face in hot and humid conditions. With acne-prone skin, primers correct the tone and texture of your skin and reduce any unwanted shine. Primers hide and prevent blemishes giving you a flawless base for makeup application. It minimizes large pores’ appearance and hydrates your skin without clogging your pores to cause excess cane and oil. Using the best primer for acne-prone skin, you get a smooth matte finish and the perfect canvas for your makeup. Try out these primers if your skin is prone to acne.

Editor’s Choices

Top 10 Primers For Acne Prone Skin Of 2024

1. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (Best Sun Protection)

This is an oil-free primer that extends your makeup wear for a long time. It conceals redness and minimizes the appearance of large pores, fine lines, and wrinkles to give you a smooth even canvas. 

This primer has SPF15 sun protection and is waterproof, which makes your makeup look always freshly applied. Your foundation glides on and stays intact over the airy formula. It is formulated for acne-prone skin and offers a silky-smooth finish that conceals all your acne scars and breakouts.

Key Features:

• Oil-free formula that will not clog your pores
• Conceal redness and minimizes the look of pores, fine lines, and wrinkles
• Protects your skin from harmful UV rays with SPF 15
• It offers a smooth even canvas for makeup application

2. Matte Makeup Base Primer for Face (Best Shine Control)

This is a mattifying face primer that brightens and balances your skin tone. This pore-erasing primer minimizes the appearance of large pores to create a smooth canvas for your foundation.

The primer is hydrating, and lightweight, and locks your foundation in place to give you a long-lasting mattifying effect that lasts all day. This waterproof and non-greasy formula controls oils and gives you a shine-free face. It hides wrinkles, fine lines, and acne scars for a flawless skin texture.

Key Features:

• Lightweight formula
• Waterproof
• Non-greasy formula
• Minimizes the appearance of large pores, acne scars, fine lines, and wrinkles
• Controls oil and shine

3. Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Pro Balm Primer (Best Lightweight)

For a smoother canvas, use Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Pro Balm Primer. It quickly minimizes the appearance of pores and fine lines to give you a smooth finish. Its silky and lightweight texture does not clog your pores to cause more acne.

You can apply it alone or under or over makeup for smooth-looking skin. It is formulated with a vitamin E derivative that is known to protect your skin. This oil-free and translucent formula hydrates your skin and helps your makeup to stay put all day.

Key Features:

• Reduces the appearance of pores and fine lines
• Oil-free lightweight formula
• It helps your makeup to stay put all-day
• Has vitamin E that protects your skin

4. Lauda Botanicals Oily Face Control Mattifying Primer (Best Blemish Free)

This is one of the best makeup primers for acne-prone skin. This oil-free and anti-shine formula controls sebum production and acne breakouts on acne-prone skin. It is a 3-in-1 solution that acts as a moisturizer, mattifier, and pore minimizer.

Using it under your foundation provides multiple hydrations and gives you oil-free skin all day. It is formulated with mild botanical ingredients like tea tree oil, cinnamon, and lactic acid that will not trigger acne-prone skin reactions.

Key Features:

• Lightweight mattifying formula
• Control oil production
• Provides shine-free and silky-smooth skin
• Loaded with antioxidants that refine your skin
• Exfoliates skin and reduces redness and irritation

5. NYX Professional Makeup Shine Killer Primer (Best Cruelty Free)

This matte makeup primer kills shine and absorbs oil to create a visible barrier between your skin and makeup. It smooths your skin by concealing all blemishes to create a smooth canvas for your foundation.

It offers a smooth and matte finish and cleanses your skin so that your makeup stays put for long. You can wear this makeup alone or under your foundation for a smooth silky finish.

Key Feature:

• Oil-absorbing and anti-shine formula
• It offers a smooth and matte finish
• It lasts for a long time
• It can be worn alone or under foundation

6. Jane Iredale Smooth Affair Facial Primer (Best For Brightening)

This is a skin-quenching primer that preps your skin so that makeup can glide on easily and last longer. It minimizes the appearance of pores and fine lines while bringing out your skin’s natural radiance and maintaining its youthful appearance.

It is formulated with grapefruit extract that promotes luminosity and skin radiance and green and white tea extract that provide anti-aging properties. Overtime use of this primer firms your skin and maintains moisture to give smooth and supple skin.

Key Features:

• Provides anti-aging properties and firs your skin
• Minimizes the appearance of fine lines and large pores
• Promotes a luminous and radiant skin
• Maintains a youthful appearance

7. Smashbox Original Photo Finish Smooth & Blur Primer (Best Flawless)

This is a water-based lightweight foundation primer that creates a perfect canvas for foundation application. This silky formula is a blend of vitamins A, and E, grape seed extract, and green tea. These ingredients have antioxidant properties that help fight early aging signs and firm your skin to even your skin tone.

This oil-free primer can be worn alone or under a foundation and offers a velvety smooth finish. It reduces the appearance of fine lines and pores to create a flawless finish to help your makeup stay put all day.

Key Features:

• Fragrance-free formula
• Lightweight oil-free formula
• It offers a velvety smooth finish
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines and pores

8. Maybelline New York Face Studio Master Prime Primer (Best For Skin Refining)

If you are looking for the best primer to blur skin imperfections and smooth fine lines, Maybelline New York Face Studio Master Prime Primer should be your go-to product. It primes your skin to create a smooth canvas for your makeup application.

This oil-free and weightless formula will not leave a greasy feeling after applying it. It is a water-based formula that gets absorbed quickly and can be worn alone or before your foundation.

Key Features:

• Lightweight formula that blurs skin imperfections
• Controls oil to give you a shine-free face
• Oil-free water-based formula that smooths your skin without leaving a greasy feel
• Refines the look and feel of your skin
• Offers full coverage up to 24 hours of wear

9. e.l.f. Blemish Control Face Primer (Best Long Lasting)

e.l.f. Blemish Control Face Primer transforms your face into a flawless, smooth canvas ready for makeup application that will last all day. The formula is infused with salicylic acid, tea tree, and vitamin E to control breakouts and blemishes.

This makes it a great primer for acne-prone skin. It blends evenly on your face to cover all imperfections to give a smooth flawless finish.

Key Features:

• Perfect for acne-prone skin
• Has salicylic acid that controls acne breakouts and blemishes
• It gives you a smooth baby-like matte finish
• Offers full coverage to conceal all blemishes

10. Benefit the POREfessional Pore Minimizing Primer (Best For Smoothening)

This is a professional balm primer that is formulated to minimize the appearance of pores. It has a vitamin E derivative known to protect your skin from free-damaging radicals. This oil-free formula quickly minimizes the appearance of large pores, fine lines, and wrinkles.

It helps your makeup to stay put all day. It is a silky and lightweight formula that can be worn alone without feeling heavy on your skin. It can also be worn under your makeup to create a smooth canvas.

Key Features:

• Minimizes the appearance of pores
• Oil-free and lightweight formula
• Protects your skin from free radicals
• It helps your makeup to stay put all day

How To Choose The Right Primer For Acne Prone Skin?

Nature of the Primer

Primers come in either gel or liquid form. With acne-prone skin, you should select non-comedogenic and oil-free primers so that they will not clog your pores and help fight acne. Also, check primers made with natural ingredients because the chemicals can trigger irritations or cause more breakouts. 

Ingredients Used

Look for primers made with ingredients that help fight acne and breakouts. This includes ingredients like salicylic acid that helps to clear pores and absorb excess oil. It helps to control oil to give you a shine-free face.

Added Benefits

Go for a primer that helps keep your makeup stays put and offers added benefits to your skin. For example, you can choose a primer that offers UV protection over one that does not. Others are enriched with vitamin E which helps to protect your skin from free damaging radicals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are primers good for acne-prone skin?

As long as a primer is made with the right ingredients and is formulated for acne-prone skin, it will not harm your skin. It will help to fight oil and control shine while concealing all breakouts and imperfections to give you a smooth canvas for your foundation.

Do Primers help with acne?

Some primers help fill large pores, which allows creating a smooth finish for your makeup to stay put longer. Some have ingredients that fight acne and control oil.

Can primers cause breakouts?

Using the wrong primers for acne-prone skin will lead to more breakouts. Go for a lightweight formula that is oil-free and non-comedogenic so that it cannot clog your pores and lead to more breakouts.

Conclusion

Even with acne-prone skin, you can still enjoy makeup that stays put all day without caking and creasing. Use the best primer for acne-prone skin, to conceal all your skin imperfections, large pores, fine lines, and acne scars and to create a smooth base for your foundation. From our list, our top pick is Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer. This is an oil-free primer that extends your makeup wear for a long time by absorbing oil and shine to prevent caking. It conceals skin imperfections to give you a smooth, even canvas.