Benefit The POREfessional Pro Balm

Within the past week, the weather has gotten warmer and spring has officially arrived.  One of my first indictions was that my Clarins Instant Touch primer was making my skin feel very oily and my makeup was sliding off during the day instead of staying put all day as it did during the winter months.  The exact same thing occured last summer when I first tried the product out so I expected this.  However I planned for this a few weeks ago and bought a tube of one of the best-selling products at Sephora, Benefit The POREfessional Pro Balm.  I first tried this product out when I received a Sephora Beauty Insider 100 Point Perk sample of the product, I tried it out for a week and then decided that I needed to buy a tube of this for the warm weather months.

This product can be used as a tradition primer or as a touch-up treatment during the day.  I mostly use it as a primer, I have very rarely needed to use on top of my makeup during the day, my skin never got oily enough to need to touch this product up, therefore my review will treat this product more as a primer than a touch-up treatment. 

The Benefit website provides a full description on the product itself and the usage of it.  "Quickly minimize the appearance of pores and fine lines for smoother-than-smooth skin!  Apply this silky, lightweight balm alone, under, or over makeup.  Translucent, oil-free formula complements all skintones and helps makeup stay put.  Contains a Vitamin E derivative, known to prorect skin from free radicals."  This balm is lightly tinted so this is one of the few primers that actually can be used alone and still improve the texture and appearance of the T zone area.  "Apply The POREfessional from the center of the face outward by patting lightly with fingers...pay particular attention to the T zone area.  Keep it in your bag for touch-ups during the day."

I have used this product alone and under makeup the most, I rarely feel the need to have to touch-up with it.  I apply this product straight onto my finger and then dot it on five areas of my face; forehead, chin, nose, and then both cheeks (in that order).  This order allows me to get the majority of the product on my T zone, where it is most needed.  My cheeks need very little of this product since my pores are much smaller in this area and my skin is much drier.  The product melts quickly and easily into my skin and there is no left over residue.  When used alone, it helps to refine the texture of my skin and helps to minimize the appearance of the larger pores on my T zone, I feel that this product works better with the application of foundation and loose powder.  This product alone is not enough to really create a flawless finish, it is better as a base product.  Once applied under makeup, I will get a full day's wear out of my makeup with little oily break throughout on my T Zone.

I have only needed to touch-up up with this product on one day so far.  On that day the humidity was very high and I needed to touch up with both this product and then powder on top of it.  Personally, I prefer to touch up with Boscia Blotting Linens instead of adding more product on top of the oil already on my skin.  Personally, I just wouldn't really use this product in that fashion, I hate the thought of adding layers onto my skin when I could just blot off the oil and leave 95% of my makeup in place.

This is a very good primer for someone with more normal to oily skin.  I wouldn't see that anyone with dry skin would have problems with it but there are primers that are more hydrating than this one.  I would recommend this one more for someone with of an oily skin type since it performs best for this type of skin.  It really helped to minimize pores and oiliness, but foundation and loose powder are needed to really get the best results from this product.

photo courtesy of Benefit