Some people don't believe in primers and some people have to try every single one to find the best one ever made. I'm the second type.
You may know how much I'm attracted to primers in general and this one...it got my just by the color. The L'Oreal Infallible Magic Essence Primer Drops is a brightening primer which is stunning and blue. It's supposed to even your skin and make it smooth and ready for make-up. Also it should make the make-up last longer. Those are not very unique claims, but I'll take it.
It comes in a glass bottle with a dropper as the name suggests. There's 15ml in the bottle, which is not too much to be honest. I bought it from notino.cz for 305 Crowns, but they seem to be changing the price of it all the time. To be honest, not the best price/amount ratio.
So, as I already said, it's blue, but it does sheer out into transparent. It's quite liquidy and it does remind me of a serum consistency, which is fitting since it's supposed to be essencee I guess. It doesn't have an overpowering smell, but it smells a little like chemicals but make it fresh. Something you would smell in your kitchen cabinet to clean up some oil stains. Not a great smell in my opinion but it doesn't linger.
The second ingredient is alcohol denaturat, which I didn't notice, since there's not ingredients label on the actual packaging. I don't really get it to be honest. There's also carmine in it, so it's not vegan for sure. There are a couple fruit extracts and ingredients that seem to be good for the skin, but the alcohol on the second stop is just slightly driving me mad.
Besides that, it feels light but hydrating on the skin. It does have a tacky finish, similar to the Dermacol Coco Splash Primer I tested recently. This tackiness is usually caused by glycerin, I think. Primers like that tend to work well for me, but if you have very dry skin, it might not be hydrating enough for you. My skin feels very soft after application and slightly tacky. I overall like the primer so far, we'll see if there's actually any difference in the wear time of my foundation.
Wear test
I applied the primer with my hands on the left side of my face. It glides on very nice and it feels hydrating and a little tacky. I applied my foundation on top of it with a sponge and I can see s slight difference in the two sides. The primed side looks less dry and less textured from the start. We'll see which one wears better.
List of used products
L'Oreal Infallible Magic Essence Drops
Maybelline dream Urban Cover Foundation, shade 100 warm ivory
Maybelline Fit Me! Concealer, shade 05
Lottie London Ready. Set! Go. Loose Setting Powder, shade True Translucent
Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder, shade 001 Transparent
Fenty Beauty Matchstix Matte Skin Stick, shade Amber
L'Oreal Infallible Blush Paint, shade Tangerine Please
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil, shade 2
NYX Control Freak Brow Gel, shade Clear
Sephora Universal Cooling Eye Primer
Jeffree Star Cosmetics x Shane Dawson Conspiracy Pallete
Maybelline Tattoo Liner Gel Pencil, shade 900 Deep Onyx, 961 Sparkling Silver
Maybelline Falsies Lash Lift Mascara, shade Black
Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer, shade Bronzer
Essence Step Into Magic Wonderland Highlighter, shade 01 Sprinkle Fairy Dust Wherever You Go
NYX Suede Matte Lip Pencil, shade Helsinki
Catrice Sheer Beautifying Lip Balm, shade 020 Fashion Mauve-ment
Maybelline Lasting Fix Make-Up Setting Spray
Wear time 9 hours
There are small differences on the primed side for sure. During the whole day the side with the primer looked less dry overall. No product really got into my pores or my smile lines. The cream contour looks less faded on the primed side as well. The differenc is not great, you probably wouldn't really notice it in person, but after close examination I can see it. Also the foundation lasted a little better around my nose on the primed side. I did quite a workout today and I sweated my face off so I'm surprised there's still any foundation left under my glasses.
Final thoughts
I think that testing primers is very difficult since you can't really tell if a primer is good until it fails you. This one feels nice to me, it's hydrating enough, it has even blurred my pores quite a bit and I think there was a difference between then primed side and not primed side of my face when I did the wear test.
The things that are throwing me off are the ingredients and the price for the amount you get. I think that you might be better off just picking up a NYX primer for similar price/amount ratio and you wouldn't get ton of alcohol in the pack with it. I like the product so far and if you want to buy it, go for it. But if you're looking more into ingredients, I don't think it's that much of a sensible choice. For me though, it's working well.
Have you tried this primer? Let me know how you feel about it in the comments and thanks for reading!