Dull skin is rife at this time of year, and illuminating primers are super handy to have in your make-up bag when your skin is looking less than glowy. These formulas are often moisturising and help to add radiance and glow to your complexion. It’s important to note that the best primers usually serve different purposes—they can have multiple benefits but, first and foremost, illuminating primers are designed to give the skin a glowy appearance, rather than, say, grip your make-up or blur the look of pores.
If you’re heading to a party and want to improve your glowy make-up’s longevity, too, it’s worth layering over one of the best setting sprays to lock it in place.
In my beauty editor experience, the following are the best illuminating primers to give skin that coveted healthy glow.
The best illuminating primers to transform dull winter skin
1. e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter
The best e.l.f. products are the talk of TikTok and, though it only launched in 2022, this is one of the brand’s best-sellers. It imparts a lovely healthy glow that works well under make-up or on its own—and, as with every e.l.f. product, it’s very reasonably priced.
2. Sculpted by Aimee Beauty Base
If you’ve never tried Sculpted by Aimee (the brand makes one of my favourite foundations and mascaras of all time), I wholeheartedly recommend you do so. Packed with light-reflecting particles, Beauty Base is a great first step if you want to ensure your skin looks glowy. As well as the original formula, there are also two pearlescent options in pink and gold shades for even more of a glow.
3. MAC Studio Radiance Primer
MAC makes great primers and the aptly named Studio Radiance is its most illuminating. The formula is loaded with ingredients to nourish the skin—hyaluronic acid and vitamin E for example—and it’s got this lovely buttery consistency that sinks into the skin with ease. Not only that, but it can give your skin a healthy, luminous glow for as long as eight hours.
4. Beauty Pie Wonderfilter Brightening Primer
This is a lovely primer; extremely lightweight and hydrating, leaving skin soft as well as glowy, plus it has a nice subtle blurring effect for a smoother look. The only downside is that it is on the expensive side if you don’t have a Beauty Pie membership.
5. Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter
A real beauty icon, one of Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filters sells every two minutes. It’s another one that’s multi-use, working well as a radiance-boosting primer or over foundation as a subtle highlighter—or it can be worn alone for a very lightweight, glowy base.
6. Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Illuminating Primer
Fun beauty fact: Laura Mercier actually released the first primers to market back in 1996, and they’re kind of regarded as an iconic product. A few years ago they had a bit of a makeover to become the Pure Canvas range, but this is the radiance-boosting one, a glowy formula with light-reflecting crushed pearl pigments that makes the perfect base for foundation.
