The 'You Better Work' Primer was created for people with an active lifestyle and those who enjoy going to the gym and exercising. Now if you know me, I don’t go to the gym but do walk everywhere so that helps also I attend a lot of gigs where I’m jumping around, getting hot and sweaty and sometimes a little messy. I want my makeup to last throughout these gigs and with my festivals upcoming I wanted a primer to last me throughout the whole day. 

Essence Cosmetics are a budget makeup brand that is stocked in Wilko stores nationwide, a while back I picked some products up from Wilkos and instantly liked the brand. Essence stand by their philosophy of saying NO to animal testing and YES to quality, they have fun and quality products in a range of colours, all at budget prices. It's a brand for all ages and with being available in Wilko stores its easily accessible too! 

This 'You Better Work' primer comes in a tube packaging which is easy to use and store in your makeup bag. The image of the primer is fun, youthful and arty, I like the colourful text and style on the primers packaging. All of primer's ingredients are listed on the back of the tube and theres information on how to use the product too. As for the primer itself, it has a creamy consistency and smooths onto my face easily; I’ve been using a brush to apply the primer as I use less product than when I apply using my fingertips. I was a little shocked to see the primer was a blue colour and was worried this would tint my skin when I first applied but the product is transparent when blended in, it doesn’t feel sticky on my skin or heavy and leaves my face feeling soft. A couple of little pea-sized amounts covers my whole face so a little does go a long way with this primer. 

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I’ve worn the primer on its own to help with any oils or sweat during the day and have seen a real difference. I’m on my feet all day at work so I can get hot and my t-zone gets a little oily; I’ve had less oil and no shiny looking skin when I’ve worn this Essence Primer. When wearing the primer under my foundation I’ve had a long lasting makeup look and interestingly when it came to removing my makeup it was so much easier too! It’s like the primer gives me a smooth base for a smooth foundation application and it doesn’t clog my pores. I love finding a new makeup product that works for me and when it’s at a budget price of £3.50, I'm even happier!


As I've said above I've worn this primer whilst attending a few gigs over the past month, at 2 out out of the 3 gigs I was dancing, jumping around, mosh pitting and people was throwing drinks (not everyones type of fun, I know; I'd rather people drank their drinks than throw them too) but with all this my makeup stayed in place all night and I felt like any moisture on my face didn't affect my foundation at all. I'd definitely give this primer the thumbs up and will be grabbing another tube for my festivals, even if I'm just wearing the primer I'm confident my skin looks good, less shiny and less oily plus the primer has an SPF 20 which will protect my skin from harmful sun-rays.