Milk recently released their first primer – the Hydro Grip primer – that promises to give you deep hydration while offering a ‘turbo grip’ to ensure that makeup lasts the whole day. This product is being talked about all over the internet, so I decided to test it out!
I have normal-dry skin so I do usually look for a hydrating/moisturising primer. The Hydro Grip contains hemp-derived cannabis seed extract that is supposed to hydrate, plump and smooth the skin. The blue agave extract is the ingredient that adds the hold, while aloe water, cherry blossom, hyaluronic acid and B vitamins boost the skin to give you a healthy looking base. It’s worth noting that this primer is silicone free and oil free.
Packaging
The packaging for this looks brill. The box has an awesome blue holographic Milk logo on it, and the bottle itself is clear and only really coloured by the greenish gel. It uses a pump system and the clear bottle makes it super easy to see when you’re running low on the product (which you often can’t tell with other primers with opaque packaging). When you pump out the product, it comes out slightly green but turns clear once it is applied to the skin so can be used on all skin tones. The only downside is that the bottle is quite bulky and would take up a lot of space in your makeup bag if you’re travelling.
Consistency
This primer is quite different to any other hydrating primer that I have tried. Usually they are thick and creamy and do offer an instant hit of hydration that makes your skin go ‘aaaah’. It’s not necessarily the case with this one – it is more of a gel consistency, as opposed to a cream, and leaves the skin quite tacky after application. I guess this is to really ‘grip’ on to the makeup, but it does feel quite odd and it’s not a sensation I’m used to.
Staying power
I’ll start by saying that I wear my makeup for 12+ hours every day, wear glasses, go for walks in my lunch break and travel to work on public transport. My makeup takes quite a beating during the day – it usually breaks up where my glasses sit on my nose and cheeks, between my nose and mouth and on my cheeks around my nose. The Hydro Grip primer didn’t stop it breaking down any more than usual. After you apply the primer, you’re supposed to wait for 1 minute to activate the ‘grip’.Β If I apply it before or after waiting for this minute to pass, the result is the same. My skin definitely doesn’t feel anymore hydrated – if anything the gel-like consistency makes me skin feel a bit less hydrated. The base is also very tacky, which may help to increase the longevity of your base, but it doesn’t make the products go on very smoothly at all. I found that some of the products would apply differently to usual and would be a little patchy and difficult to blend out seamlessly. I prefer a less tacky and smoother feeling base so that my complexion products can glide easily over the top.
I did half my face using Hydro Grip and half using myΒ fave primer – MAC Skin Base Visage – and the difference was clear. On the Hydro Grip side, my base looked visibly drier and my base didn’t look as smooth and flawless as it did on the other side. It didn’t pick up on any dry patches necessarily, but the skin on my nose definitely looked more grainy. In terms of ‘gripping’ my makeup on, I saw no increased longevity.
I have never used a product that had cannabis extract in it before, but I had heard that it is really great for the skin. I can’t say I saw any skincare benefits from using this, which I was really hoping for!
I think this primer might perform better for oilier skin types because I’d imagine it really controls oil and grips makeup in place. However, for normal-dry skin I didn’t find that it delivered the smooth base and made the skin look a little drier than usual. For Β£27, I think it was quite expensive for a pretty average result. I’m curious whether this would work better with other Milk complexion products, and hopefully very soon I’ll be able to test this out!
If you’re in the UK, you can find the Hydro Grip primer at Cult Beauty for Β£27.
Have you tried the Hydro Grip primer? Let me know your thoughts!
Xo
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