Hourglass Luminous Light Ambient Light Correcting Primer Review

Hello everyone,

Hourglass is the brand best known for its Ambient lighting powders. Recently, they have expanded their “ambient light” range by adding a primer to it. This review will be on the Hourglass Ambient Light Correcting Primer in the shade “Luminous Light.”

Product Description:
A light correcting primer to blur, smooth, and perfect the skin for a soft, subtle glow.

What it does:
Ambient Light Correcting Primer is infused with light correcting pigments that act as a first filter to neutralize,

brighten, and soften light. They blurs imperfections and smooth skin’s texture for flawless makeup application. This allows the primer to create a better starting point for makeup or simply be worn alone. Unlike other primers, the oil-free, weightless formula instantly absorbs into the skin, imparting a natural-looking glow without feeling wet or greasy. It’s designed to further enhance the lighting effects of the Ambient Lighting Collection by creating the first layer of light.  It is formulated without parabens.

Price:
$44

Ingredients:

My Experience with Hourglass Luminous Light Ambient Light Correcting Primer:

Packaging:  This primer comes in a simple squeeze tube. The tube is not see through hence you might not be able to tell when you are running low on the product.

Texture/Consistency/Blend-ability:  This primer has a lotion-like consistency. The first few times that I applied this primer, it was very difficult to blend. It dried so quickly during application that no matter how fast I blended the product, it applied streaky. It made my skin look so dry and flaky, and literally made me have such a bad makeup day that I considered returning this product.  Then, with some trial and error, I found the best way to apply this – over moisturized skin (instructions have also directed this way), but after years of using makeup, I rarely read direction), especially if you have dry skin like mine. I use this over heavily moisturized skin preferably with some sort of facial oil (lately been loving the Smashbox Primer Oil – review coming soon) to counteract the super drying nature of this product.

Shade/Coverage:  This primer comes in 3 shades, which cater to different range of skin tones. Since this primer does provide a hint of coverage (think of a level of a sheer tinted moisturizer, without the moisture part), they do even out skin tone to some extent. If you have clear skin to begin with, but do suffer from dullness, I do think you will love to wear this product as your base makeup.

The shade I have is “Luminous Light,” which is the lightest shade in the range. It does suit my light-medium skin tone perfectly. It is also color correcting as per claim and the yellow tones in this primer help counteract the dullness and redness of the skin to some extent. It provides a soft subtle radiance to the skin and provides brightening without the addition of any shimmer or dewy glow.

Feel and look on skin:  This primer immediately upon application, dries down with a minimal tacky feel. I do feel it makes my foundation and base makeup adhere better. Though it did not do a great job of eliminating the look of pores and fine lines as better as a silicone-based primer, it did blur them to some extent. I did find this primer to be great at controlling oil, which I actually do not need because I have dry skin and my skin feels dry and parched by the end of the day, but this would be a great quality for oily-combination skin types.

Staying Power:  As a primer, it did work great at making my makeup wear long and strong, I saw minimal fading on my foundation and powder products for 8 + hours.

Overall, I am not overly impressed with this product. I think it is best suited for oily-combination skin types due to its dry feel, people with dry skin would not enjoy this. Don’t expect a whole lot of glow from this product either, the effect is very subtle borderline unnoticeable. Also for $44, this product does not seem worth the money.

If you are looking for something along similar lines of this product, I would suggest looking into the Makeup Forever Radiant primers, which cost a few bucks less and is far superior in performance, and even suitable for dry skin.

Pros of Hourglass Luminous Light Ambient Light Correcting Primer:

• Gives a subtle glow without use of shimmer.
• Sets to a matte finish.
• Has good oil-control properties.
• Makes my makeup wear longer and adhere better on to the skin.
• Does even out skin tone to some extent, does provide sheer coverage.
• Does blur the looks of pores and fine lines.

Cons of Hourglass Luminous Light Ambient Light Correcting Primer:

• Do not make the mistake of using this by itself with a moisturizer. It can be so dry, streaky and difficult to blend. For a product which is supposed to prime your skin, this seems to be counterproductive.
• Not suitable for dry skin.

IMBB Rating:
2.5/5

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