Lorac POREfection Mattifying Primer & Foundation Review

Many women have a problem with enlarged, visible pores (including me) and finding a makeup that minimizes them can be difficult. Many products sit in the pores and leave a white polka dot effect, others flow past them making them seem darker, so when Lorac sent me their POREfection Mattifying Primer & Foundation to try, I was excited to see my pores disappear!

LORAC POREfection Mattifying Face Primer & Foundation

POREfection Mattifying Face Primer ~ $32 for 1.7 oz ~ Oil, Paraben, & Fragrance Free

This is the 2nd Lorac primer I’ve tried and I had high expectations of this one, because the 1st one I tested (Lorac “I’m So Sensitive” Primer) came out as one of the best in direct competition with 5 other primers! (read post here) Read Primer Testing Article

POREfection Primer contains salicylic acid to help clear pores and antioxidants vitamins A, C & E in a silicone base, so I love the formulation (I’m also hoping the salicylic acid can help fight breakouts)! It’s a clear gel that glides on with the typical silicone smooth feel and easy application.

It does a really good job of mattifying and a pretty good job of diminishing visible pores.

Left: Before Primer, Right: After Primer

Here’s a close-up:

POREfection Foundation ~ $36 for 1.12 oz ~ Oil, Paraben, & Fragrance Free

The foundation contains vitamins A & E, Olive Leaf Extract, Lemon Fruit Extract, and Papaya Fruit Extract to sooth, nourish, and rejuvenate while providing silky sheer to medium, buildable coverage that diminishes the look of pores.

Lorac sent 2 shades of the foundation for me to try, PR3 (Light Beige) and PR4 (Light Medium). As you can see on the swatches, PR3 is a warm tone while PR4 is much cooler. I used PR3 for the tests.

It’s got an interesting consistency that feels a bit denser than many foundations at first, but it also has a smooth silky feel as it’s rubbed in. I applied it with a blending sponge and I found it to blend easily and seamlessly. I applied 1 layer that provided sheer to medium coverage, then I added more in a few spots as concealer. It covered redness and evened out skin tone really well with 1 coat!

I like the coverage and the finish. It’s not completely matte, but not dewey either… just nicely skin-like. I felt my pores were diminished somewhat, but not as much as I’d hoped! (Here’s a close-up):

It wore well for 7-8 hours before starting to fade, and by 12 hours it was mainly worn off. It stayed in place and didn’t slip or migrate and wore off very evenly. It didn’t settle into fine lines or wrinkles, but I didn’t think it improved them either. I had one small dry patch on my chin, but it was comfortable to wear and never felt drying or heavy. But, it was not great at smoothing or hiding imperfections.

Overall, I like the primer much better than the foundation. I’ll continue to use the primer, but probably won’t use the foundation again. Since they’re called “POREfection” I felt both could have done a better job at disguising pores and smoothing the skin. Both were nice, but neither was a knock-it-out-of-the-park success.