Your Makeup Routine Isn't Complete Without These Top Primers for Mature Skin (2025)

YSL Beauty's Touche Eclat Blur face primer looks like liquid gold in a bottle. It combines corn, apricot kernel, passiflora, and rice bran oils with light-infused pigments to blur and smooth skin ahead of foundation and concealer.

• Finish: Dewy
• Key ingredients: Corn, apricot kernel, passiflora, and rice bran oils

Customer review: "This stuff is a miracle. I’ve tried so many primers, and with all my makeup will crust up around my mouth and chin. Not with this one. Plus, the texture is like velvet. You only need one tiny pump for the face, it will probably last me a year. Worth the splurge!" —cpschnied

"To minimize pores, I go to my classic," Spickard says of this popular primer from Smashbox (which, fun fact, happens to be the first primer on the market). "It fills in large pores and helps blur the skin." The vitamin A- and E-packed favorite can also be worn with or without makeup to even skin's texture.

• Finish: Natural
• Key ingredients: Vitamins A and E

Customer review: "Absolutely love this primer, it is so silky and smooth to apply to your skin, and it makes your makeup look flawless." —Leticia C.

If you're looking for a primer that gives your skin a natural finish, this translucent version from Hourglass is a beauty shopper favorite for extending the wear of your makeup. Its gel formula uses microspherical powders to give skin an airbrushed finish.

• Finish: Natural
• Key ingredients: Dimethicone, silica, sodium citrate, sodium chloride

Customer review: "I absolutely adore this product. I have textured skin from having cystic acne for years. Primers have always been an issue for me until I tried out this product. It's so velvety and settles into my textured skin perfectly. It's definitely worth the price." —Bucaa

We love how this primer uses vitamin C for added antioxidant protection while keeping skin hydrated with humectants like hyaluronic acid and glycerin. And at under $20, it's a great option for your budget and your makeup routine.

• Finish: Radiant
• Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, glycerin, vitamin C

Customer review: "This is a really good face primer. I like how it feels on my face, and it helps my foundation go on smoothly, and my skin looks healthier." —melissa196

Spickard says this rich, shea butter-infused primer from Bobbi Brown Cosmetics is another favorite he keeps on hand in his kit. "Marketed as a primer-skincare hybrid, this formula is perfect for mature skin," he adds. "It gives the skin a beautiful, juicy, plump look, creating a smooth base for makeup."

• Finish: Natural
• Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, squalane, vitamins B, C, and E

Customer review: "I have extremely dry skin and have struggled to find any base/primer that has left my skin moisturized, supple, and glowing all day long." —Galeforce

Tatcha's viral Silk Canvas Filter Finish Protective Primer is a best-seller for a reason. The primer's balminess envelops skin and quickly enhances its smoothness, blurring the appearance of pores and uneven texture while locking your makeup in place.

• Finish: Natural
• Key ingredients: Silk powder, silk extracts, hadasei-3

Customer review: "Love this product. I’ve used it for several years and won't go without it. It evens my skin tone and covers pores and prevents blemishes—even at my age [of 65+]!" —Peggy M.

Here's a coveted pick from Merit Beauty that combines the work of a moisturizer and primer in a single bottle. The favorite is also ideal for firming and soothing your skin, thanks to hardworking ingredients like peptides, oat extract, and hyaluronic acid.

• Finish: Dewy
• Key ingredients: Peptides, spermidine, barrier polysaccharides, glycerin, oat extract, hyaluronic acid

Customer review: "Love this moisturizing primer! I use it every day under my makeup. It gives the perfect subtle glow and brings life back into my face. I also have very acne-prone skin, and it has not broken me out at all." —Gabi2278

If you can give or take foundation, this soft-focus primer is a great option to wear on its own or under tinted moisturizer. It blends in seamlessly to lend a pretty, not-too-shimmery glow, and it helps even out skin tone. Plus, the inclusion of SPF 30 in its formula is the cherry on top of an excellent primer.

• Finish: Radiant
• Key ingredients: Niacinamide, spirulina maxima extract, and sodium hyaluronate

Customer review: "Thanks to this magic in a bottle, my glow is back. My skin truly feels healthier inside and out. I like the lightweight, easily absorbed formula. It doesn't irritate my eyes or skin (and I have super sensitive skin). I love that SPF is in it. I have found that I hardly ever reach for foundation any longer. I love it!" —Stephie R

As soon as you apply this primer from Elemis, you feel a cooling sensation that is designed to tighten the skin and reduce the look of pores. Superfans say it works wonders and that the formula creates an even canvas for foundation.

• Finish: Natural
• Key ingredients: Padina Pavonica algae, glacial water, marine extracts
  

Customer review: "This is worth every penny and more! I've used every primer out there and this is so smoothing makes me have the skin of a 20 year old at 39 and my make up lasts perfectly 6am-10pm or 11pm without a single crease line anything even after eating and working outside all day with kids!" —Katie

The refreshing gel texture of RMS Beauty's ReEvolve Radiance primer is a favorite among beauty lovers, and its makeup-gripping properties will likely make it one of your new favorites. Plus, the primer formula doesn't feel uncomfortably sticky on your skin.

• Finish: Radiant
• Key ingredients: Tightenyl, vegetable squalane, hyaluronic acid, eggplant fruit extract
  

Customer review: "This is a perfect primer. It works well under make-up, but I also enjoy wearing it without make-up. It smooths out my skin and adds radiance. I love the clean ingredients too." —Rebecca B.

• Kasey Spickard is a celebrity makeup artist based in New York City whose clients include Jenna Lyons, Summer House star Ciara Miller, and more.

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