This is my first time to ever write a review on a makeup product (even though I am a makeup junkie who has tried pretty much every product known to man over the years) so that alone should tell you just how impressed I am by this primer! Let me start by prefacing this with the fact I have extremely dry skin. It's been difficult to get used to considering the fact I had oily to oily/combination skin my entire life until I gave birth to baby #3 (2.5 years ago)! So now (at 34 years old) I have had to relearn my skin and find new products that work with dry skin! Along with all the changes to my skin I've also noticed my pores have, unfortunately, become even larger (if that's possible lol) and considerably more noticeable! If I want my makeup to go on even somewhat smoothly and to not look caked on or patchy I have to complete my normal skin care routine (making sure my face is as moisturized as possible) followed by applying a great primer! As far as primers go I feel like I've tried literally everything! ★Here's a list of a few primers I tried that I didn't have great results with: -Smashbox Photo Finish -NYX Pore Filler -Benefit POREfessional Pore Minimizing (original & hydrating) -Urban Decay All Nighter -Tarte Face Tape Primer -Revlon Photo Ready -Wet n Wild Prime Focus -Maybeline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser -Clinique Pore Refining Primer ★ A list of primers I had fairly decent results with: -Neutrogena Hydro Boost Glow Primer + Serum (✫I actually use this right before the DHC Velvet primer a lot of the time now & they work beautifully together!✫) -Tula Filter Priming & Blurring -Lancôme La Base Pro (Oil Free). -Elf Cosmetics Poreless Putty (my skin is just too dry for it) I had just about gotten to the point of accepting that my days of having that perfect, flawless look with my makeup were behind me when I happened upon a TikTok! I had never seen this creator before but instantly fell in love with her candor and genuine personality. As silly as it may sound, I am incredibly thankful I found her page and that she was gracious enough to show her untouched, unfiltered skin up close so that the viewers could see that she too had dry skin AND large, noticeable pores (those of you who love how makeup can make you feel more like yourself and more...idk...alive...probably get it). After expressing how important your skin care routine was if you wanted to achieve a similar look and have your foundation go on smoothly she began to talk about her new favorite primer! I started to roll my eyes as she went on and on about how remarkable this primer was because I had heard it a thousand times before with different products (especially those that are sponsored) but I was surprised to see that this user was actually not sponsored and something about her just seemed genuine. Ordinarily, the person doing their makeup is pretty young and has perfectly smooth, glowing skin going into the tutorial so it doesn't really matter what they use because it's all going to look pretty smooth ????♀️! I was definitely looking forward to seeing the results of this primer she was raving about since, like I said previously, she had allowed us to see she had slightly matured, textured skin with larger pores. After applying her moisturizers and serums she gave them a minute to absorb and then began to apply the DHC Velvet Skin Coat. I double checked to make sure there were not any beauty filters on because her skin instantly looked incredible and so, so smooth! Could a primer alone really do that?! She went on to apply both her concealer and foundation and I was sitting there in complete and total awe. She had not even set her makeup and already she looked like she had a filter on because her skin was smooth and pretty! Once she applied her setting powder and completed her look I was 150% sold! I went to the comments and saw that several other women (in their early 20's through their 40's) were raving about their positive experiences with the primer as well! I quickly opened my Ulta app and typed in "DHC Velvet Skin Coat" and there it was! I was pleasantly surprised by the price (I was expecting something crazy expensive considering the results it had given) and couldn't get it ordered quickly enough! A couple of days later and I had my new "TikTok made me buy it" primer in my hands! I prepped by face by using my normal go-to creams and serums and after giving it a little bit to absorb I sat down to try my new primer! As hopeful and excited as I was I also knew from experience how likely it was that this primer would be no different than the other 20 primers I had tried. I applied approximately an eraser-sized amount of the primer onto the back of my hand and then began to evenly distribute the product all over my face (I made sure to pay special attention to the large pores around my nose). I looked up into the mirror and was absolutely speechless! My somewhat red, somewhat splotchy, somewhat dry, somewhat uneven skin looked almost flawless! And my pores?! What pores?! What kind of magic was this?! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I even got up and walked across the house to show my husband (who could not possibly know less about makeup if he tried!)! All I said was "how does my makeup look so far?" Reminder: I had on zero makeup! ???? He looked up at me, smiled and said "Wow! You look beautiful! How did you get ready so fast?!" He thought I was done y'all! I mean given the fact I ordinarily only apply a little bit of concealer, foundation, powder and blush to run a quick errand or two (we have three young sons so if ya know, ya know!) and he wasn't looking for me to have on mascara, eyebrows, lip color, etc. I was pretty pumped that he actually thought I had done my makeup!! I wish I could adequately describe what it is this primer does but just know that it reduces the appearance of your pores and any fine lines and it has the most velvety look and feel to it, almost creating a sort of blurring effect (if that makes sense) while completely smoothing out your complexion. If this was how good my skin looked with primer alone I couldn't wait to see what it looked like once I applied my makeup on top of it! Ya'll, I about fell out of my chair when I saw how beautiful my concealer and foundation went on! I figured the real test would be how it looked when I applied my setting powder because so many times this is when my skin would end up looking dry, flaky and more textured. Let me tell you, this little DHC Velvet Skin Coat is MAGIC in a bottle! Legit magic! ✨ I applied the tiniest bit of powder I could get away with using (like I always do) and was just totally in awe of how flawless my skin and makeup looked! Isn't it the absolute best feeling when something you're excited about actually lives up to the hype?! This primer has become my go-to and after using it for a little over a month I've found a few tricks that help it live up to its full potential for my skin! If you have dry skin and/or are in your 30's I recommend applying a tiny bit of the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Glow Primer + Serum first (after you've already moisturized and prepped your skin, of course ????) followed by applying maybe the size of a pencil eraser of the DHC Velvet Skin Coat Primer. A little goes a long way! Trust me! I always let my primer sit for a minute (literally like a minute lol) and then I apply my concealer followed by my foundation. Also, something pretty important to consider when picking out your primer, foundation and concealer is to make sure they all have the same base. For example, if you buy a silicone based primer you (in theory) don't want to buy a water based foundation. Mixing a silicone based primer with a water based foundation (or an oil-based primer with a silicone based foundation) isn't a guaranteed disaster or anything, I have just found that by taking the advice to use products with the same base I have had much better results with my makeup! Additionally, I'll add a c
