Top 10 Best Primers for Oily Skin in the UK 2021 (NYX, Lancôme and More)

In this guide, we look at the ingredients, sun protection and the benefits of different products to discover exactly what an oil-targeting primer can do for your skin. Understanding these key elements when shopping online will help you to choose the best primer for you.

Learning about how a primer can benefit your oily skin is one of the first steps to understanding which product you need to choose. You can choose from mattifying, pore minimising, or toning and each one can have a different effect on your skin. Find out which one you could benefit from the most!

Oily skin is caused by excessive sebum production, leaving you with areas of greasy, shiny skin. You might notice oily skin due to a change in the weather, hormones, or it might even run in the family. Either way, while we love the au natural glow, sometimes it can get tiring having to use blotting tissue to tone down the shine - we get it. 

A mattifying primer can reduce shine by absorbing excess sebum to give you a more matte complexion. Mattifying products will often contain an astringent to reduce sebum production as well as absorbing any excess oil. 

Make sure to pick a long-lasting primer to ensure that it's durable enough to last all day. Otherwise, you may find the excess oil will cause your makeup slide off, meaning that the half an hour you spent perfecting your contour was wasted!

Enlarged pores practically go hand in hand with oily skin. The pores get over filled with a mixture of sebum and dead skin, causing them to clog and gradually enlarge as the clog swells. Not to mention that once the opening of the clogged pore is exposed to the air, it becomes a blackhead, commonly seen around the nose and chin areas. 

Of course, you don't want to dry out your skin completely. Ingredients such as alcohol will dehydrate the skin, resulting in even more oil as your skin over produces sebum to compensate for the loss of moisture. To reduce the size pores, you need to use light formulations in your skin care routine, avoiding any emollient-heavy creams or gels that could cause clogging. 

A good toning primer can be a huge aid to those who struggle to manage their oily skin. You may find that when washing and prepping your face, your cleanser doesn't quite get every last scrap of dirt. This can lead to oil buildup and clogged pores that will stop your primer from working its mattifying magic. 

Toning primers contain astringent and anti-bacterial ingredients to help flush your skin of any toxins. Working to penetrate deeper into the pores, a toner can help to dissolve the dirt that is held low beneath the surface to clean your skin. 

Not only this, but they can also help to balance the oil production and limit excess sebum production. Just be careful, as heavily toning primers can cause the skin to dry out if they're overused. 

Oily skin can be hard to keep up with so it's best to make sure that your primer has the right ingredients. Here's what to keep an eye out for when diving into the ingredients list!

To make sure that your primer does its job of combatting the glow, look for silicone-based ingredients to soak up sweat and sebum. Some key ingredient names to look for are cyclopentasiloxane, silica, mica and dimethicone.

In addition to being moisture repelling, silicone can play a large part in the healing of acne scars. If you have red or inflamed patches of acne, or you're conscious about acne scars, choose a primer that contains silicone to reduce the appearance of imperfections.

Silicone containing formulas also improve the longevity of the product, so the more silicone-based ingredients, the less likely your makeup will smudge. 

As oily skin needs to be treated with moisture absorbing ingredients in order to mattify the skin, you may notice that your skin can become overly dry. To prevent this, choose a primer with hydrating ingredients.

Look for ingredients like glycerin and propylene glycol. Both of these are highly effective humectants, a type of hydrating ingredient that draws in moisture from the surrounding atmosphere to the skin. 

You may also want to try moisturising ingredients such as aloe vera or fruit oils and extracts, which not only help to hydrate, but nourish the skin with vitamins and antioxidants. A great bonus for oily skin as it helps to balance the skin tone!

The sun protection factor, or SPF, is a measurement that indicates how well a product will protect your skin from the sun's  UV rays. Exposure to UVA and UVB rays can cause long term and irreversible damage, affecting both your skin's appearance and health.

You'll always need a bit of SPF in your skin care routine, so what better way to apply it than by using a primer? Primers are applied closer to your skin than other cosmetics, making it more effective as a barrier against sun damage. 

That said, many primers only have a low SPF rating, if any at all. So you may want to apply a high SPF sunscreen in addition to your primer on bright and sunny days or if you will be outside for prolonged periods of time.

More and more people are seeking out cruelty-free products as part of their skincare routine. Buying products that are clearly labelled as cruelty-free ensures that the primer you use has not been tested on animals.

Although there are a now a plethora of completely animal-friendly companies and cosmetics to choose from, it's a controversial subject as sometimes even the most reputable of brands have been found to test on animals. This is often due to international laws and restrictions that require animal testing in order to sell products in certain territories.

Now you're ready to choose your very own primer for oily skin! Hopefully, you already have an idea in mind of what type you'd like. But for those seeing some more inspiration, here's our ranking list of the top 10 best to buy online in the UK. 

The best way to combat oily skin is with a tailored skincare routine. Check out these articles for some of the best skincare and beauty products to balance oil production and cut down on shine and excess sebum!

With the right primer, applying makeup to oily skin will no longer be a problem. We hope that you found the tips and tricks in this buying guide useful in choosing a new favourite beauty product that's lightweight and smooth, with long-lasting effects!

Author: Annie Speight