Amazon Customers Are Losing It Over This $9 Primer's 'Blurring Effect'

It may not be the most exciting makeup purchase, but primer can improve your makeup game. It evens out any nooks and crannies to prep your skin for the smoothest, longest-lasting foundation application possible, sometimes with additional color-correcting or oil-controlling benefits. If you find value in face primer but prefer to spend the bulk of your beauty budget elsewhere, you can go with a drugstore pick with a notable reputation.

That would be E.l.f. Poreless Putty Primer (Buy It, $9, amazon.com), a pick that promises to minimize the look of pores and give skin a "baby-like finish." True to its name, the silicone-based primer has more of a spackle-like texture than its liquid and gel counterparts. E.l.f Poreless Putty Primer contains squalane to moisturize skin, and it can double as an eyeshadow or lip primer according to the brand. Some Amazon reviewers even report wearing the primer on its own without foundation. "Literally makes your skin look blurred before even applying any type of makeup on your skin," one person wrote.

Those qualities have made for quite the hit. E.l.f launched the Poreless Putty Primer November 2019, and by March 2019, it had already sold out five times, according to Refinery29. Last year, it was the bestselling mass primer in the U.S. based on Nielsen data, according to the brand. TikTok users and beauty YouTubers have been praising the product left and right, some calling it a dupe for the significantly more expensive Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer (Buy It, $52, sephora.com).

E.l.f Poreless Putty also counts over 18,000 Amazon reviewers as fans. "For the price point, I didn't anticipate how convenient and easy the application would be," wrote one self-proclaimed "primer junkie with big pores to fill." They continued: "A little goes a long way & you can definitely build up the coverage with this. There's no weird residual clumps that you get from the silicon based solutions, however you will get that 'blurring effect' which is what I'm going for." (

Buy on Ulta Buy on Elfcosmetics.com Buy on Amazon Buy on Target Buy on CVS

Another reviewer, a "woman in her 50s who has good skin but definitely has a few wrinkles," wrote that she was skeptical at first, but pleasantly surprised by the primer. After applying the primer and foundation, "I was surprised to see that my face had a beautiful, subtle glow to it which camouflaged the pores and fine lines after all!" they wrote. "My makeup looked like I applied it with an airbrush and my foundation went on smoother and I used less of it. Still, the big test was if I would sweat it off within an hour like I usually did. I didn't." (

The E.l.f. Cosmetics Poreless Putty Primer is in stock on Amazon at the moment, so you can score some there if you're looking for an affordable IRL blurring filter.