Smashbox Photo Matte Anti-Shine

Saturday, November 16, 2013

For years now, I've relied on Urban Decay De-Slick In A Tube as the oil absorbing primer for my greasy t-zone. The crazy thing is that I bought my tube around two years ago and just finally ran out, even though I used it every day. It was an absolute staple product for me and I was pretty bummed out to discover that it had been discontinued.

I had heard that Smashbox Anti-Shine Anti-Brilliance was a similar product with very similar ingredients, so I figured I'd give that a shot. I picked up Smashbox Photo Matte Anti-Shine thinking that it was the one I was looking for (as it turns out, Anti-Shine Anti-Brilliance had also been discontinued). You can see how I made that mistake, yes? The product names are incredibly similar and I actually didn't figure out that I had a completely different product until after I had used it.

Photo Matte is a beige colored gel/cream that comes in . It blends into my skin but I noted that on the Smashbox website, a fair redhead had mentioned in the reviews that it definitely showed up on her skin. I'm guessing that darker beauties would see a light cast if they wore it by itself. The formula definitely has a very slick silicone feeling to it. Here's the ingredients:

Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Silica, Isononyl Isononanoate, Isododecane, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Lauroyl Lysine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phytosteryl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Methicone, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Water\Aqua\Eau, Coconut Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)

As you can see, silicones are high up on the list. Silica, the wonderful oil absorbing and blurring ingredient that was the star of Urban Decay De-Slick In A Tube, but I felt like any benefits it may have had were completely negated by all those slick 'cones.

After the very first application, I knew that it wasn't the right product for my t-zone. Though it made my skin look matte for an hour (silicones tend to look a bit cloudy and matte), it felt absolutely greasy. After three hours, I was shinier than ever, even worse than if I hadn't applied a primer at all. On the drier parts of my face, it was quite nice. It held my foundation in place nicely and my skin looked very smooth.

In short, as an anti-shine product (as the name would suggest), I found it to be unsuitable for oily skin along with the rest of the Smashbox Photo Finish line of silicone rich products. I would only recommend it as a primer if you had normal to dry skin and don't mind the slick sensation. For the amount of product that is in each tube, it is rather expensive ($25 for 0.50 fl oz) and I think there are better primers out there (such as Black Radiance Complexion Perfection).

I'm currently testing two other mattifying products. Are you currently using any oil control products?