December 8, 2017

Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer Review & Swatches

Affiliate / Purchased
I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer with Willowherb ($32) is a new cooling mousse primer that hydrates skin while diffusing the look of pores and prepping the skin for makeup. This is perfect example of a product that was heavily influenced by Japanese and Korean beauty as this style of primer was popular a few years ago. A few products that are similiar but not quite the same are Etude House Aloha Ice Sherbert Primer, Shu Uemura Whitefficient UV Under Base Brightening Mousse, and Holika Holika Pore Cover Mousse Starter.

But if we can go back several more years and and take a minute to remember Revlon Photo Ready Air Brush Mousse Makeup you might get a feel for the formula of Origins Original Skin Pore Perfect Cooling Primer which has a similiar crackling texture.

Let’s take a look!

I love this stuff so much but it has several problems which I’ll share with you towards the end of my review. Let me talk about the things I love about it before I get into its flaws!

This comes in a 1.8 oz aerosol can that needs to be shaken vigorously prior to dispensing. A little goes a long, long way. Don’t squirt out a big old puff of this stuff into your hands because you literally need less than a dime-sized amount for your entire face. The texture has a loose mousse consistency which crackles like Pop Rocks candy when it comes out of the can. It’s a very fun texture and does indeed, have a super cooling effect on skin. It reminds me of Etude House Ice Shot Rapid Cooling Mist! It absorbs quickly and contains glycerin as well as a good deal of essential oils that leave skin super hydrated and dewy. I suspect this will play best with drier skin as it leaves my dry skin soft, smooth, hydrated, and “bouncy”. That’s actually the idea of the formula to ease dullness and get skin looking smooth and less lackluster. According to Origins as early as your 20s skin changes and starts to loose luster and bounce due to a protein change that causes dullness. This is formulated with willowherb that restores the glow to your skin.

It’s a pale pink shade in color almost flesh-like and absorbs easily but sets transparent. I can’t say it really didn’t anything at all for my dullness and believe me I have dull, tired looking skin. I didn’t notice a restored glow at all but it did ease the way for my foundation and left my skin very well hydrated. I wouldn’t say it extended my foundation wear but did prep my skin well for it.

I actually liked it simply because it was so hydrating and allowed my foundation to apply easily. After trying it though I decided to shoot over to Sephora and read the reviews and all are raving. I thought for sure people would pick apart some of the things I disliked about it but no one mentioned a single one of the problems I found with it.

What are those things?

It contains a host of problematic ingredients. It does contain Dimethicone which may or may not be an issue for some but the biggest problems here are Alcohol Denat which is the the six item in the ingredients as well as a host of citrus oils such as lemon and orange. These oils give the product a very, very strong fragrance which you’ll either find pleasant or disturbing. They are also photo-sensitizing oils. I’m sure you’ve read time and time again how my skin is very resilient and not prone to breakouts but almost immediately after using this my skin felt a little itchy and I felt a little tingle. I could imagine if you have super sensitive skin what might happen.

The idea behind Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer is a good one and the formula is interesting and fun to use. But the harmful ingredients could be a major deal breaker for some plus add in the fact this doesn’t do much else than hydrate skin it might not be worth indulging it.

Origins Original Skin Pore Perfecting Cooling Primer is available now sephora.com.

Have you tried it already?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Affiliate / Purchased
I purchased this item and I receive a small commission if you shop using the links in this post.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Laurie

    Great review, because I’ve recently rediscovered Origins and because I’m so confused about primer sprays, setting sprays and finishing sprays. You’ve helped substantially here, but I would love to ask you to do a K-Beauty piece to help those of us looking for ways to prep skin for makeup, to maintain makeup on a hot day (even adding SPF in a non-disgusting way), and to set makeup in such a way that powders melt into the skin. If there were such a thing as one spray that did it all, I would buy a vat, but even one of us each type would be great.

  • kjh

    Had this all written, then CONGRATULATIONS! interruption, and I lost it all. Annnnyway, even if you don’t have a problem with dimethicone, from denatured alcohol through citral, the ingredients are all sensitizers or irritants. I find this very irresponsible of Origins and the EL Cos. This is a perfect example of how ‘natural’ does not necessarily mean good for you. Even folks who have no problems with these ingredients NOW, could develop them later. I was never allergic to my host of problem things 5 years ago. Repeated exposure brings on the reactivities. Changes to your immune system and in environmental conditions do too…and good luck with investigating that. It’s one thing to use ingredients that have low rates of problems and are generally acknowledged as safe, but that run of essential oils, etc. is KNOWN to cause reactions. I’m not generalizing from my specific case…many of those don’t bother me…and aloe (what is more generally gentle and non irritating? Nothing.) does. But volatile essential oils are known sensitizers, in GENERAL. Can’t wait to see what Cosdna and EWG have to say about this misstep, when it gets up on their sites. This one is a real Caveat Emptor!

  • Wingadings

    I really appreciate the review of this Muse! Had I seen it in the shelf I mighy have been tempted by the interesting sounding name. I had to write off Origins when I was pregnant because it was messing with my sensitive skin. Hives, rashes and a straight up chemical like burn made me chuck the last of my Origins stash in the trash. I could hardly even use deodorant because EVERYTHING made the skin of my pits react.

    I haven’t gone back to Origins like I eventually did with my deodorant (which I recently switched out to the vanilla coconut Native- because I got a new pit rash). I now use Joe’s brightening eye cream because its unscented. As well as a slew of other gentle products from the “hypoallergenic, gentle section” in Shopper’s. Right now I’m enjoying some of Dr. Roebucks products. They’re very gentle and while made with oils like Origins is- they hardly have much scent at all.

  • Rachel

    Hi, thanks for your review. I bought this last week and have used it twice. I really want to love this product but I’ve noticed that once it’s dried on my skin, the pigment in it “balls” up on my skin and makes me look flakey! I’m not sure if I’m using too much or not shaking it well enough so I will persevere!

    • Isabella Muse

      There’s alcohol in it 🙁 that’s what is drying you out!

  • Brie

    Wish i read this or looked into ingredients before i impulse bought it. Assumed Origins was more or less skin ingredient friendly based on their ingredients like Willowherb or their Ginseng or Mushroom range. Saw Tati/Glamlifeguru approve of it so i took the jump but its made my combination skin flaky on my nose and cheek and balls up when I apply foundation with my fingers. Got to experiment more i guess. Too expensive to not give it a good go.

    • Isabella Muse

      I’m surprised Tati approved of it. It contains alcohol and a host of citrus oils that can be sensitizing. The flakiness might be from the alcohol in this as it causes dryness 🙁