Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer Awesome Except The Damn Alcohol
Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer ($15 to $30) a new hydrating, makeup primer that contains hemp-derived cannabis seed extract that acts to hydrate and hold makeup in place. Aside from a source of hydration, cannabis seed extract doesn’t have any long term benefits. I always feel like Milk Makeup is trying to be extra edgy with the “Kush” and hemp makeup and skincare releases. Shrug. Maybe I’m overthinking it but that’s how it comes across to me.
None the less I decided to give this a try as it looks intriguing. They had me at hydration and not so much at “makeup gripping”. I mean, sure, it sounds great that it promises to extend the wear of my makeup but I was all about more hydration. And this provides plenty but it also contains alcohol which totally sucks but I’ll buy this again and again even if it does contain alcohol because it’s brilliant.
Sometimes you just have to give into the alcohol! Alcohol isn’t a great ingredient in skincare! It can be drying, it can break down collagen over time, and it’s also sensitizing. It’s something you want to avoid in your daily routine if possible. I admit it! I do use some products that contain alcohol. Guilty! If you use a lot of K-Beauty skincare you likely do too as a lot of Korean essences and gel moisturizers contain alcohol. You’re also big-time guilty if you use Biore Sunscreens from Japan as they contain alcohol as well! Many Japanese gel-based SPFs contain alcohol.
Uh oh.
The fact of the matter is sometimes alcohol makes for an easier-to-absorb formula. I try to avoid it, sure, but sometimes I’m not so successful. Unfortunately, Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer contains alcohol denat as one of the 5th ingredients in this formula. But I’d totally buy this stuff again. I love it. If you can forgive the alcohol you might just want to give it a whirl.
I purchased the smaller size due to the alcohol in the mix. It was $15 for 0.33 oz. I should have just gotten the $30 version which is 1.52 oz as they are charging a heap more for the smaller version than they really should but I wasn’t sure how my already dry skin would do with the alcohol so, I decided rather than waste $30 just spend $15 and see how it goes.
I am now on the $30 version since I ended up liking it so much and I don’t regret it in the least.
This is a thicker gel primer that absorbs easily without a sticky, tacky, or greasy feel. It leaves no shine or dewiness but does however, intensely hydrate skin. It just really, really adds a super layer of moisture to my skin as soon as I applied it which makes for way easier foundation and makeup application. My skin is so super smooth and soft after applying this. It contains some great hydrating ingredients such as aloe, water, and glycerin. However, some of the better ingredients like Niacinamide and the Hemp Seed Extra as well as Citric Acid are lower on the list which sort of stinks as you’re paying into a rather basically formulated hydrating primer since there are such a small amount of the promises “good” ingredients. I did notice a very light fresh scent but it was barely noticeable.
I had some skepticism about it holding or “gripping” makeup in place all day but turns out it does a fairly good job of providing a protective layer over skin for foundation to sit on. This allows makeup to last longer without fading because there’s such a good surface for it adhere to. My foundation looked so much fresher as the day progressed when I wore this primer. I wouldn’t say it’s going to allow your makeup to wear for 12+ hours but you’ll find that your foundation looks better for much longer than the normal wear when you prep using this.
But most importantly for me it provided some very good hydration which allowed foundation to apply more easily and look smoother without adhering to drier areas on my face!
It’s sad that Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer isn’t really formulated all that fabulously but it sure as hell performs pretty nice if you can overlook some of these average or even bad ingredients!
Where to buy
Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer is a new hemp-derived cannabis seed extract hydrating facial primer that promises to grip makeup in place while hydrating skin. Sadly, a lot of the ingreidents that they market this as having are really low on the list and some of the bad ones like alcohol are higher up. Despite the lack of good ingredients I still really liked this formula. It’s a thicker gel that absorbed easily and didn’t leave my skin too dewy, shiny, or oil nor sticky or tacky. It provided a very well hydrated base for my foundation to adhere to and did allow it to remain fresher longer and seemed to extend the wear of it as well by a few more hours.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Water, Glycerin, PEG-150 Distearate, Alcohol Denat., Polyglyceryl-10 Eicosanedioate/Tetradecanedioate, Diglycerin, PVP, Benzyl Alcohol, Sorbitol, Pullulan, Inositol, Betaine, Carbomer, Maltose, Xylitol, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Phytate, Benzophenone-4, Dehydroacetic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Agave Tequilana Stem Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Niacinamide, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, Vegetable Amino Acids, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Extract, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Flower Extract, Prunus Avium Flower Extract, Citric Acid, Benzoic Acid, Yellow 5 (Ci 19140), Blue 1 (Ci 42090), Red 33 (Ci 17200).
- Very hydrating but not sticky or tacky nor greasy or dewy.
- Contains some very good hydrating ingredients.
- Seemed to extend foundation’s wear and allowed to remain fresher and fade-proof for a few extra hours than normal.
- Contains alcohol.
- Pretty basic ingredients with some of the more beneficial ones being lower on the list including the marketed hemp seed extract.
- A little expensive for what it does contain.
Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer is fantastic for those with drier skin that need their foundation to look smoother on drier, flakier areas!