Water-based primers: ingredients and picks

Water-based primer is a search where the ingredient list gives a fairly clear answer: what comes first in the list, and is there silicone right at the top? We picked seven primers that our rule reads as water-based and where we find no fragrance in the list.

How we decide what is water-based

We read a primer as silicone-based when a base silicone, such as Dimethicone or Cyclopentasiloxane, is among the first five ingredients, water included. Silicone emulsifiers (PEG/PPG dimethicones), which bind water and oil at a few percent, do not count. Otherwise a primer is read as water-based when the first ingredient is water (Aqua, Water or Eau), Glycerin or Butylene Glycol. A list that starts with Aqua but has Dimethicone at position 2 is therefore silicone-based here. A product we cannot place gets no label. This describes the base of the formula, not the finish or how long it lasts.

Why the base matters

Many brands and makeup guides give a rule of thumb that a primer's base should match the foundation's: water-based primer under water-based foundation and silicone-based under silicone-based, so the makeup does not pill. We cannot test that, but it is why we split primers by base on the page Primers. You can narrow the view to water-based primers, and the same split exists for foundations.

Seven water-based primers with no fragrance

The primer page also has water-based primers with fragrance in the list. They are not included here. The ones below were picked from our catalog by their lists; they are examples, not a recommendation list.

Hickap Preppy Prime Grip Lover (30 ml). The list has 20 ingredients: Aqua, Butylene Glycol, PEG-150 Distearate at position 3 and Glycerin. Niacinamide is at position 7, Panthenol at position 9 and Sodium Hyaluronate at position 11.

IsaDora Glow Face Primer SPF 50 (30 ml). Aqua and C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, then UV filters: Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate at position 3, Ethylhexyl Triazone at position 5 and Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine at position 9. The name says SPF 50, so it is also a sunscreen product.

Maybelline New York Poreless Jelly Primer (30 ml). A short list of 12 ingredients: Aqua, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Sodium Acrylates Crosspolymer-2 at position 4 and Niacinamide at position 5.

Maybelline New York Grippy Serum Primer (30 ml). Aqua, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin and PEG-150 Distearate at position 4, Niacinamide at position 5. Panthenol is at position 10 and Ascorbyl Palmitate at position 12, out of 12 ingredients.

NYX Professional Makeup Face Freezie Cooling Primer + Moisturizer. Aqua, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol and Sodium Acrylates Crosspolymer-2 at position 4, Niacinamide at position 8. The list has 22 ingredients.

PIXI Flawless & Poreless Primer. Water, Butylene Glycol, Squalane at position 3 and Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, then Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, which is a silicone-free emollient. Salicylic Acid is at position 22, and the list has 25 ingredients.

bareMinerals PRIME TIME Hydrate & Glow Primer (30 ml). Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride and Glycerin at position 3. The list has 28 ingredients, with vitamin C at position 26.

Water first is not enough

Almost every primer has water. What decides the base is what follows. Gosh Primer Plus, for example, starts with Aqua but has Dimethicone at position 2, so it is read as silicone-based. That is why we do not read the base from the first word alone, but from the first five ingredients.

Price range

At the time of writing these cost roughly €11–38 in the Finnish stores we compare, and most primers come in 30 ml packs. Prices move daily: the cards at the end of the page show the current price.

What a list cannot tell you

We do not classify finish (matte, glowy), coverage or how long makeup lasts, because none of it can be read off an ingredient list. A list shows what a product contains and in what order. It makes no promise about results. The basics of reading a list are in the guide How to read an ingredient list.