Ciate London Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer Review

I’ve been trying the new Ciate London Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer for the past week and I’m sharing my thoughts with you today!

Happy Friday! You know what Friday means? A new beauty post!

This week I’m sharing my thoughts on the new Ciate London Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer.

I’ve loved and followed Ciate as a brand for years. I feel like they are the only brand to nail (haha no pun intended) their makeup collection the first time round. They used to only do nail varnish and when they announced they were doing makeup, I was excited.

My first ever Ciate London makeup product was the Olivia Palermo eyeshadow palette and I was super impressed by their formula. The packaging was luxe, the eyeshadows soft and pigmented and it made me excited for what else was coming.

Fast forward a few years and they have released their first primer and foundation (I ordered the foundation, but the palest colour was too dark for me, so I couldn’t test it. Hopefully they come out with more shades!)

THE CLAIMS

This primer claims it smooths pores, hydrates, has skincare benefits, grips onto your foundation and is long wearing.

It has little black dots in it that burst on application and claim to give added glow and moisturise for 24 hours. It’s also silicone free.

PRICE

£24 for 40ml or you can get a mini set to try (I got this) – it’s £10 and comes with a 10ml primer and a 5ml Watermelon Lip Oil.

Side note – the oil is really nice and I’m definitely buying the full size. Kind of feels like it should be sticky when you first apply, but it’s not at all. It’s just a thick-ish, nourishing oil. The full size is £14 and available here.

Now let’s get into my review:

WEAR TEST

I’ve worn the Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer for varying hours – 8, 9, 10 and 14 hours.

After application it looks beautiful, smooth, my pores are there, but not noticeable. This primer doesn’t fill your pores (it doesn’t claim to) but I would agree that they are not as noticeable with this primer and everything looks smooth.

After 2 hours everything looks the same as when I applied it.

After 4 hours everything is still holding up and looking beautiful.

6 hour check in – Still looks amazing, my natural oils aren’t showing through which they normally would be a tiny bit by now. I don’t need to touch up my chin, around my nose or powder.

7 hours – With the Armani Power Fabric my oils start to show through at this stage, with the VDL I can get to 8 hours with no touch up.

8 hours – It needs a touch up; I give my chin a quick blend and powder my nose and it’s OK for another hour or so. After the foundation has started separating/caking up, while you can blend it back in, it doesn’t look 100% amazing. Passable, but I wouldn’t go to a wedding like it.

9 hours – Really starting to break up, blending doesn’t help. Foundation is looking past its best!

For the day where I wore it for 14 hours – it looked pretty bad at the 12/13 hour mark and by 14 I took one glance in the mirror and then washed it all off. My chin and nose were completely separated and caked up, my pores were visible and my nose was really oily.

THE PROS

This primer is super lightweight, it feels like a serum and sinks in nice and quickly. I always wait a few minutes before applying foundation just to make sure the primer has had a minute to gel with my skin. I have no idea if this helps with application and longevity or not, but I’m just setting out the goalposts as to how I trial all my face products.

This will be the same for future reviews: I moisturise, let that sink in for 10 minutes, then prime, then wait for 3-5 minutes before applying my foundation.

My foundation went on top of this primer super well, no balling up. It really does feel hydrating and plumping on the skin. It’s not a pore filling primer, but pores are less noticeable when everything is blended.

This primer is silicone free. I don’t have any thoughts for or against silicones in primers. I wear both and have success with both.

It seemed to gel well with both foundations that I wear frequently (The Armani Power Fabric and the VDL Perfecting Last Foundation). With the VDL it stays slightly tacky. With the Armani (it’s a more matte foundation anyway) it looks beautiful and I notice my foundation clinging to less dry patches.

It doesn’t need touching up or powdering for about 8 hours which is longer than my other primers… However, overall it doesn’t last as long. I have primers which wear for 14 hours; yes I have to powder and blend my chin, but it still looks good at the 14 hour mark, this doesn’t.

This primer doesn’t break me out, it does leave your skin feeling moisturised and I really like that there’s niacinamide, witch hazel, hyaluronic acid and vitamin e in there. These are all things I already use in my skincare regime and have good results with.

THE CONS

It’s ever so slightly sticky with certain foundations even if you applied hours ago. That took a bit of getting used to, but since the finish is so gorgeous I don’t really mind it. It’s not so sticky you can feel it whenever you move your face, just if you dab it with your fingers you will feel it’s a bit tacky.

I don’t find this to be the longest wearing primer I have. It lasts 8 hours before my foundation starts breaking down/caking up. You can blend it with a finger and it looks good again for another hour or so before there’s really no saving it.

If you don’t like watermelon, you won’t like this at all. The scent doesn’t linger too much after application, but it is quite strong. I am indifferent to this scent, it doesn’t endear me or put me off.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I find myself really liking this primer. No it won’t be my pick for a super long day, but a “normal” 8 hour day? I would use this as I know I can forget about it for the whole 8 hours and I don’t have to keep checking my face.

I got used to the slight tackiness and it doesn’t bother me. I like the fact it feels hydrating on the skin.

The finish is really beautiful with my favourite foundations; my skin looks healthy and bouncy. I’m definitely going to look into getting the full size when I run out of the mini.

I think in the winter, when my skin is dry, this will be in its element! It really helped with any patches I usually struggle with dryness wise. It doesn’t dry out over the day either.

If you have really oily skin, I don’t think this would be for you. I have combination skin and my oils don’t break through for 8 hours.

Have you tried any primers recently? Are you interested in this particular primer?

DISCLAIMER: YESSTYLE LINKS ARE AFFILIATE. ALL OTHERS ARE NOT. ALL PRODUCTS PURCHASED BY ME.