I know what you’re thinking, “I ain’t got no yeast infection, why the hell is this crazy girl trying to get me to put this on my face?” Although Monistat’s products are famously used to treat yeast infections, this product is a gel that happens to work better than most high-end face primers out there. Apparently it’s been a beauty secret for years and I just found out about this miraculous product a couple of days ago and HAD to share it with our readers. I watched approximately ten different videos of makeup gurus comparing the Monistat Chafing Relief Powder-Gel to primers like MAC’s Prep + Prime, Smashbox’s Photo Finish Primer and L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base Face Primer. And I can honestly tell you that Monistat’s Gel actually works just as well or better than all the primers I just mentioned.

To those of you who aren’t very familiar with face primer, it basically works the same way as an eyeshadow primer would. Face primer prepares your face for foundation application, making your skin more smooth and even. I have combination skin so whenever I’d apply my foundation without primer, the skin on my cheeks would look a bit flakey after an hour while my t-zone could use an oil blotter. It was a constant battle with my skin and I couldn’t find anything that could fix it, until I heard about primer. I was web-shopping for a primer and all the ones I felt would actually work for me (I was looking specifically for a matting primer) were between $17 – $40, which was far more than I was looking to spend. I was just about to give in and head over to Sephora when right before I left the house I came across a YouTube video where this young lady put Monistat gel on one side of her face and Smashbox Photo Finish on the other side of her face to compare the two. She explained that the Monistat gel felt even smoother on her face but the results were exactly the same. I was sold and was off to Target to buy myself a tube of the stuff.

I was instantly pleased the second I applied the gel to my face. It almost feels like you’re putting nothing on your face except somehow your skin becomes more even and smooth. It instantly matted my skin, no more combination skin. My t-zone wasn’t oily anymore and my dry spots felt like normally moisturized skin (and it stays that way all day). I was literally giggling at the feel of my skin and so relieved that I finally found a product that made my foundation look exactly how I wanted it to. When I applied my foundation over the gel, right away I could see the difference. The foundation spread more smoothly and distributed more easily over my face.

To use this product I still used toner and moisturizer, then applied a small amount of the gel to go all over my face and then followed that with foundation application. I recommend this product to anyone who uses makeup, has combination skin, was thinking about getting a primer or is interested in trying out a new primer. I would also recommend this product to people who don’t even use makeup but want to tone down their oily skin, yes, that means you, fellas (don’t worry, it’s fragrance free)! I sincerely believe that so many people can benefit from this product and I’m so happy that I found it.

How Much: $6

Where: Target