Primer for oily skin

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer has the best record on oily skin at 21 of 23, and it holds up at both Ulta (11 of 11) and Sephora (10 of 12). Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer is next at 13 of 16. The rest sit close together, from 67% to 74%.

  • 308 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Nov 2017 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it work on oily skin? What buyers said
  1. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer 23 said either way
  2. Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer 16 said either way
  3. Benefit POREfessional Primer 23 said either way
  4. Smashbox Photo Finish Primer 25 said either way
  5. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer 20 said either way
  6. Too Faced Hangover Primer 22 said either way
  7. bareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer 12 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for oil control. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Best record Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer 21 of 23 say it works on oily skin Check price on Amazon
What stands out

A greasy or slippery feel is a common complaint further down the list: 38% of Smashbox Photo Finish Primer reviews, 31% of Benefit POREfessional Primer and 33% of bareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points buyers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1

Milk Makeup

Hydro Grip Primer

Best for lightweight hydration

21/23 say it works on oily skin

69% say makeup lasts longer over it and 33% call it hydrating, while 8% mention oil control directly. On Milk Makeup's own site, 7 of 8 say it works, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 33%
  • Lightweight 18%
  • Smooth base 10%
  • No pilling 8%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 11 of 11
  • Sephora 10 of 12
  • Brand site 7 of 8 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination4 of 5
  • Oily4 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light3 of 3
  • Light-medium to medium5 of 6
2

Tatcha

Silk Canvas Primer

13/16 say it works on oily skin

Reviewers who list oily skin were unanimous (7 of 7), against 5 of 8 for combination skin. 20% call it greasy or slippery and 17% call it too expensive.

What buyers praise

  • Smooth base 23%
  • Blurs pores 20%
  • Hydrating 10%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy or slippery 20%
  • Too expensive 17%
  • No visible difference 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 13 of 16
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination5 of 8
  • Oily7 of 7
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light4 of 6
  • Light-medium to medium7 of 7
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked6 of 6
3

Benefit

POREfessional Primer

17/23 say it works on oily skin

27% praise the pore blurring and 25% the oil control, but 31% call it greasy or slippery and 20% too expensive. Sold at Sephora and Ulta.

What buyers praise

  • Blurs pores 27%
  • Smooth base 15%
  • Lightweight 5%
  • Good value 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy or slippery 31%
  • Too expensive 20%
  • No visible difference 11%
  • Drying 7%
  • Pills 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 7 of 11
  • Sephora 10 of 12
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted
Check price on Amazon

Share of 55 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4

Smashbox

Photo Finish Primer

18/25 say it works on oily skin

26% say makeup lasts longer and 26% like the smooth base, but 38% call it greasy or slippery and 8% say it broke them out. 25 reviewers weighed in, the biggest group on this page.

What buyers praise

  • Smooth base 26%
  • Blurs pores 13%
  • Hydrating 8%
  • Good value 4%
  • Lightweight 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy or slippery 38%
  • Too expensive 17%
  • No visible difference 11%
  • Breaks skin out 8%
  • Drying 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 9 of 12
  • Sephora 9 of 13
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Oily4 of 5
  • Combination4 of 5
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light2 of 4
  • Light-medium to medium6 of 6
5

Hourglass

Veil Mineral Primer

Best for oil control

14/20 say it works on oily skin

37% of reviews praise oil control and 27% like the smooth base. 17% saw no difference and 13% mention the price.

What buyers praise

  • Smooth base 27%
  • Blurs pores 17%
  • Good value 7%

What buyers complain about

  • No visible difference 17%
  • Too expensive 13%
  • Greasy or slippery 7%
  • Pills 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 14 of 20
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Oily7 of 11
  • Combination5 of 7
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light6 of 8
  • Light-medium to medium2 of 5
  • Medium-tan to tan3 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked4 of 6
6

Too Faced

Hangover Primer

15/22 say it works on oily skin

Reviewers like it more for hydration (42%) than for oil control (5%), and 33% say makeup lasts longer. 18% call it greasy or slippery.

What buyers praise

  • Hydrating 42%
  • Smooth base 5%
  • Lightweight 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy or slippery 18%
  • No visible difference 11%
  • Pills 4%
  • Breaks skin out 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 8 of 13
  • Sephora 7 of 9
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination5 of 6
  • Oily2 of 3
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked6 of 6
7

bareMinerals

Prime Time Foundation Primer

8/12 say it works on oily skin

30% like the smooth base, but 33% call it greasy or slippery. It has the weakest record here at 8 of 12, from a small group of reviewers.

What buyers praise

  • Smooth base 30%

What buyers complain about

  • Greasy or slippery 33%
  • No visible difference 7%
  • Breaks skin out 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 8 of 12
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination4 of 7
  • Oily3 of 4
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light5 of 7
  • Light-medium to medium3 of 4
Acne-prone reviewers
  • Said it worked4 of 7

Share of 30 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 60,078 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for oil control and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between Nov 2017 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts and link to the product pages, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer Ulta and Sephora (39 reviews counted)
  2. Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  3. Benefit POREfessional Primer Ulta and Sephora (55 reviews counted)
  4. Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Ulta and Sephora (53 reviews counted)
  5. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer Sephora (30 reviews counted)
  6. Too Faced Hangover Primer Ulta (55 reviews counted)
  7. bareMinerals Prime Time Foundation Primer Sephora (30 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. need help finding a primer that will stop my skin from getting oily and that will blur my pores please! r/MakeupAddiction, May 2022, 43 comments
  2. Best primer for oily skin in hot, humid Japan summer weather? r/Sephora, Jun 2025, 43 comments
  3. What is truly the best blurring primer for someone with oily skin? I am desperate to hide my pores as much as I can under make up. r/Sephora, Sep 2025, 45 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which primer works for oily skin?

In these reviews, Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer comes first at 21 of 23, followed by Tatcha Silk Canvas Primer at 13 of 16 and Benefit POREfessional Primer at 17 of 23.

Can a hydrating primer work on oily skin?

It can. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer is the hydrating one: 33% of its reviews say so, and 21 of 23 reviewers said it controls oil or helps makeup last. Too Faced Hangover Primer is also praised for hydration (42%), but 18% of its reviews call it greasy or slippery.

Does Benefit POREfessional work on oily skin?

17 of 23 reviewers said it did. 25% praise its oil control and 27% its pore blurring, but 31% call it greasy or slippery and 20% call it too expensive.

Does Smashbox Photo Finish work on oily skin?

For many reviewers, yes: 18 of 25 said it controls oil or helps makeup last. 38% of its reviews say it feels greasy or slippery, though, and 11% saw no difference.

Related problems

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through "Check price on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.