Tuesday 18 March 2014

POREfessional v's Baby Skin ~ Are they a dupe?


Hello Lovelies, 

I have a comparison post for you today, as you have probably already guessed from the title and the photograph, I am comparing the Benefit POREfessional and the Maybelline Baby Skin

I have seen numerous blog posts which claim the Baby Skin is an "exact dupe" for the POREfessional, I was lucky to be given the porefessional for Christmas from my lovely girls, something I had wanted to try for a long time.  I picked up the baby skin in January after reading the blog posts claiming and exact dupe as I wanted to see for myself if the products were actually the same or at least very similar, I have been trying both products out over the last couple of months and thought you might be interested to hear my thoughts.

About The Products ~

Both the Benefit and the Maybelline claim to smooth skin and minimise the appearance of pores and fine lines, this is something I struggle with,  I hate the pores on my nose and chin and I'm at an age now where those pesky fine lines are a bit of a problem so anything that can minimise the appearance of either is appealing to me, but a product that claims to minimise both problems, come to Mamma! 

Both products contain 22ml of product and both come in a tube, (the benefit tube does also come in a box). The benefit retails at £24.50 and the maybelline retails at £7.99 and the maybelline can often be found as part of a buy one get one half price or 3 for 2 type deal in high street stores. 

The porefessional is a nude coloured product with an obvious scent to it but a scent that doesn't linger where the maybelline is clear with a very faint scent. 

Both products can be worn under make up or alone to even out the skin but the porefessional can also be applied over make up.

Benefit POREfessional 

Maybelline Baby Skin


My First Impressions On Both Products ~ 

I have never liked primers as such and never ever bought a primer either, as a blogger/youtuber I have tried a few different ones but never liked them, I have very dry skin so maybe that's why me and primers have never gotten along as they are usually marketed towards more oily skin.

My make up stays put pretty much all day and apart from my pores and fine lines, I've never really worried, that is until around November/December time when my foundation started to go patchy throughout the day but just on my chin, very strange. I've used the same foundation, the Illamasqua Skin Base for years and it's always been fine until then, and I put the sudden patchiness down to my skin changing due to my medication as this is often the case. I was hoping that the porefessional and baby skin might be able to help me with my patchy chin problem as well as my rather horrible visible pores and even more horrible pesky fine lines. 

I applied both products in the same way, rubbing them in to my chin, my nose, my pesky fine lines at the sides of my eyes and also my forehead on particularly dry skin days. I then applied my make up and left it without checking on it or touching up at all throughout the day, I usually apply my make up at around 9am and remove it at around 7pm to give you an example of how long I wear my make up. 

The first thing I noticed about the baby skin was that I didn't like the feel of it at all, it feels very silicone like, and if I were to compare it texture wise to another product I've tried, I'd say it felt like the Smash box photo finish foundation primer, I really didn't like the texture of it at all, it felt greasy when I applied it, and I found myself wiping my hands on a tissue to remove it. The porefessional is much more silky in texture and applied much better and didn't feel at all greasy. 

I liked that the benefit has a colour to it, it is nude in colour but dries to a translucent finish, it isn't a major thing but something I preferred and since this is a comparison and a review of my thoughts I thought it was worth mentioning, I also really liked the scent of the porefessional, again not a deal breaker but worth a mention. 

Both products left a matte finish to the skin, the porefessional left my skin feeling soft and smooth but unfortunately the baby skin left me feeling a little greasy, I have very dry skin so I can only imagine if you have oily skin this might be more of a problem for you than it was for me. 

I didn't really notice much difference at all in my make up application after using either product, my foundation applied as well as it always does, I didn't experience any problems at all when using either product. 

I would say that both products would last a long time, they are the same size, both 22ml as I mentioned but with both products I only needed to use a small amount, a little goes a long way with both products, and I must admit when I first saw the size of the tube of the porefessional I was shocked, especially in comparison to the size of the box, but I needn't have worried as the tube will last a long time I'm sure, I've had my porefessional almost 3 months and I've hardly made a dent in it. I didn't need a lot of product with either brand, a pea size amount was enough for my chin and nose area. 

I continued to use both products over a period of around 2 months to give both products a fair trial. 

And the winner is .........

The Benefit POREfessional, without a shadow of a doubt this was 100% better than the Baby Skin in my opinion and unfortunately for my purse, the Maybelline Baby Skin is most definitely NOT a dupe for the Benefit POREfessional, they are totally different in texture, the baby skin is a lot more silicone feeling and to me feels exactly like a silicone primer, where the benefit feels silky, they really are not the same.

My make up at the end of the day just before removing it was so much better with the porefessional, the foundation on my chin hadn't slid off or gone terribly patchy and my nose looked so much better, it even helped my foundation to look better on the extremely dry patches on my forehead too, the porefessional contains vitamin e so I would imagine that helped with my dry skin, it is an oil free product so if you have oily skin this may be helpful for you but obviously I can only speak for the dry skinned of us. 

I have to say there was a slight improvement with the baby skin but not enough for me to re purchase I'm afraid it was only slight and the way it leaves a greasy feel on my skin puts me off, it isn't something I will re purchase and I won't continue to use it either. 

Overall I am very happy with the porefessional, it helped with my pores and my patchy chin problem and even helped my dry skin problems too, I wouldn't say this is a miracle worker and your pores totally disappear but it certainly helps to minimise them, it basically does exactly what it says on the tin. It smoothed my skin, minimised my pores and fine lines and helped my make up to stay put, I was happy with the results and would re purchase it, I just wish it was a little more affordable, but as I said I think the tube will last me a long time so price per use wouldn't be much at all I imagine. 

The baby skin for me just wasn't nice at all, far too silicone like, left a greasy feel to my skin and didn't do enough of a job of minimising my pores or helping with my patchy chin problem, I'm afraid it was in my opinion a waste of £7.99, if you like to use silicone based primers and want to find a cheaper alternative to a high end product,  this might be for you but if you want it to be an "exact dupe" of the professional, you'll be very disappointed. 

If you would like to try the porefessional it is available here for £24.50 for 22ml or here for £24.50 for 22ml (this site includes free delivery) and if you want to try the baby skin, it is available here and currently on a buy one get one half price deal or here where it is currently on a 3 for 2 deal. 

Do you have any beauty dupes? Did you buy the baby skin hoping for a porefessional dupe? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I always reply to all my blog comments so please feel free to leave a comment. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x














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