Loved by makeup artists and influencers alike, the Bobbi Brown Face Base has established itself as a cult product. With all cult products, this can also generate hype, and, in our experience, the Face Base lives up to this.
It’s a great primer. It leaves the skin feeling smooth and nourished and this creates a perfect canvas for makeup. As a moisturiser, it softens and hydrates the skin and floods it with vitamins.
As a 2-in-1 product, it is better value for money than its price tag may first suggest and this is helped further by the fact that a little of this cream goes a really long way so the pot should last a month or so at least. Depending on how much you use it.
We also love that such a moisturising product works so well for oily, acne-prone skin. It’s rare and we appreciate it.
That said, £52 is a lot of money for skincare, no matter which way you look at it. This will put it out of reach for many people. Its use of multiple fragrances won’t suit all skin types and its consistency may not be enough for really dry skin types.
If you still want to give the Face Base a go but can’t, or don’t want, to spend £52 then we recommend you buy the 15ml version. It’s much more affordable, at £16.50, and allows you to see how the cream performs on your skin without having to make a substantial investment.
The Primark Vitamin Enriched Moisturising Primer is also a great alternative, and we explain more about the comparison between the two below.
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The Bobbi Brown Face Base has reached cult status, especially since going viral on TikTok but is the famous 2-in-1 primer moisturiser worth the hype and price tag
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How we tested Bobbi Brown Face Base
How to use the Bobbi Brown Face Base
Bobbi Brown Face Base Performance
Bobbi Brown Face Base review video
The Bobbi Brown Face Base has garnered a cult following from makeup artists and influencers alike.
It’s always been well-revered but with the rise of TikTok, the cream has soared to viral status in recent months.
Fans applaud the way in which it doubles up as a primer and moisturiser in one, and how it leaves the skin feeling soft, smooth and hydrated.
Not to mention how it keeps makeup in place all day.
So we wanted to put these claims to the test; to see if the Bobbi Brown Face Base really lives up to the hype, and if it’s really worth the high price tag.
For the past six weeks, we’ve used the Face Base as our main moisturiser before we go to bed, and first thing in the morning.
We’ve also used it as our main primer every time we’ve worn makeup and tracked how it made our oily, acne-prone skin look and feel.
Keep reading to see how well it performed and whether it’s worth the investment or worth avoiding in our full Bobbi Brown Face Base review.
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The Bobbi Brown Face Base is just part of the wider Vitamin Enriched, and Hydrating skincare ranges from the global brand. The full line-up includes:
mamabella | mamabella What is the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base? The Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base is a primer, moisturiser in one perfect for hydrating and prepping your skin for makeup.
Bobbi Brown Face Base price: £16 (15ml); £52 (50ml); £73 (100ml)
How to use Bobbi Brown Face Base: Apply a small amount to cleansed skin as a primer or moisturiser.
When to use Bobbi Brown Face Base: Morning and night as a moisturiser. Before makeup when used as a primer.
Who should use Bobbi Brown Face Base? The Bobbi Brown Face Base is suitable for all skin types but is best suited to normal to oily types.
Does Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base have SPF? No.
Where to buy: LookFantastic | Amazon | Boots
Bobbi Brown Face Base dupe: Primark Vitamin Enriched Moisturising Primer (£4.50)
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For our Bobbi Brown Face Base review, we used it on our acne-prone, oily skin as our daily and nightly moisturiser for six weeks. You can read more about why it’s so important to test skincare for longer than a week or two in our guide: How we test skincare to see if it lives up to its claims.
We also used it as our main makeup primer throughout this review period.
In the morning, after cleansing, we massaged a small amount onto our face and neck. On the days we used it as a primer, we applied our makeup immediately on top. We didn’t use any other priming product.
The rest of our skincare and makeup routine remained the same. This made it easier to identify any problems or benefits that were most likely caused by the Face Base. Throughout this period, we tracked how our skin looked and felt. We looked out for changes in texture, irritation, and whether we experienced more breakouts or problems than we normally would.
FURTHER READING: How we test skincare to see if it lives up to its claims
mamabella | mamabella The nourishing nature of the Bobbi Brown Face Base largely comes from the addition of shea butter. This has been shown to calm redness and swelling and when used alongside squalane and hyaluronic acid, it hydrates the skin and locks in the moisture.
Squalene has multiple benefits including moisturising the skin and restoring the skin’s lipid barrier, which covers the skin’s surface to protect it from UV rays, allergens and so on. It also prevents fluid loss from the skin.
The use of shea butter helps give the cream its silky consistency, while the squalane and HA give it a slightly tacky feeling, which is what makes it so good as a primer.
Other ingredients that are worth flagging are:
On the downside, the Bobbi Brown Face Base contains a lot of fragrances and perfuming ingredients. This includes:
Granted all of these perfumes are in small concentrations within the formula, appearing at the bottom of the ingredients list, but if you have sensitive skin the amount of fragrances could cause irritation so proceed with caution. Similarly, if you simply don’t like fragranced products it’s probably worth giving the Face Base a miss.
It’s not an overwhelming scent but it is noticeable.
Buy now from Lookfantastic
Bobbi Brown suggests using its Face Base as a moisturiser and primer, or on top of your standard moisturiser as a standalone primer.
mamabella | mamabella At the start of our Bobbi Brown Face Base review, we were concerned that the colouring, fragrance, and silky consistency would feel heavy on our oily skin and cause breakouts.
In fact, the opposite was true. The cream is a lot lighter than it first seems and as soon as your start massaging it in, it turns almost watery in consistency and melts into the skin.
It doesn’t leave a greasy, oily residue and while the finish is slightly tacky, it doesn’t feel greasy or leave your face looking shiny.
Due to the way it melts into the skin, a little of this cream goes a long way. A fingertip full of Face Base covered our whole face and neck and, even though it’s really expensive, at least it lasts a long time. Making it somewhat good value.
As a primer, the Face Base works well. It not only softens and hydrates the skin, which prevents your foundation from looking cakey and clinging to dry patches, but it grips onto your base products helping them last for hours. By the end of the day, it had started to slide off a little on our oily patches, but it looked fresh for much longer than it would normally.
The Face Base also helps add a natural glow to the skin that lifts the complexion and made us look youthful.
During our hydration test, the Face Base increased hydration by a very impressive 25% after five minutes and a total of 19.2% after an hour.
Usually, this would see the Face Base rank highly in our best moisturiser list. However, the use of multiple fragrances, its high price, and the fact the brand isn’t fully vegan saw it drop points. It entered the list in 74th place but as more products have been tested and added, it’s since slipped into 85th place at the time of writing.
Despite having acne-prone skin, the Face Base didn’t seem to cause any more breakouts. Certainly not anymore than we would usually so that’s another factor in its favour.
Buy now from Lookfantastic
@victoria_woolly_web Really big hydration increase for the @Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base let down by its price and formula. As a result it sits in 74th place in my best moisturiser list 😬 The positive side is that a lot goes a long way and this creates a smooth base for pre-makeup #mamabella #bobbibrown #bobbibrownfacebase #primerfordryskin #moisturiserfordryskin #beginwithskin #hydrationtest ♬ Energy – Digga D
Loved by makeup artists and influencers alike, the Bobbi Brown Face Base has established itself as a cult product. With all cult products, this can also generate hype, and, in our experience, the Face Base lives up to this.
It’s a great primer. It leaves the skin feeling smooth and nourished and this creates a perfect canvas for makeup. As a moisturiser, it softens and hydrates the skin and floods it with vitamins.
As a 2-in-1 product, it is better value for money than its price tag may first suggest and this is helped further by the fact that a little of this cream goes a really long way so the pot should last a month or so at least. Depending on how much you use it.
We also love that such a moisturising product works so well for oily, acne-prone skin. It’s rare and we appreciate it.
That said, £52 is a lot of money for skincare, no matter which way you look at it. This will put it out of reach for many people. Its use of multiple fragrances won’t suit all skin types and its consistency may not be enough for really dry skin types.
If you still want to give the Face Base a go but can’t, or don’t want, to spend £52 then we recommend you buy the 15ml version. It’s much more affordable, at £16.50, and allows you to see how the cream performs on your skin without having to make a substantial investment.
The Primark Vitamin Enriched Moisturising Primer is also a great alternative, and we explain more about the comparison between the two below.
mamabella | mamabella We couldn’t post this Bobbi Brown Face Base review without giving mention the iconic Face Base dupe – the Vitamin Enriched Moisturising Primer from Primark.
Ingredient-wise, the two are very similar. Both contain Vitamin C and Vitamin E, and the Primark version additionally features niacinamide. This helps brighten the skin further and is great for oiliness and spots.
Just like the Bobbi Brown original, the Primark version absorbs well and leaves the skin feeling soft and nourished. It’s also a great primer. And all of this is despite the fact the Primark Vitamin Enriched dupe is almost a tenth of the price – coming in at £4.50 for 45ml.
In our comparison, our makeup didn’t last quite as long with the Primark version as it did with the Bobbi Brown Face Base. But then it also doesn’t smell as strong as the original, so determining which is best will ultimately come down to your preference, and skin type.
Buy now from Lookfantastic
The following list of ingredients is taken from the INCI Decoder website. You can hover over each ingredient to find out more about it.
The numbers next to each ingredient represent its Irritation Rating (the number to the left of the comma), and then Comedogenic Rating (to the right of the comma).
Both ratings are scored out of five and the higher the number, the higher the chance of it causing irritation, or comedones (spots). Green means it has a low rating so is less likely to cause problems. Yellow and red numbers represent high ratings and are more likely to cause problems.
emo|vc, Squalane sii|emo 0 1, Glyceryl Stearate emo|emu 0 1–2, Sorbitan Stearate emu 1 0, Epilobium Angustifolium Extract, Yeast Extract/Faex/Extrait De Levure h, Beta-Carotene, Sodium Hyaluronate sii|h 0 0, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil 
perf, Tocopheryl Acetate aox 0 0, Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate emo|emu, Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Flower Oil perf, Dimethicone Crosspolymer vc, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer vc, Carbomer vc 0 1, Peg-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate emu, C12-15 Alkyl Ethylhexanoate emo, Tetrasodium Edta chel, Sodium Hydroxide buff, Panthenol so|h 0 0, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate sb|aox, Limonene perf|solv, Citronellol perf, Geraniol perf, Linalool perf, Chlorphenesin pres|amic, Phenoxyethanol presHover the mouse / tap over an ingredient for short explanation. Read more on INCIDecoder.
After a stint as mamabella’s first-ever intern, Shyma is now a freelance beauty journalist and influencer. Shyma believes in the empowerment of all individuals so being part of the mamabella team is a perfect fit.
