Review of Tatcha "The Silk Canvas" Primer

When I saw that Tatcha - a brand well-known for its great skincare - had a new face primer, I was pretty intrigued. But when I learned that the primer was a balm and not a liquid, I got VERY intrigued. I'm always into trying new concepts, plus a good face primer in balm form would be great for airline travel, when you have to limit the number of liquid items in your carry-on bag. So, I was excited to give Tatcha's The Silk Canvas Primer a try.

And try I did. For the past 3 weeks, I have tested The Silk Canvas. Here, I share information about this product and what I discovered in my testing.

**Note: This is not a sponsored post and I purchased The Silk Canvas myself.**

The Price

The Silk Canvas is a luxury primer that retails for $52.00 for .7 oz of product.

The Claims

According to the Tatcha website, The Silk Canvas is suitable for face, eyes, and lips, and is "a skin-protecting, makeup-perfecting primer" that "makes makeup last longer while keeping it out of skin, helping to prevent clogged pores and breakouts." The site goes on to claim that the balm "instantly diminish[es] the look of pores, fine lines, and imperfections," and that it helps even skin tone and minimizes excess shine. It is described as being for all skin types. For a full list of ingredients, go here.

My Testing Method

I used The Silk Canvas primer under various foundations (including matte, radiant, drugstore, and higher-end foundations) and with various concealers and setting powders over the course of three weeks. I also used the primer as an eyeshadow base (under both drugstore and higher-end eyeshadows) for one use but discontinued it after it caused some mild eyelid irritation. I followed my usual skincare routine and my usual eye primer routine, so I used the primer on well-prepped skin and eyes.

My Skin Type

I have combination and sensitive 47-year-old skin. I'm oiler in the T-Zone and drier elsewhere on my face.

Application Method

The Silk Canvas balm comes in a big circular container with an accompanying "coin" that you use to scoop out the product, as shown below.

There is a line on the back of the coin that is supposed to guide you in how much product you should use. The idea is that you scrape the coin over the balm until the balm reaches the line on the coin, and then you have the proper amount of product.

I found out pretty quickly that I needed far less of the product than the coin measured out, because when I use too much of this product, I get shiny and greasy. I also found out that I didn't like using the coin to get the product out of the container. I ended up just rubbing my fingers over the balm and then applying it gently to my face and eyelids rather than going through the scooping process. That worked much better for me.

Pros

There was definitely a nice, natural-looking luminosity to my skin after I applied The Silk Canvas in the proper amount and didn't get too much of it on. The balm is very soft and made my skin feel just as hydrated as if I had used a liquid primer. My skin looked blurred, radiant, and felt well-prepped for foundation, and my various foundations applied well on top of The Silk Canvas. I didn't experience any caking or separation of my foundation that I can attribute to this primer. I also liked the smell - the fragrance is very pleasant and fresh, but not overpowering. It's kind of hard to describe the scent, but it smells similar to other Tatcha products I've tried.

Cons

The main con for me was that the primer made me a bit oiler than normal throughout the T-zone. I found myself radiant, but also shinier. I normally blot throughout the day anyway, so this wasn't a huge deal, but the fact remained that I was oilier, especially on the forehead. I'd be interested in knowing how people with oily skin fare with this primer, and I suspect that they'd have issues.

The other con is that I couldn't continue using The Silk Canvas as an eyelid primer after my first use because I experienced a small amount of eyelid irritation (redness).

Final Thoughts

I think that as a face primer, The Silk Canvas is a good product. Yes, it caused me some eyelid irritation, but honestly I was more interested in using it as a face primer, and as a face primer it did a nice job of making my skin smooth and luminous, and it played well with my various foundations. It did make my oily areas oilier, however, so there's a trade off, but I will use this product again. Like I said earlier, I normally blot throughout the day anyway, so it's really not a big deal for me. My biggest caution is that you need to heed the instructions to use a small amount of product. It's easy to get too much, and you really don't want too much of this product under your foundation.

Have you tried The Silk Canvas? I'm interested in your thoughts and experiences, especially those of you with skin types different than mine. It worked fairly well on my mature, combination skin, but I'm wondering how it works on oiler and drier skin. Let us all know in the comments below about your experiences!

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