Psst—This Is How I Get a Post-Vacation Glow Without Using Any Airline Miles

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market’s most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors’ honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we’ll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors can’t shut up about. This time around, I’m spotlighting the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip + Glow Illuminating Primer ($30).

I’m in a constant state of wishing I were on vacation. When I’m staring into space, I’m daydreaming about palm trees and frozen cocktails. When I’m commuting to the office, I’m thinking of the perfect beach read. And when I’m doing my makeup, I’m missing the sun-kissed glow I have after a vacation. Are you sensing a theme here? Unfortunately, I can’t just book a trip whenever I need a change of scenery (sigh), but I can still get that post-vacation glow. All I need is Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip + Glow Primer and I’ll fool everyone into thinking I just returned from a tropical getaway.

Like most beauty enthusiasts, I am not new to Milk Makeup’s assortment of makeup products. From the viral Cooling Water Jelly Lip and Cheek Tint that the WWW beauty team loves to the OG Hydro Grip Primer that’s become the first step in so many makeup routines, the brand is constantly delivering fresh products for the beauty community to gush over. When I heard about the launch of Milk’s Hydro Grip + Glow Primer, I just knew I had to test it out and share my thoughts with you.

This illuminating primer grips makeup for up to 12 hours and contains skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid to hydrate the skin and create an eye-catching glow. Think golden hour in a bottle. I applied two to three pumps onto the back of my hand and blended it all over my face. I let it sit for a few seconds and then did my typical base routine of foundation and concealer. You could see a difference in how luminous and glowy my skin looked immediately upon application (I have the light-reflecting pearls to thank for that). This luminosity even remained through my full coverage foundation and near-impenetrable setting powder. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.

If you’re a Milk Hydro Grip loyalist who’s wondering if you should switch to the Hydro Grip + Glow, this part’s for you. As a regular wearer of the OG Hydro Grip, I love the hold it has. The gel formula has a tacky finish that feels a bit like glue once applied (without the stickiness). I could party all night in the sweatiest NYC clubs and my makeup would still be intact when I got home. The Hydro Grip + Glow feels the same—it’s almost like it’s just the OG Hydro Grip’s radiant older sister. In other words, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if you applied them both with your eyes closed.

The key ingredients in the original Hydro Grip Primer are blue agave extract, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, aloe water, and hemp-derived cannabis seed extract. In the Hydro Grip and Glow, Milk has maintained those same ingredients, but added light-reflecting pearls to impart that glow. Though I’m glowing in both of the photos above, my face is much brighter after using the Hydro Grip + Glow. You know what that means? All winter long, my glow will be so blinding that everyone will be asking me about a vacation that never happened.