Why the Internet Is Obsessed with Using This $7 Laxative as a Primer

12 hours later, zero shine.

By Lauren Valenti

Jul 12, 2016

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Design by Lauren Chepiga

The internet can be very persuasive when it comes to hacking beauty products and treatments with household solutions. The weirder, the better! But instead of slathering diaper cream all over your face or rubbing onion juice into your brows, we fully endorse using Milk of Magnesia—yes, as in the laxative—as a pre-face-beat primer this summer.

For starters, this drugstore beauty trick is actually pretty O.G. and by that I mean it was forum fodder long before there was a new crazy beauty trend every single day. In fact, many major makeup artists are crazy for the stuff, using it in favor of professional mattifying primers on celebrity clientele. Kylie Jenner's go-to MUA Hrush Achemyan loves to prep the face with it as it creates a layer between the foundation and the face to ensure that it doesn't sink into the skin under white-hot lights.

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The Pepto-Bismol-like fluid (it's white, not pink) is also really, really great for oily skin as it sops up excess grease, controls shine, and tightens pores—kind of like a clay mask. In fact, if you don't use it as a primer, you can use it as a mask or spot treatment, leaving it on as long as you like, and washing it off for a smooth, fresh canvas.

"A lot of the water-based primers on the market just feel like another moisturizer and the silicone-based primers feel waxy or, while they'll matte you down, they still don't stick," makeup artist Julianne Kaye, who works with everyone from Brooke Shields to Britney Spears, tells the Daily Mail. "When you put milk of magnesia on your face you can actually feel that veil over the skin."

To use Milk of Magnesia as a primer, shake the bottle well, then apply a thin layer (you never want it to read chalky) all over your face, rubbing it in until you can't see it. Wait until it's completely dry before you apply your foundation. You can also concentrate it to your most oil-prone areas, like the T-zone or chin.

Phillips Milk of Magnesia, $6.49; wallgreens.com.