It's no secret among beauty junkies that a good foundation primer can soften the appearance of lines, create an even canvas, and keep makeup looking fresh all day. Even if you go sans foundation, a primer will leave you with a smooth, matte finish.

It's also no secret that Smashbox Photo Finish Primer is the hands-down favorite among makeup artists, beauty connoisseurs and bloggers alike (see Elke von Freudenberg and Cavewoman at Blogdorf Goodman for their endorsements, which are so positive that I need not echo them here).

The only issue with this wonder product is the godawful packaging - also lamented by the bloggers - which takes up too much space, tends to break, and wastes product. The full-size Smashbox primer is housed in a glass jar with this temperamental little pump dispenser that, on any given day, will either dispense a meager amount of product or squirt gobs of it all over your palm.

The thick consistency of the Smashbox means that some will always adhere to the insides of the jar and will never make it to your face; plus, the tube attached to the pump doesn't extend all the way to the bottom, so you'd never have the chance to suck up that last bit of primer anyway. And to top it all off, the large cap never stays on. Never ever.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this primer in the travel sized tube. Not only is the plastic squeeze tube much easier to work with, it's a slightly better value at $15.50 for 0.5 oz. The full size will set you back $36 for just under an ounce, and you won't be able to use all of it anyway for the reasons described above. The travel size tube works out to be a full $5 cheaper on an ounce-per-ounce basis, with none of the annoyance.

So don't pay for clunky glass packaging that doesn't measure up in terms of price or usefulness. The tube is a far better performer. Plastics make it possible, friends!