Thursday, December 20, 2012

Concealer




Finding the perfect concealer is kind of like finding the perfect swimsuit. A daunting task at times, many women are on a never ending quest to find the perfect one.

What Makes a Good Concealer?
To find your holy grail concealer, you must first know what properties in a concealer you like. For me, it's good coverage and a creamy consistency. Some use a different concealer for under eyes, vs on blemishes. Some women, want an all in one product that will cover and conceal dark circles, blemishes and sun spots all in one. Before purchasing a concealer, decide what it is you need the product to do.

Like foundation, concealers also come in many different formulas including; liquid, cream, mouse, stick form and powder to name a few.

While I don't claim to have tested every concealer on the market, I have tried my fair share.  Here is a sampling of some concealers that I would repurchase. I've included a variety of different price points and brands, so hopefully there will be something for everyone.

Budget Friendly/Drugstore:

The first product isn't a traditional concealer. It's actually marketed as a Blemish Kit. The brand E.L.F. created this mineral powder with acne fighting ingredients intended to treat and prevent breakouts. However, because I'm so fair, the powder, which is pigmented, acts as a concealer as well and even comes with a concealer brush for application.  I'll reach for this if I have a blemish I want to treat and cover at the same time on days I'm also wearing mineral foundation.


Another affordable brand is Physicians Formula. I was first introduced to this brand through their corrective concealers. When I was younger, I used to have a blue tinted scar on my face.  To cover it up, I used a yellow based correcting concealer from this brand. This brand offers many different types of concealers and correctors. One that I particularly like for under eye circles is from their Mineral Wear Talc-Free line which comes with a corrector, concealer and highlighter in three connecting bottles.

 Step 1 is a yellow based corrector, to hide any blue or purple tones under the eyes.  Step 2 is the concealer and Step 3 is a pink highlighter that can be used under the eyes or on the high points of the face.
The quality of this product is excellent. It's creamy and light.  My only complaint about this product, is that I don't think it would work on darker skin tones.  I would like to see more variety added to the line for those with a deeper skin color such as a peach base corrector, a darker cover and other shades of highlight.

My favorite of all the drugstore lines is Nuance by Salma Hayek. In my opinion, this is a high end brand that just happens to be sold at the drugstore. The quality of these products if phenomenal. This is actually a double ended concealer. One side is a concealer stick, ideal for covering blemishes, or other spots on the face, and the other end is a creamy brightening concealer, ideal for use under the eyes. I have this product in shades light and medium. What I like about it, is that there are some correcting properties to it. For example, the medium version has a slight peachy undertone to it which is ideal for correcting under eye circles.

 Pictured above: Stick side of concealer on the left, and liquid side on the right


High End Concealers: 


Per-Fekt Eye Perfection Gel is a primer/concealer hybrid. It's mousse like texture fills in fine lines creating a smoothing appearance to the under eye area. The formula is tinted providing coverage to the under eye area. If you have really dark circles, this won't do the job, but still acts great as a base or primer if you want to put a fuller coverage concealer over it.


A popular concealer, especially for those with under eye circles is Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. While I don't believe any concealer is truly creaseless on it's own, this does crease less than many other concealers on the market. This is definitely a full coverage product, and excellent for covering both dark circles and blemishes. It does have a dewy finish, but I recommend setting all concealers with a powder.


While I am not happy about Urban Decay selling to L'Oreal, I happened to have one of their 24/7 Concealer Pencils in my stash, so I decided to include it. This is the older style packaging as I purchased it a while ago. The pencil format is nice for concealing blemishes, but I find this formula a little too drying for the delicate under eye area.


My personal favorite of all the concealers listed here is the Christopher Drummond Beauty Duo-Phase Hydrating Concealer. This product also happens to be vegan. I own this  in a couple of different shades, and the old and new formulation. I was a big fan of the original formula.  However after chatting with the brand's creator on Twitter, who is also a makeup artist, and hearing about the creamier texture of the new formulation I just had to try it.  This is my favorite concealer because it provides full coverage, yet is very creamy and has a nice slip to it. I recommend this brand to others, and everyone I know who has purchased it has come away satisfied.  You only need a tiny amount to get full coverage.

In my personal opinion, this is the best concealer on the market. The texture and coverage are unsurpassed. Not only does this product perform well, but it is also 100% natural.  This products works great for under the eyes and allover the face to cover blemishes or spots as needed. 


Here are swatches of all of the products side by side in my shade:


Pictured Above From Left to Right: Tarte, Christopher Drummond, Per-fekt, Urban Decay, Physicians Formula Corrector, Cover, Highlighter, E.L.F.



I would love to hear from you if there is a concealer you think I should try!  Drop me a comment in the box below, or email me at makeupmatters3@gmail.com

I'm also on Twitter @MakeupMatters1




12 comments:

  1. this is a really great post, I'm always switching concealers and have never quite found one I'm 100% happy with yet x

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    1. You are not alone. So many people have trouble finding "the one." Let me know if you decide to try any from this post and how they work for you. Thanks for reading!

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  2. ahh Thanks for the recommendations! I'm still looking for my holy grail.

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    1. Good luck! Let me know if you find it. I ordered one from Hourglass that is supposed to be amazing. It's quite pricey, but I want to try it out.

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  3. I use the Eclipse palette that I purchased from amazon. It's pretty good and it has lots of color options as well as color corrector choices (green and purple).

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    1. Yes, for professional use I use a concealer palette as well. The Tarte one is really full coverage. It's great for dark circles.

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  4. I use the Coastal Scents Eclipse Palette and I'm pretty pleased with it. I will be trying some of your suggestions though, probably Tarte since I've been digging their products lately.

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    1. I'm a huge fan of Tarte. Their blushes are great, their highlighters. They have really stepped up their game a lot in recent years.

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  5. which of these brands' concealers are vegan? I know ELF has some products, and you noted your disapproval of UD selling to L'oreal, so I figure you may know :P

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  6. Grace- UD, Elf and Christopher Drummond are vegan. the Tarte one in this post is not, but they sell a stick version that is and it provides great coverage.

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  7. What shade of Christopher drummond is that please?

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