Concealer Hunt!

You will notice from my posts that my cosmetic choices are an eclectic mix of both low and high end products, and today’s post concentrates on the lower end of the market as is usually the case at the beginning of  my search for a new product.

Thus far, I have been using a foundation as a concealer, and brilliant as it is, it’s just slightly too thick in consistency so doesn’t blend seamlessly into my actual foundation. I’m using concealer more and more to cover new and not so interesting flaws so this new wonder product I seek needs to be quite a multitasker – I need to cover thread veins around my nose, redness on my eyelids (probably from the eyelash builder I use which is fab and I’ll review at another time), not to mention the odd blemish. Oh and I also want it to cover under eye darkness, I don’t want much from one product eh?!

I bought 4 products as per the picture above, and below is a picture of the colours on my hand – I’ve reviewed them in the same order as the swatches from top to bottom, and here is how I got on:

Gosh Touch Up Concealer in 1 – the little brush is very handy and I like that this comes in a very pale shade that’s not too pink. The first problem I had with this is that it really stung when I put it on my eyelids, not a great start! However, apart from that I did find this a good product for covering redness and dark circles etc, but not good for covering blemishes at all – too thin in consistency.

It lasted really well through the day and certainly brightened the eye area. I won’t be repurchasing this product due to the stinging but I would recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have sensitive skin and doesn’t need the spot coverage.

L’Oreal Infallible Concealer in 01 Vanilla – Creamy and easy to blend but with great staying power. Although it didn’t fade, it did noticeably sink into the creases in my eyelids by lunchtime. For me, the coverage from this is way too light and you need to layer quite a bit to cover any redness or blemishes.

 Maybelline Superstay 24hr Concealer in 2 Beige Clair – you’ll note from the swatch that this is a slightly darker shade than the rest as I bought one colour down from the lightest – my usual MO is to buy the lightest colour possible as all the others are usually too dark, but this looked like it might be a nice “light but not too light” one so I decided to live life on the edge and give it a go :0)

This is my favourite concealer by far but unfortunately there was still a slight stinging on my eyelid area. That aside, it’s the perfect shade with a yellow base but still very light and seems to blend well yet dry fast. It also visibly brightens nicely.

It lasted through the day with no creasing on the eyelid area, and no fading, and it did a good job of covering a few little spots too. I would highly recommend this to anyone that doesn’t have sensitive skin and isn’t looking for an ultra light colour.

Rimmel Stay Matte Dual Concealer in 010 ivory – it’s a cool concept of a concealer with a green coloured inner strip to mask redness and treat spots at the same time. A creamy consistency that’s easy to blend and I’d say a medium coverage. It does stay Matte but it didn’t have great staying power for me and needed a reapplication by mid afternoon. Didn’t overly impress or disappoint either way. I have a bit of a blah feeling about it!

So, the conclusion is….. I will be sticking to my foundation concealer for now while the hunt continues! Oh, and that foundation is Estee Lauder Maximum Cover by the way.

I may try Benefit Boi-ing at some point in the future but am slightly nervous about it being too creamy for my oily skin. If anyone has any recommendations for a good concealer, I’d be delighted to hear about it!