The Tuesday Ten: Favorite Concealers

Hey guys! Today I've got another Tuesday 10 for you, this time I'm sharing 10 of my absolute favorite concealers, both from the drugstore and from high end brands.

1. Sonia Kashuk Concealer Quad - This is a great drugstore concealer. It comes in a quad (either light or dark) and gives you two different concealer shades, a redness reducing concealer, and a setting powder. This is a great product to pop in your bag and it's great if you're in between shades because you can mix and match and swirl the concealers. {$10}
2. Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer - This is one of the best concealers out there. Not only is is great for under-eye concealing, but it works fantastic on blemishes across the face. I love this for zits and pimples and redness. {$32}
3. L'Oreal Magic Lumi Concealer and Highlighter Stick - This is a favorite of mine that works both as a concealer and a highlighter. It works best under your eyes and on the high points of your face, making your skin glow and your eyes pop. {$10}
4. Maybelline FitMe Concealer - This is a dependable drugstore concealer, and it's creaminess almost matches the NARS creamy concealer. {$6}
5. Kat Von D Lock-It Concealer - Another fantastic concealer for both under-eyes and blemishes. I love that this stays in place all day long and never wears off. {$25}
6. L'Oreal Visible Lift CC Concealer - I really have been loving this concealer lately and I think it's perfect for under your eyes. It's not great for blemishes, as it's very liquidy and highlighting, but it's cool tip and the product itself work wonders on the blue and puffy tired eyes we all experience {$10}
7. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer - A tried and true favorite of those in the beauty community, this concealer is fantastic for your under-eyes. I also love using it to cancel out redness and cover up blemishes for hours. {$29}
8. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer - I've mentioned this a million times and it has to be my favorite concealer of all time. It's affordable, long-lasting, and dependable and is the absolute best for covering dark circles {$8}
9. Tarte Creaseless Concealer - I love this concealer for really canceling out redness under the eye and providing hydration that a lot of concealers lack. Plus, as the name suggests, it gets rid of those pesky creases you get from long-wear of concealer. {$24}
10. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - From the UK, this concealer has been talked about a bunch by those across the pond and I can see why. It's super highlighting, creamy, and long-lasting. I love using it under my eyes and on the high points of my face for highlight. {$5}

♡

What are your favorite concealers?

xo Emily

NARS Creamy Concealer Dupe

The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is one of the most coveted and well-loved concealers out there, and I had been wanting it for ages. It's one of those products that beauty bloggers, vloggers, and experts alike sing their praises to. I finally bought it and it did turn out to be a fantastic product but I'm not sure it was worth the whopping $30 it cost me. 

I thought I'd share with you a dupe of this product, the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, which will cost you only $7, saving you $23 dollars in the process.

I'll show you some swatches and compare the products below.

New In: Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Hey guys! I thought I'd share with you a product review of a new concealer I've started to use.

The Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, from a brand based in the UK, isn't available in the U.S. but I went on Ebay to purchase it! I've heard so incredibly much about this product from various UK bloggers and beauty gurus, so I really wanted to see what the hype was about.

It comes in the standard concealer tube - and applies easily. It's very creamy and applies onto the skin nice and smoothly. It reminds me of NARS creamy concealer and Maybelline's FitMe concealers, which are two of my favorites.

I absolutely love this concealer. It definitely lives up to the hype. It covers any and all dark under-eye circles as well as blemishes and redness. I really love this and wish they sold it in the United States, to be honest! (It's also really affordable - only 4 pounds in the UK and about $6 here!)

As you can see above, the concealer works perfect to cancel out redness and blue-tones under your eyes. It also lasts you a very long time. I tried this out with both a setting powder on it and without, and it does stay a bit longer with the setting powder, but it's definitely long-wearing and keeps the coverage up! It's a wonderful transformation!

♡

xo Emily

Benefit Dupes

Hey guys! I thought I'd share some awesome dupes of my favorite Benefit products. The Benefit makeup items are pretty damn expensive so I thought I'd share some affordable options!

You want the beautiful, rosy Rockateur Blush? It's $22, but E.L.F.'s Studio Blush in 'Tickled Pink' is only $3 and is a pretty good dupe. 

Gimme Brow runs for $22 but at Target you can pick up the Sonia Kashuk Tinted Brow Gel for only $6.

A great concealer for those pesky under-eye circles, Erase Paste, is $26 compared to Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind - the absolute BEST concealer I've ever used. And it's only $9 and will last you MONTHS. 

The highly coveted and loved POREfessional is a whopping $31, which makes me cringe. A great dupe of this is the Maybelline Baby Skin primer - only $7.

Lastly, a favorite, the They're Real Mascara is an amazing product but it's $23 and the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes mascara, for $9 is such a great dupe for this awesome product. It helps to lengthen and separate your lashes perfectly!

♡

Did you enjoy this post? I think it's a great one because it'll help you save money and find products that will work just as good as higher-end ones!

xo Emily

NARS Creamy Concealer: A Review

A few weeks ago I picked up the NARS Creamy Concealer because I have heard so many amazing things about it. What had stopped me from purchasing it for awhile was that it will cost you $29. That's a lot of money, especially for a college student, so I was a bit hesitant.

But, as I still struggled to cover my under-eye circles, I decided to go ahead and go for this product, because I really wanted to find a product that could get the job done. 

I mentioned I had picked this up in a blog post about a month ago and so I think this is sufficient time to make a pretty informed decision on how good or how bad this product is!

The Verdict

I'm reluctantly happy with this product. I can't completely give it my 100% love because it does have flaws. 

The Good: This does exactly what its name says; it's creamy. I need and adore creamy concealers because they really help to moisturize and cover-up that super sensitive skin underneath your eye. This also covers up those blue and purple under-eye circles really nicely. It's got a cool tint, which works especially well with my skin tone. I also like the color-match. There are a bunch of shade options and mine, Vanilla, works just perfect for me.

Love how this looks in pictures, no blue or purple in sight!

The Bad: The Cost is my #1 complaint with this product. For $30, I feel like I should be blown away by this product, not just pleased with it. I also think that it's easy to find similar products to this. For example, the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer is a great dupe for the creamy concealer and it's incredibly cheap in comparison. 

Overall, I really have been loving this. I wear it almost every day, mostly just on my under-eye circles. It's very brightening, cancels out the circles, and keeps my under-eye area moisturized. It's my favorite concealer of the moment!

I would reccommend this, if only you feel like splurging or want to feel a bit more luxurious!

I'll make a post about the Maybelline concealer dupe shortly!

xo Emily

Quick First Impression: Two High-End Concealers

Hey guys! Today's is a quick post with my quick, first impressions of two high-end concealers I've picked up in the past few weeks! 

The two I've picked up are the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in the shade 'Vanilla' and the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in the shade 'Light Sand'. I've heard a lot about both of these concealers, and wanted to check them out at some point. I know that the NARS concealer is meant to be quite creamy, blendable, and cover your darkest of dark circles and that the Tarte concealer would be perfect for creasing under the eyes. These seemed perfect to me because the two biggest problems I have when concealing are dark under-eye circles and under-eye creasing/flakiness. 

This is just my first impression of these products after about a week or so of use for both. First off, I am noticing that the Tarte concealer has diminished some of my creasing under the eye, which is what I have been looking for, but I'm not sure how much I love the formula. As for the NARS concealer, I am loving this so far. It goes on really beautifully and as the name would suggest, it's so so creamy. 

I'm going to keep trying these out and make a future post with an indepth review beacause since these products are so expensive and high-end, I think it's important to do your research and to see if it would fit with your skin needs, skin type, and concealer preference!

Products Used:

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer 'Vanilla' $29

Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer 'Light Sand' $24

♡

Hope everyone's having a great day!

xo Emily

Drugstore Concealers: The Good, The Bad, And The Crease-y

Hey guys! I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer so far! I'm getting really excited about the fourth of july coming up! (that means lake time, lots of bbq, fireworks, and tons of popsicles)

But besides that, today is going to be all about concealers, and in particular, drugstore concealers!!



I love concealers. That was probably apparent in my blog post about the L'Oréal Visible Lift Serum Concealer concealer a few days ago. But, especially with more inexpensive drugstore concealers, I love testing out a few to find the best. 

I am a firm believer in trying out a little bit of everything so over the past few months, I've picked up quite a few drugstore concealers and I thought today would be a perfect day to kind of summarize and review my favorites and least favorites. 

I'm going to talk about 8 different drugstore concealers that I've picked up and used regularly in the past year and give you a bit of information on the product, what I like and dislike about it, and my overall feelings about them! 

Read on for more about these concealers!

Before we begin, a little disclaimer. I'll be giving my honest opinion about these products but what works for me, may not work for everyone else! We've all got different skin and I'll try my best to let you know the good and the bad about all these products in case you have a similar skin type to mine.

For reference, I have normal to dry skin and usually go for the 'Light' shade of most products!!

Okay! Happy Reading (this very long post)!

Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette



The first concealer I'll be talking about is the Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette which runs for about $11. I picked mine up at Target because I think Sonia Kashuk retails out of Target specifically. It comes in two shades (light and medium) and I went with the light palette. Within the palette, there are two 'concealer' shades; one is lighter and one is a bit darker. You can either use just one or mix the two together to find the shade that fits you best. In addition to the two concealer shades, there is a neutralizer shade to get rid of redness and a translucent pressed powder that helps set the concealer. I either use my Real Techniques Detailer Brush and Pointed Foundation Brush to apply this underneath my eyes and on any blemishes on my face or my ring finger! I then use the neutralizer shade to cover the redness around my brow, nose, and anywhere else I might be looking a bit like Rudolph. Lastly, I use the translucent powder to set the concealer I used under my eyes.

What I Like: I really like the multiple concealer shades in this palette. During summer especially, it's nice to have a few options for a concealer shade in a singular palette. When you buy a singular shade of a certain concealer, and then get paler, tanner, etc. - it's frustrating to have to go and buy another concealer in a completely different shade. I also like that it comes with a very effective redness neutralizer and a really nice setting powder. I love using a separate setting powder for my under-eye concealer and this one in the palette makes my under-eyes look great. I also really like the concealer's formula. It's less creamy and more waxy which somehow goes on my skin really well. Although I often use my brush to apply this, I find using your finger gives a bit more of a flawless, airbrushed finish than what the brush does.

What I Don't Like: Even though I like that there are two shades of concealer in this palette, I also dislike the palette for the same reason. (I know, I'm insane) Some people, who stay the same shade all year-round and don't see much change in their skin-tone over the year, can really only use one of the squares in the palette. I think Sonia Kashuk should come out with more shade variations for these palettes! And I feel that for an $11 concealer, there isn't enough product. I've been using this for awhile now, and I really hope it's a trick my eyes are playing on me, because I feel like I'm using this too fast. I also found that it set into my eye wrinkles a bit. I often find this happen with most drugstore concealers on my eyes, because I do have some fine lines underneath (I need to up my skincare maybe?) but I really really hate when foundation or concealer cakes into my wrinkles and lines. Although I found it went into my lines, it also just as easy blended out and then it looked good after a little bit of finagling!

Overall: I like this palette a lot; the two concealers, if you can get over the fact that you may only be able to use one, have a great formula and blend seemly into the skin. I recommend this and probably will be repurchasing this! 

Rimmel Match Perfection Skin-Tone Adapting Concealer



Next up is the Rimmel Match Perfection Skin-Tone Adapting Concealer. This costs about $6, which I think is a pretty good price for a concealer. It comes in 5 shades (Very Fair, Very Fair Light, Light, Light/Medium, and Medium). The product itself is very creamy and comes in a little tube. It has what Rimmel describes as a 'Soft Precision Brush' at the end of the tube from where you have to squeeze the product out. (the photo on the right shows the brush) To apply this, I usually use my ring finger. I find it applies best to skin this way. 

What I Like: I like the shade of this concealer a lot. I go for the 'Very Fair Light' shade and find it works well with my skin tone. As the bottle says, it does have 'skin-tone adapting' powers. I also like the cost and the packaging. It's very easy to pack along with you and is virtually no-mess. It also has good highlighting capabilities.

What I Don't Like: I really dislike the 'soft precision brush' at the end of the tube where the product comes out. It's scratchy and if you use this product everyday, you're prone to infections from the brush. It's highly, highly unhygienic. I find that products without built-in brushes are just easier to use and cleaner overall. It's also difficult to dispense the concealer itself. I always find that not enough, or too much comes out of the tube. I also dislike that this product, which is a self-proclaimed 'concealer', actually works better as a highlighter. And that's fine, because it does wonders to brighten my under-eye area, but the reason I purchased this product was because I wanted a concealer, not a highlighter. It doesn't do anything to cover up my dark under-eye circles, which is what I look for in a concealer. This product also is not pigmented enough. I find that I often use a lot of product because of that and since the tube is so small, if you use this everyday, you will run out fast. This is not a cost-effective product.

Overall: If you're looking for an under-eye color-correcting concealer, this is not the one for you. I also would recommend cutting off the applicator that comes attached to the brush, as it's very unhygienic. If you use a lot of concealer everyday and tend to go for a more high-coverage formula, this is also not the concealer for you. There is just not enough pigment in the product and you end up having to build and build to just have any sort of coverage. For me, I stopped using this concealer after about two weeks because it was not cutting it. I do not plan on repurchasing and find it a huge disappointment.

L'Oréal Visible Lift Serum Concealer



I recently did a post on this L'Oréal Visible Lift Serum Concealer which I've found to be one of my favorite concealers of the moment. This concealer costs about $13, which is pretty pricey. It comes in four shades, (fair, light, medium, and medium/deep) and again, has a brush applicator at the end. I use the shade 'fair'.

What I Like: I really love how long-lasting this concealer is. I put it on in the morning and it's still there, hours and hours later. Pair it with a pressed powder, and the product won't budge. I also really like the formula. It's creamy and soft, without being too runny and it covers under-eye circles nicely. You also can get a bit of a highlight under your eyes with this product, but it still cancels out the dark circles which is my main priority. I also really love the look of the product. It's small and sleek and easy to pop in your purse or pocket!

What I Dislike: I dislike the cost most, but because this is such a great product, I can somewhat look past that. I find that this product does crease a bit, but that's an easy fix as long as I check my face after it's settled into my skin. Applying it with my finger helps to cutdown on it settling into wrinkles and fine lines. I also really dislike that it's a 'clicky, twisty' tube. This means you have to twist the tube until more product comes out: you either get too much or too little of the concealer once it comes out. Couple that with the annoying brush applicator (which I recommend cutting off because of hygiene), it makes for a few annoying gripes.

Overall: I highly recommend this product. If you can get over the $13 price tag (I got mine with a $2 off coupon, so check your local ads), then you'll love this. If you've got dark circles, this will do wonders for them, in addition to brightening up your under-eye. There are only a few little complaints with this product, but nothing major that can't be fixed with a little bit of thinking!

Maybelline FitMe Concealer



Next up is the Maybelline FitMe Concealer. This costs about $7 which is a pretty great price, especially since there's a lot I like about it. It comes in a sleek bottle and slides onto the skin smoothly. It comes in 6 shades, (fair, light, medium, sand, deep, and cafe) which is a pretty good array of shades and colors. I use the shade 'fair'. 

What I Like: I love love love how creamy and blend-able this product is. It slides on so easy and can be blended in seamlessly with a finger or a brush. It works really well in the under-eye area, covering dark circles and discoloration. I also like the coverage. It's not full-coverage and it's not light-coverage, but probably somewhere in between. That's the perfect amount of coverage for me. It's also highly pigmented which is nice.

What I Dislike: This concealer works best under the eyes - I find that on my other blemishes, especially ones near my brows, it cakes and discolors a bit. Another pretty significant complaint is that this concealer creases around the eye a fair amount. It also is quite flaky if you aren't moisturized. 

Overall: I like this concealer if only because the formula is so creamy and blend-able. I love the applicator (see the right side of the photo above) and find that it slides on so nicely on my skin. It also works awesome under my eyes, but I wish it didn't crease so much. I think this is worth its price, and I find myself using it often.  

  Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Concealer Roller



This Garnier Concealer comes in a sleek little bottle and has a rollerball at the end from which the product comes. It only has two shades, light/medium and medium/deep. It's about $11 and has a very thin formula. It's meant to de-puff eyes and conceal the under eye area as well as repair your under eye area.  

What I Like: There's really not a lot I like about this product. I actually had to think about it for a moment. After thinking, I found that I like the feeling of the cold rollerball under my eyes. This concealer is meant to de-puff eyes and I liked that the rollerball was cold when applied to skin: it really helped de-puff my eyes. The packaging is really nice, easy to travel with, and easy to use.

What I Dislike: I dislike a lot about this. First off, I tried the light/medium shade and found it too light for my under-eye area; it didn't do a lot to conceal there. I then tried the medium/deep which was way too deep and orange for me. The color selection is sparse and really does not give you many options. I also hate the formula. It's very runny and too liquidy. I feel like when I apply it under my eyes, it doesn't even blend in, just sets, rolls around, and becomes a gloopy mess. It gets rid of dark circles to an extent, but you can still see them under the product! That's exactly what I don't want a product to do. 

Overall: I will definitely never be repurchasing this again. Other than the cold rollerball (which I found that just buying the Anti-Puff Eye Roller from Garnier actually gave me the depuffing capabilities without the dumb concealer - so there was no point to buying this), it didn't do anything for me. It was too runny, didn't match my skin tone, and didn't do much to conceal. For the price of $11, I find it so incredibly disappointing.


 Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Spot Eraser



The next concealer is the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Spot Eraser, which unlike the dark circle concealer, is meant more for dark spots on your face. It costs you about $9. This comes in nice, sleek packaging and 5 different shades. (Fair, fair/light, light, light/medium, and medium/deep) I use the shade fair/light.

What I Like: I find that this concealer really does what it says it's going to do; it gets rid of dark spots. I have a few on my face and after placing the product on them, they look 99% better! It also can work as an under-eye concealer. 

What I Dislike: The packaging for this is so incredibly annoying. Not only do you have to click and click and click for product to come out the very first time you use it, but the product comes out onto this little tiny foamy/spongy ball at the top of the tube. It's incredibly unhygienic and gets so so gross as you keep on using it. I also think that the concealer actually comes out a bit orange, especially in lighter shades. 

Overall: I could really skip this. I probably won't repurchase this because there are drugstore concealers that do the same thing better than this product does. I cannot really get over the orange face and horrible packaging. 

 Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Concealer



Next up is another Maybelline Instant Age Rewind product. This time it's the Dark Circle Concealer. This product is about $9 and comes in 6 shades (fair, light, medium, honey, neutralizer, and brightener). I own the concealer in both fair and brightener. This product is meant for your under-eye circles to help conceal and brighten that area.

What I Like: I really really like this concealer. I find that on my skin, the shades match perfectly and the formula feels really nice. It blends into my skin nicely, especially if I use my ring finger. When I put it on under my eyes, it gets rid of my big, gross under-eye circles immediately and also gives a bit of a brightening kick to my under-eyes. It also works as a regular concealer on blemishes around my face as well. I've repurchased this multiple times now, it's one of my favorites.

What I Dislike: It sometimes creases around my eyes, but I find that almost every concealer does this to me. Like I mentioned in the Age Rewind Dark Spot Concealer, it has horrible packaging. The foam/sponge applicator is unhygienic and doesn't allow you to control the amount of product you use. 

Overall: I recommend this product, flaws in all. I feel the product speaks for itself and really smashes down the imperfections in the formula. I'm a huge fan of this, only because I find it really does wonders to cover those under-eye circles and blends nicely into the skin, especially when paired with a light foundation or BB cream on top

NYX HD Photogenic Concealer



The last concealer I'm going to talk about it the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer. This concealer is only $5 and comes in a whopping 11 shades. (porcelain, fair, light, beige, medium, glow, tan, nutmeg, yellow, lavender, and green) This is smooth, lightweight, and has speciality shades for sallowness (lavender), green (redness), and yellow (under-eye darkness). I use 'Light'.

What I Like: I love this concealer. For starters, the price is unbeatable. It's the cheapest one on this list and easily one of the best here. I love the formula it comes in; silky and soft, but not runny. It also matches skin tones really nicely, especially because it has lots of different shades for any skin tone. I find it covers blemishes as well as cancels out dark-circles and brightens up my under-eye area.

What I Dislike: There's not too much product in each tube, it's a bit smaller than your average concealer wand. There was also a little bit of creasing as well.

Overall: I absolutely adore this concealer. It's dirt cheap, which makes up for the lesser amount of product, and really effectively covers up my blemishes! Go get some of this!

A RECAP of this post:

Winners: Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Palette, L'Oréal Visible Lift Serum Concealer, Maybelline FitMe Concealer,  Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Concealer, and the NYX HD Photogenic Concealer

Losers:  Rimmel Match Perfection Skin-Tone Adapting Concealer, Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Dark Circle Concealer Roller,  and the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Spot Eraser

I find that drugstore concealers are a really great place to explore what kind of formula, shade, and covering capabilities you want in your concealer. They have the advantage of price on the higher quality products (Mac Pro Longwear, Nars Creamy Concealer, etc.) and let you really experiment with your makeup.

One overall problem with drugstore concealers is that they often have a few things wrong with them that I think would have been solved by a more substantial and higher-end makeup company; things like packaging, product pigmentation, and shade variety. I also think that drugstore concealers lack the ability to really tackle the 'settling into fine lines and wrinkles' thing. Almost every product I use creases in all the wrong places.

Obviously, these are not all the drugstore concealers out there, but I think this is a good mix of products that a lot of people might be wanting to try out or already have purchased. I really want to try out not only more drugstore concealers, but some more high-end concealers as well!

Let me know your faves and any reccomendations on concealers you might have!

Thanks for reading!!

xo Emily

My Favorite Concealer of the Moment

I've always loved trying out new concealers. That, and mascara, are some of my favorite things to have a variety of in my makeup collection.

That being said, I decided to try out the L'Oréal Visible Lift Serum Absolute Concealer. I really like L'Oréal face products - their Lumi Magique ones in particular - so I thought this might be something I was interested in.

The Visible Lift Concealer comes in a small tube and you have to twist the bottom of the tube for the product to come out the top. It's really easy to just spread on your skin from there. It's got a lightweight formula and is really soft, smooth, and silky upon application.

Since I bought it this concealer about two weeks ago, I've been using it pretty regularly. I really like it so far and it's become my favorite concealer of the moment. The color I've been using - fair - has really blended great with my skin tone and I've loved how it looks under my eyes. It doesn't really settle into your wrinkles and lines and gives a bit of a brightening, highlighter effect as well as concealing. 

Be sure to blend the product in as soon as you put it on your skin, because it drys and cakes somewhat quickly. Also, be aware that you've really need to blend this product completely in or it won't look flawless.

It only comes in four shades, which might not be great for everyones skin tones, especially if you're in between shades, but other than that.... I'm loving this.

To apply it, I make sort of a triangle shape under my eyes, put some down my nose, above my nose, and down my cupid's bow and chin. I blend that in with my fingers or a brush.

I LOVE how it looks on my skin. It blends flawlessly and my under-eye area looks absolutely perfect. It's also amazing in photographs.

I think this is a great concealer and it really makes me excited to try more products similar to this from L'Oréal. 

xo Emily