Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Treament Concealer Dark Circles Eraser

$9.99 for 0.2fl oz/8ml

 This morning was a coffee and tea type of morning; you know, one of those mornings where you got okay sleep, still need a double shot to wake up, and crave the soothing comfort of some warm tea with honey and in the chill of the morning. Yeah, that was my morning.

I've been trying to go through my clothes methodically and separate all those that I can wear to work from those that I can't wear at all now (thanks, weight-gain), and it is a pretty slow process that will take a few more loads of washing and more patience than originally anticipated. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to work, but all the clutter around my living space makes me feel mentally unorganized for the task. My goal this weekend has therefore been to unpack, wash, dust, organize, and shove odds-and-ends into closets for later; I'm not quite succeeding, truth be told.

In terms of beauty during these long days staying completely inside, I know I shouldn't be wearing makeup just for myself (love thyself and all), but I can't help but walk by a mirror and think, "you look really tired." That does nothing to boost my moral--enter Maybelline Age Rewind Brightener Treatment Concealer.

Preemptive Plump Attack--Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Concealer

$19.50 for 0.2oz/5.8g

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Ultra Lift and Firm Concealer is a medium coverage, hydrating concealer. I expected Ceramide products to give a little extra hydration, which I thought would be a welcome addition to a winter care regimen. Since it is hard to find in-store products from Elizabeth Arden, I had to guess at the color match, and it's too expensive for me to randomly select two or three colors and then return the non-matches. I settled for a color which is almost always mentioned in my foundations and concealers anyway--Ivory (grand shock there...)!

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Ultra Lift and Firm Concealer in Ivory has a peachy undertone

Ceramide Concealer has a doe foot wand which is nice for semi-precise  or sweeping applications, but since the pigmentation really only gets you to medium coverage, you'll be layering after spreading and setting the product. Ivory is not a perfect match for my skin, and I think it will be the closest I'll get since this comes in four colors: Ivory, Fair, Light, Medium. Anybody darker than me with a fake tan is out of luck!

e.l.f. Under Eye Concealer and Highlighter- 2 products for 3 bucks and a "meh"!

$3.00 USD for 0.34oz/10g

As many of my other posts on e.l.f. products have shown, I'm not sure whether I rate and review products differently all together because of its price/brand. Knowing that eyeslipsface products are meant to be held to the 'higher standard' (or the standard of a higher price range) but cost a lower price, I can imagine, that while not entirely without bias, I am giving a pretty accurate description of how well the product works and what it is worth to me.

I mention all this because e.l.f. Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter is one of those products that I want to describe correctly to show it's real worth. Does this product work? Yes, in many ways it does, but does it work better or as good as more expensive alternatives? No, I don't really think so.

First, the formula of both of these products is a little thinner than I expected. If you haven't noticed, a good rule of thumb with concealers are two things need to be present: thickness and pigment. Even if a formula is really pigmented, too thin of a consistency will mean that blending moves coverage away from areas you want; if a concealer is thick but lacks pigment, you have to layer and layer to get coverage and end up with patches of your face or body looking like you slapped a wax sticker on them. This concealer/highlighter is the former: it has decent and tone-correct pigment but too thin a consistency to concentrate the coverage. If I put this concealer all over my face, I would call it a good foundation, but this whole tube would only cover my face twice before being empty.

e.l.f. Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter; Concealer above, Highlighter below

Bobbi Brown (Award Winning) Face Touch-Up Stick in Warm Ivory 1

Build-A-Look Part One: Bold Lip and Concealer

$22.00 for 0.08oz/2.3g

Fantastic! Now, you'll have already assumed that I'm not talking about how my photos have turned out, but that is what happens when daylight eludes you for for a while. What's fantastic is this thick and creamy concealer (albeit sounding like a hot chocolate drink right now).

Bobbi Brown Face Touch-Up Stick in Warm Ivory 1

The long and short of it, because I already wrote this whole post and then it got deleted, grr, is that this covers blemishes and corrective colored concealers alike, lasts all day with a little powdered maintenance, and will last and look better than its $22 USD price-tag. I wish I knew more about the price conversion and international availability, but alas, maybe when my schedule frees up and I have billions of followers (i.e. never?) I will grow my posts into an international friendly lot!

Corrective Coloring with Physicians Formula Concealers

Build-A-Look #2 Part Two---Bold Lip and Concealer

Green and Yellow; $5.45 each for 0.15oz/4.2g 

My love-affair with Physicians Formula has been going strong for a couple of years now, and I can say without a doubt that it is all due to the red-reducing green concealer that has been their staple for over a decade. My first tube was a doe-foot applicator in a tube of liquid green, mind you; however, this Powder Finish green probably has better staying power than that ol' creamy one. Since at Aveda these days I really don't have time to do touching up after lunch and at any point before the end of my shift, staying power is extremely important.

Yellow on left, Cover Green on right with flash

Just as important to me is covering red on my skin while my Enbrightenment Serum does it's work over the next few months. Yes, that is exactly what green, the color itself, does, and right in toe, this concealer does, too! As to the yellow Powder Finish Concealer does quite the battle with dark circles under the eyes, but the powdery look just beneath the eyes can flatten the face significantly. I'd always recommend a creamier neutralizing layer over either the Physicians Formulas in order to reduced the appearance of the corrective colors if they're too strong.

Yellow on left, Cover Green on right in stormy daylight

You'll see from the photo below that you can still see a green hue, but the red is covered. I blend with a very light hand, stippling, and then cover with a concealer that is my normal skin color. If this is how you will use color-corrective concealer, be sure not to rub to the point of diminishing the "correction." That's why I stipple, mostly.

Cover Green covering red hyper-pigmentation; Yellow on under-eye dark circles (all unblended) 

Final judgement: Love these whole-heartedly and I recommend Physicians Formula as a brand whose products have never broken me out and have quality within the drug-store circle that I rarely find elsewhere. Easy to use and affordable, plus this will last you a good while.

Beauty Newb Rating:✪✪✪✪✩

Available at drug stores such as CVS, Walgreens, Target (not technically a drug store whoops), etc.
      

How's the week been for everyone so far? Tomorrow's Friday, so that is definitely something worth celebrating with a wee splurge at my local CVS! I might just do it, too!

Dior DiorSkin Nude Skin Perfecting Hydrating Concealer in 001 Ivory

Part Two for Build*A*Look #1: Backlit Beauty

$29.00 for 0.33 oz

Alrighty-then! As a part of my continued commitment to getting the most out of my education, I have promised myself to get an A) better night's sleep, B) a longer night's sleep, and in order to do that C) go to bed earlier. Two in the morning is not a good time to try for 6-8 hours of sleep when class starts at 9am, is it? Yeah, I'm noticing that too... But this little life-saver tube has helped me look rested and ready, even when I'm not.

DiorSkin Nude is part of the family of very natural, radiance enhancing (or revealing) products from the powerhouse designer brand, of which I've previously reviewed a cream-to-powder foundation and a liquid foundation. This concealer is not what I would call full coverage because I can still see a smidge of darker color beneath my eyes and some bright red spots show up as very muted pink under this. In reality, it's medium to full coverage, meaning it could be built much heavier than I personally do my makeup; however, it's possible.

DiorSkin Nude Concealer (enough for my whole face)

The formula is creamy, so I have great success and ease with blending but the coverage gets thinner that way. I think I would need much more practice to layer for absolute coverage, and I don't want to do such precision work everyday. DiorSkin Nude Concealer never has a heavy feeling or gets cakey on me and wears a long time with setting powder. I do mess with my face a lot during the day and notice that I looks like my concealer is gone at day's end, but again, I don't use much and only in one, maybe two thin layers.

NewsFlash: Dior Skinflash Could Double As A Highlighter and Concealer!

$36.00 Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen

Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen could be described as something I was extremely skeptical about purchasing; truth be told I was ready to return this is an instant should it not meet my every expectation. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't in terms of my original hopes, but it's proved to be quite useful in other ways too.

I purchased Candlelight (I have no idea why because the colors are so vague on every site) first with the intention of finding an easy highlighter for the brow and cheek bones. Instead, I found something infinitely better that I hadn't really noticed I was looking for: undereye brightener and concealer.

Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen in Candlelight

Kirkland Signature by Borghese Sheer Mineral Foundation Set

$21.99 for 1.0 fl oz Foundation, 0.42 oz Concealer, and 0.14 oz Finishing Powder

If any of you know of Borghese, the brand that does the Kirkland Signature makeup formulas, you will know that it is lower-high-end in price ($38 for foundation alone on average) but fantastic  in quality. I love pretty much everything Costco does...especially Kirkland Signature by Borghese. Haven't found a makeup or skincare product that didn't blow me away, whether by quality or quantity by price! For example, this set from the warehouse...

Kirkland Signature by Borghese Mineral Sheer Foundation SPF 20 in Fairly Light

This foundation has SPF 20 for sun protection during the day, blends smoothly (even though the color isn't a perfect match), and wears well with setting powder for over 8 hours. It has sheer to medium coverage, depending on how much you can use to keep it in line with your skin tone, but it is buildable. I like this about as much as my LORAC foundation, the difference being that the LORAC is lighter and matches my winter color better so layering works. This is going to be a huge staple for the summer; the color shown is Fairly Light.

Kirkland Signature by Borghese Mineral Sheer Foundation SPF 20 in Fairly Light