The Body Shop All In One Concealer

Hi everyone! Today's post is a review of The Body Shop All In One Concealer*, which I was kindly sent to try out. As you know I've had problems with concealers in the past and am eternally searching for the perfect cover up for my dark under eye circles! 

The first thing I like about this product is the insanely pretty packaging - it's just a simple, chic silver tube that looks perfect sitting on my dresser. It's quite small so easy to slip into your bag for make up emergencies too! I was sent shade 00, which I think is the lightest shade.

The concealer actually reminds me a little of Benefit Fake Up (from what I have seen and read in other beauty blogs as I'm not a Benefit kind of gal...) As you can see, there is an outer circle of concealer and the little strip down the middle is a moisturising formula including marula oil and vitamin E - sounds good to me! The eye area is so sensitive and requires such a lot of TLC that any added protection is welcome.

The applicator makes this very easy to apply directly to the skin and then blend in with your fingers or a brush, depending on your own preference. I found the texture of the concealer to be very light and almost mousse-like when applied to the skin. It just smooths onto the skin so you don't have to pull your eyes around at all.

This is the concealer swatched on my hand - the second photo shows it blended into the skin. As you can see because it's quite a light formula it does tend to sit a little in the creases of the skin, and this is true when it's on my face too. I think this would be the perfect concealer to use on top of foundation to cover blemishes though as it does blend well to give a subtle finish. Although it's not the highest coverage ever - I would say it's around medium coverage.

Here you can see the concealer under my eyes -it's very natural and doesn't look cakey or heavy at all. I've been using this mostly on days when I don't want a full face of make up as it just takes the edge off my purple eye bags! Even with make up it's a good under eye concealer, but I do prefer something with more coverage for my everyday face. 

You can buy the All In One Concealer from The Body Shop for £8.50 instore or online HERE.

Are you a fan of The Body Shop? What's your favourite product?

xx

*PR sample

Follow via: hellocotton  Bloglovin  Bloggers   Twitter   Facebook   She Said Beauty

MUA Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten Kit

Hi everyone! If you're a follower of Bee's Knees you'll know that I have had some trials and tribulations with concealers in the past. My under eye circles are my least favourite thing about my face and maybe even my whole body! Unfortunately I am genetically predisposed to have under eye circles so in terms of skincare there isn't a whole lot I can do about them. Instead I turn to make up in the hopes of covering them up!

I decided to try the MUA Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten Kit when I saw it on offer in my local Superdrug. It was only a couple of pounds so even if it didn't work, I haven't lost much! I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with MUA because some of their products I adore and use every day (their eyeshadow palettes for example) but others have been complete disasters for me! 

The Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten Kit comes in practical white packaging with a clear lid so you can see the product - which I like. There are three different shades of concealer here, which I think is aimed at allowing you to mix them together to create your own blend suited exactly to your skin. But here comes my first complaint - this is the lightest shade available (porcelain) but the except for the middle colour the other two already look way too dark for my pale skin!

Here are the shades swatched on my pale skin - I think you can see already that this isn't going to end well because even the lightest shade is marginally too dark for my skin tone. The formula of these concealers is quite creamy and oily, which I didn't like either. It makes them easy to blend with each other but even when used with a setting powder I just found they slide right off my skin and I was left with a bit of a messy face after a few hours. In fact I would go so far as to compare this product to the Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer (review HERE), which I also didn't get along with. Maybe it's my skin that doesn't like this formulations, but it just doesn't compare to the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (review HERE).

So overall I was quite disappointed - this product didn't work for me because of both the dark shades and the formulation. Obviously this is my own personal experience and other people might find it amazing and it suits them perfectly - if you're interested in this I recommend trying it in store before buying.

You can buy the MUA Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten Kit for £3.50 online from MUA HERE or from Superdrug in your local store.

Have you tried this concealer? How did it work for you?

xx

Follow via: Bloglovin  Bloggers   Twitter   Facebook   She Said Beauty

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Today I'm posting a long overdue review of the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. I know that almost every beauty blogger out there raves about this concealer, but I thought it was worth contributing my two penneth as well.

I bought the lighted shade - Fair - in the hopes that it wouldn't be too dark for my pale skin. I have had countless problems in the past with orange concealers and hoped this one would match up!

I apply this concealer by dabbing a little product on the back of my hand using the wand, and then I apply to my under eye area with my finger. I have tried using a concealer brush for this but I really think it looks the most natural using your finger! 

Pre-blended in, this looks like it might not be a perfect match for my skin tone...

..but once it's blended it is perfect. It covers my under eye circles nicely, although I don't think it gives me the completely flawless look I would like. It's not too cakey, it blends well and looks like skin - so gives a natural finish. Overall I'm impressed and happy with this concealer and use it every day - I'll continue using it every day until I find something that really does completely obliterate my eye bags, but for £4.19 it will do for the foreseeable future! Click.

Have you tried the Lasting Perfection Concealer? What products help you deal with your under eye area?

xx

Follow via: hellocotton  Bloglovin  Bloggers   Twitter   Facebook   She Said Beauty

Slated: MUA Brush On Concealer Pen in 'Radiance'

I picked up the MUA Brush on Concealer Pen whilst in Superdrug tracking down the Undressed palette (review coming soon!) I suffer badly from under eye circles and have done since I was a little girl - unfortunately for me its a genetic thing rather than simply lack of sleep. I hoped that MUA might be able to help me conceal my unsightly bags, and chose the lightest shade I could see; 'Radiance'.

I found the packaging pretty inoffensive and as I'd expect really from a drug store brand like MUA. The concealer retails at £1.50 and I think the packaging reflects this.

The concealer is a 'brush on pen' and you have to twist the end of the pen to get the product to come out of the brush. I had to twist for a good minute or two until the product began to come out - I had started to worry that I'd picked up a dud pen!

I hope you can see from these photos that the concealer is quite thick and heavy. The first thing I noticed about it was its heavy floral scent - not something I like at all. It reminds me of elderly ladies' perfumes and made me feel a bit sick! Not the best start...

I found the brush applicator useless when applying the product under my eyes, it smeared and didn't apply evenly. As you can see, the shade is completely wrong for my skintone but as there were no testers available in store it was difficult to try any shades out prior to purchase. The colour is decidedly orange - the photo shows the concealer half dried but when it completely dries out it's even more orange! It's awful, dries thick, heavy and orange especially on the delicate skin around my eyes. I found the first application very difficult and it's put me off trying any other shades.

Overall I am terribly disappointed with this product. After the success of the MUA lipsticks I've tried I had high hopes for this concealer, but it just does not meet the mark at all. It's too perfumed - which is worrying when it's to be applied to such a delicate and sensitive area of your face as your under eyes, it's too orange, it's too thick and heavy and is difficult to apply with the 'brush on pen'. I do not recommend this product, save your money and try something else. My search for a good under eye concealer continues...

xx