NYX Cosmetics Dark Circle Concealer Corrector

Hello all!

We went to an event at the new NYX Cosmetics stand in Boots in Cardiff and picked up a few new things to try. I'd heard a lot about NYX but hadn't ever tried anything, so when the invite came through I knew I would be spending a small fortune picking up all the things I had heard about.

One of the items I picked up was the Dark Circle Concealer Corrector - I always seem to have some eye bags and having an extra product to help mask these and prime my under eyes for concealer seems to be a good option for me.

The corrector is available in four colours and I chose 'Fair', there is also Light, Medium and Deep.

It contains coconut oil and china clay, these both help to keep the corrector hydrating for the delicate under eye skin and also helps with reflection of light. The orange pigmentation helps to combat the blue tones of the dark circles.

The product comes in a small pot with a screw top lid. Part of me would like this to be in a tube to make it easier to get all of the product out, but I've been using my beauty blender sponge to dip into the pot so I don't get bacteria in it all the time. This means I can use the pointed end to scoop up some product and then apply to my under-eye area with an even layer.

After this I then apply my concealer (currently Collection's Lasting Perfection concealer) and blend this on the top. I find it really covers the under eye bags and the blue tone is significantly less with the corrector.

I find that it needs to be blended very well and sometimes it does crease after 10/15mins of wear, but once it is blended back in again it seems to stay in place for the day.

You can see swatches below, Fair was a very good colour choice for me as it blends in seamlessly almost straight away. I had to lighten the photos so that you could see it! The photos show with and without flash, you can see the peachy tones and the light reflecting particles:

I've been using this a lot over the last few weeks (especially in the run up to my week off!) and it has worked wonders. I'd like to say I'm the kind of person who gets up early and has enough time in the morning to wear a full face, but I don't always manage to apply this as well as everything else.

However I know what product to turn to when I have the time or have an event to go to like a wedding etc and need the extra coverage. For £6.50 I think it is worth every penny and will last me a while.

Here's a picture below with the concealer corrector on:

What do you think of the product on? Have you tried it?

What's your favourite NYX product? I've found so many amazing products so far!

L xxx

Benefit's Puff Off

Hey All

L and I were lucky enough to try this product before it was released (you can read about that here). As soon as we tried it we both knew we had to have it when it was released, and not just for the pretty packaging!

Here's the blurb from Benefit:

Why we love it!

Iron on…puff off! Undereye puffiness and creases look “satiny smooth” with our innovative undereye gel. The custom “ironing” tip instantly helps smooth the look of undereye puffiness & fine lines. Iron away for a smoother day!

94% said eye area looks smoothed*

*Consumer panel survey on 31 women after 7 days

Essentially this product is a cooling eye gel with a small amount of concealer like product contained within it, the squeezy tube has an 'iron' shaped tip to it to dispense and apply the gel to skin.

This is also known as the 'custom “ironing” tip' and we think it looks pretty cool! Not only does it appear to 'iron' out the creases in your delicate undereye skin it's actually really comfortable to use on your skin, it's the perfect shape and it cools on contact with your skin making it feel like you're wearing a face mask.

All you need to do is apply a dot of the eye gel under each eye and spread the gel out using the iron, it's super simple and can be applied on bare skin and over make up - great for the morning puffy eyes that sometimes happens and also you can apply this throughout the day. I'd definitely apply this at my desk during the day when things have been a bit busy and I need a few minutes to relax!

The tube holds 10ml of product which is a similar size to any other eye products and costs £22.50

As you can probably tell, we're big fans of this product. I always think I don't need 'another' product to add to my make up bag but I've really enjoyed this one and frequently use it in the mornings to help my bags reduce and also in the evenings/Sundays as a cooling eye mask. It really works to reduce the bags under your eyes and give you a cooling feeling that relaxes you.

I wouldn't say this is an essential product but it is definitely a treat, and everyone needs treats right?!

Have you tried Puff Off? What did you think of it?

We love Benefit's new products - they've been bringing out some really good ones recently with this and Roller Lash!

L and M xxx

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Happy Saturday lovelies!

Hope you've got some exciting things planned. Currently I will be having a quiet day and then settling in to watch the Wales v New Zealand rugby match at 5.30pm as it's a big one for me family seeing as some of them now live over in NZ! That and it's always a tense game regardless!

M has frequently told me how flipping amazing the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer is, but my bank balance just wouldn't stretch to it knowing I had a few Collection ones in the make up bag that needed using first. Needless to say when they were on their last dregs I caved and snapped this up without a second thought. Welcome to my make up bag NARS!

I chose the colour Vanilla as M uses the same. Most people seem to think i have much darker skin than I do on account of my near black hair colour but I really am quite pale (my mum gets annoyed when I wear dark lipsticks as it 'makes me look ill' - thanks mum, your genes remember!)

This colour was absolutely perfect for me and i haven't looked back. The rubber packaging looks really good though alas gets ridiculously dirty 5 seconds after opening.

I've been using this mostly under my eyes as it's wonderful at covering those pesky bags that never seem to go away. I think my skin is so pale that it will always be an issue for me!

The concealer is thick and creamy and blends in really easily so I've definitely been won over by the consistency and pigmentation.

The wand is also really easy to use and holds a decent amount of product without caking it on.

I have also used it to cover up spots on the odd occasion but I tend to use other products for that and save this one for the big job of concealing my undereye area. I use the wand to apply it to my face and then blend it in using an expert face brush from Real Techniques.

Here's a few snaps:

These two were without flash and show how the colour blends right in and covers up my bags really well. I've got foundation on as well as this is how I wear my make up every day so just need to set with powder to keep it set for the day.

The photo below shows with flash and you can see where my bags are but they are still pretty well camouflaged in my opinion!

I think I could have added an additional layer if I had wanted too and maybe it would be blanked out completely but for every day use this is perfect for me.

I've had no issues whatsoever and can only rave about the results from using this; it's a 10/10 from me and a 100% recommendation. Totally worthy of the hype and other rave reviews that I've seen!

Have you tried this concealer from Nars? What's your favourite Nars product? Do you have of their Christmas gift sets on your wishlist?

L xxx

Revlon PhotoReady Concealer

Hello!

Hope you're all looking forward to the big day now...I am so excited I cannot wait. Christmas is my favourite time of year. It doesn't feel quite as exciting as it used to be as this year I'll be working full time still, with only Christmas Eve and Boxing Day off. But I'll still be making full use of my time off by eating a whole tonne of food and watching cheesy Christmas tv specials!

Over the party season I've been turning to cream concealers to cover my under eye bags and blemishes.

The PhotoReady concealer from Revlon has been my go to products.

I've picked it up in my usual colour - Light. I'm assuming there must be an even lighter colour as this is 002, but luckily for me Revlon have a wide enough colour range that 002 is actually a good colour on me!
This is great news as over the winter I can get paler so I'd like to pick up 001 for those days and also for the times my undereye bags are quite unstoppable.

The packaging for the concealer is nice and simple, black twist up style container and a clear lid. I like clear lids but they never stay clean or clear, mine is dirty and cannot be cleaned inside and scratched to bits from being in my make up bag. Ah well, when will companies learn its not just about looking good in store!

I quite like twisting these type of products up and using them as a stick, its quick, easy and almost fool proof. I apply this super quick in the morning, a quick triangle under each eye and dots where my blemishes currently are and then i buff it in with my Real Techniques Expert Face brush.

As you can see on my hand above the colour match is pretty spot on and it blends in without a trace.

You can see my fave below on one morning application, triangles on the under eyes and dots on my spots!

And below shows it blended in (so much better!)

I'm so pleased i picked this up in a 3 for 2, I otherwise might not have done and wouldn't have known how lovely and easy it was to apply and the great effects it has.

This retails for £6.49 and I'd definitely recommend getting them in a 3 for 2 deal, Revlon have some great products. not only the cult Lip Butters but I'd 100% recommend the PhotoReady primer, nail polishes and Colorstay foundation.

What's your favourite Revlon product? Do you love this concealer? What's your favourite?

L xxx

Review: Laura Mercier Undercover Pot

Back in April me and M booked to have our make up done by an international make up artist at Laura Mercier in Harvey Nichols in Bristol's Cabot Circus.

Unfortunately the make up artist cancelled which was a shame but we went along anyway as we'd put a £10 deposit down which we could use to purchase any product so we went for a makeover.

We both ended up picking up a few items....but we were intrigued with the Undercover Pot and snapped it up!

The Undercover pot contains a Secret Camouflage, Secret Concealer and Loose Setting Powder in number 1. 

You can see on the picture above where each product is inside the casing, but lets have a look at it:

I love how simple this design is! The flip top lid is really secure but opens easily, contains a mirror and both concealers and the top part screws off the show the setting powder beneath.

The left hand concealer is the Secret Camouflage and is yellow toned. It's best for imperfections, scars and blemishes as it balances out the redness and helps to even out the skin tone. It's also oil free which helps to keep the concealer on the skin and makes it last longer.

Secret Concealer is in the right pan, and is pinker toned with slight illuminating particles in. This one is best for under eye circles as it combats darker circles and is emollient based so applies to delicate undereye skin easily without tugging.

The Setting Powder is lightweight and translucent, making sure your perfectly applied concealer stays put and leaves a velvety soft finish.

I have some photos below to show the difference when using it under eyes and on blemishes.

For the record I had already applied the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation, as I would normally apply foundation before concealer.

So the undereyes. On the left is before, and the right, after. You can see an improvement in the right picture with the concealer applied. I was clearly having a long week when I took these though as my bags are AWFUL!

In reality the bags were a lot more covered up than this picture shows and I think it may be the camera flash that stops the effects from showing as they look pretty covered to me!
It was really easy to apply and didn't irritate my skin at all.

Here it is applied to my cheeks where I have a few scars and spots in the centre. They're mostly covered by foundation but you can still see them. The concealer does cover them up perfectly, and makes them less visible and it stays put very well.

The only downside to the concealers I found was that they do settle into lines, especially under my eyes as my eye lids are just that shape that there have always been lines underneath. This is helped by the setting powder but I do find I need to reblend it back in after a few hours.


Have you used any Laura Mercier concealers?? What did you think?

L xxx

I've been wanting to try Laura Mercier products for a long time now, I've heard so many positives about the brand I couldn't wait to try them. I love the idea of this post holding concealers to suit any problem and a powder all in one compact packaging. I've been visiting home a lot lately and products like this are handy to take with me.

I really love the setting powder, it's soft to the touch and a true translucent powder that lasts all day on me without shine. It also helps to hold the concealer under the eyes.

The secret camouflage wasn't a product I expected to like at first. This concealer feels very hard in the packaging. When you rub your finger in it you feel like no product comes out onto it (I find brushes don't work great with this). I think the heat from fingers helps to melt this product. It feels like no product is on your finger but when applied to the face it is super pigmented and blends simply into the skin and looks invisible. It's perfect for spots, it perfectly conceals them and lasts all day. I love this concealer and will definitely repurchase this item separately. I think it's going to last me ages though.

Onto the product I wasn't as keen on in the trio. The secret concealer, as L mentioned this is pink toned and for use under the eyes. It does brighten under the eyes but I found creasing like L did. I can't help but compare this to Benefit Erase Paste (review here) and to me Erase paste is better. I find the Secret Concealer isn't as thick and I do struggle to blend it smoothly and flawlessly. It also seems to be going down at a rate quicker than the Secret Camouflage. I can't see this lasting very long unfortunately.

Have you tried any of the Laura Mercier concealer products?

You can pick up this trio for £29 from John Lewis here the secret concealer on it's own is priced at a reasonable £18.50.

Love M

xxx