Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer

After reading Bubblegarm’s rave about this product, which is described by Benefit as ‘industrial strength’, I found myself coveting it immediately! I have been looking for a concealer with great staying power to use on my wedding day and I need one that will cover up any imperfections and make me look flawless. My skin is generally pretty good but you just never know when you’re going to have a breakout (I’ve got my fingers crossed that I don’t wake up on the morning of the wedding to a big fat throbbing spot on the end of my nose…it’s the stuff nightmares are made of!).
The first thing I noticed about this product was the packaging…a simple screw top pan, nothing fancy but very practical. I really like the no fuss packaging which allows easy access when applying with fingers, anything fiddly just leads to you getting concealer under your fingernails which is a pet hate of mine. You get quite a lot of product for your money compared to some other concealers packaged in a pot.
The consistency is creamy and relatively light and I didn’t notice any grittiness that other people have reported. On checking the ingredients, the main ones are petroleum jelly, corn oil and soybean oil which is probably the reason why it just glides onto the skin. It resisted creasing all day and has great staying power; the coverage lasted perfectly and really evened out my complexion.
I found that this concealer was particularly effective at covering up the redness around my nose and considering I’ve had a bad cold this week and have been constantly blowing my snout, it’s a miracle that I don’t look like Rudolph by now! I was amazed when I looked in the mirror and saw that the concealer had managed to last all day despite all the tissue abuse! Another issue I’ve had this week is bad skin. It’s that time of month and my cold has also led to me being rundown which for me, always reflects in my skin. I have a few blemishes on my chin (with one particularly bad one!) and jaw line and this concealer has been a life saver for covering them up completely. At first I tried applying it with a firm concealer brush but it felt like I was wiping the product off with every second stroke so I decided to switch to using my finger. This works a million times better. You have to warm it with your fingertips in the pan so the product is a little more “wet” and dab it lightly on your skin, rather than vigorously rubbing it in. It’s also important to ensure you’re not trying to apply too much at one time, I’ve heard reports of cakey-ness which I didn’t notice so just apply it thinly. As you already know, concealer always works best when you apply really thin layers, rather than trying to lump on a whole load at once. It’s the type of product that’s only brilliant if you apply it properly and with the right technique. Once you have mastered that, you’re flying!
Now on to the cons. I’m a big believer in using different concealer formulas for different areas of the face. I wouldn’t use this as an under-eye concealer as I personally don’t like applying anything remotely heavy on the delicate skin around my eye. This concealer is a brilliant consistency for blemishes and covering up uneven skin tone but not brilliant on the eye area. I prefer to use a lighter formula with light reflecting properties as it’s less likely to settle into creases. Another downside to the product is that there are only three shades – Light, Medium and Dark. Medium suits my complexion at the moment but if I stopped using my Dove gradual tanner then it definitely wouldn’t suit my skin. This means I will probably buy the Light shade so I can mix and get my perfect colour. Although it’s not ideal to have to do this, I think the product is so good, that I am happy to buy another shade in order to tailor it to my skin tone. So it really depends on whether concealer is something you don’t mind spending money on. I have spent a lot of money trying different concealers over the last few months so in my eyes, having to get two shades of this one to get my HG concealer is worth it.

I will definitely be using this on my wedding day, together with Korres Wild Rose Brightening Concealer under my eyes.

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