Benefit Cosmetics: Erase Paste Concealer

Hi everyone,

Today's review is of the Benefit Cosmetics Erase Paste Concealer. The full-sized product retails for $26 for 0.15 oz of product from Sephora, Ulta, and the Benefit Cosmetics website. Sephora describes this concealer as "Benefit Erase Paste is a concentrated, creamy, blendable concealer that instantly brightens and camouflages all-in-one. It has an innovative formula which makes sure signs of stress and fatigue are a thing of the past."

The concealer comes in a small box and includes a mini plastic spatula to scoop the product out and a step-by-step guide with tips and tricks for application. While it is more sanitary to use the scoop to get the product out, I found that as you use up the product it can be difficult to get the final bits out with the scoop and I ended up just using my fingers. Since this product is a thicker and very creamy consistency, you really want to use your fingers to apply this product because the warmth from your fingers helps to heat up the product and apply it smoothly and evenly to the under eye area.

This concealer comes in three different shades: No. 1 Fair, No 2. Medium, and No. 3 Deep. I purchased the shade No. 1 Fair. This concealer has a salmon/peach/pink color to it which acts as a corrector to help brighten the under eyes. While there are only three shades available, since this product is a correcting concealer, you can use it in conjunction with another concealer that perfectly matches your skin tone.

As I mentioned above, the formula of this concealer is very thick and creamy, and it is incredibly moisturizing while still providing great coverage. I struggle with extremely dry under eyes, so not only does this concealer help to correct the dark shadows and bags under my eyes (which we all definitely have), it also provides a lot of moisture and keeps my under eyes hydrated all day long.

As someone with large pores, I was very worried that the moisturizing and light reflecting qualities of this concealer, while canceling out my dark circles, would actually highlight my large pores. I'm happy to report that is definitely not the case! It's amazing how smooth this product makes my under eyes look and how much brightness it brings to my face. I was also extremely impressed with how well this product layers with other concealers, foundations, and powders without looking cakey. I have a ton of fine lines around my eyes and didn't notice this concealer creasing, which is a miracle for me! I think people with more mature skin would also really enjoy this product for that exact reason as it won't settle into wrinkles.

While a lot of pot concealers will dry out pretty quickly (within 6 months I'd say), Erase Paste lasted me for over a year without drying out. 

Final Verdict:
I absolutely love this concealer and it's definitely holy grail status for me. Not only does this product conceal it also color corrects my dark under eye circles and helps bring so much brightness to my under eyes. I really enjoy the thick, creamy formula of this concealer because it provides a ton of coverage but it's also very moisturizing at the same time. Overall, I absolutely love this concealer and I always need to have it on hand. I highly recommend you check it out if you haven't already!

What do you think of Benefit's Erase Paste Concealer? Have you tried any other Benefit concealers like Boi-ing or FakeUp? (Click here to see my review of FakeUp). Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!
-Meg

Japonesque: Velvet Touch Concealer (Shades 1 & 2)

Hi everyone,

Today's review is of Japonesque's Velvet Touch Concealer. This concealer retails for $20 for 0.052 oz of product from Ulta. Japonesque describes this concealer as, "Instant blemish perfector. This classic cream concealer provides superb matte coverage. It's flexible texture provides a fuller coverage for skin blemishes, discoloration and imperfections, and gives an elegant soft-focus finish."

This concealer is available in five different colors, labeled as Shades 1 through 5, with 1 being the lightest and 5 being the darkest. I purchased this concealer in Shades 1 and 2. Shade 1 is the perfect shade for covering my under eye circles and brightening my under eyes at the same time, while Shade 2 is the perfect shade to match my skin tone and cover blemishes and imperfections. I will say, I was surprised at how dark the lightest shade is, so if you have a very light skin tone I think shade one might be too dark for you. On the other end of the spectrum, Shade 5 isn't the deepest color so I'm not sure how well it would work for people with darker skin tones. Overall, I highly recommend testing out the colors in the store prior to buying since the color range is very narrow. I also did find that these concealers lean to a more yellow undertone, and since that's my skin's undertone, I found this concealer color to be very flattering for me.

The packaging of this concealer is so cute! I love the watercolor inspired case with different bright colors. The inside features a mirror which is great for touch ups and to use when traveling. The clasp of the concealer is very secure so it won't accidentally open in your bag. While the amount of concealer you get may seem like very little, a little bit truly goes a long way, especially since it's so creamy and easy to blend!

Shade 1 on the left and Shade 2 on the right

Japonesque recommends to "Apply with a concealer brush for fuller coverage over blemishes, discoloration and imperfections." I tend to just use my fingers to apply this concealer. The formula of the concealer is very creamy so I find that using my fingers warms up this product nicely and allows for an easy time applying it.

Swatch on the left: Shade 1, Swatch on the right: Shade 2

The formula is very creamy but at the same time provides great coverage. I did find that my Shade 2 concealer was a bit more creamy and smooth than Shade 1, not sure if that was just true for my concealers or if it is true for this entire line. Overall though, this product is everything I look for in a concealer! It is super easy to apply, goes on smoothly, blends well into your makeup to provide a flawless look, and covers over blemishes impeccably. I'm always amazed at how well it minimizes the redness in my skin and covers my purple under eye circles. This concealer truly stays all day looking flawless without needing touch ups. I didn't find this concealer to settle into my under eye creases or to clump at all. The formula isn't greasy or too matte, and I find that I don't need to set it with a powder.

Final Verdict:
All in all, I think this is a fantastic concealer and is definitely one of my all time favorites! I love how creamy and smooth it is while applying flawlessly and covering all my blemishes and red spots. For only $20, I think this product is a great high end concealer without being ridiculously expensive. I love this concealer and I have already purchased another of both shades because they are so great! I highly recommend giving this concealer a shot!

Have you tried any products from the brand Japonesque? What concealers are your all time faves? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!
-Meg

Benefit Cosmetics: FakeUp Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer

Hi everyone,

Today's review is of the Benefit Cosmetics FakeUp Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer. The full-sized product retails for $24 for 0.12 oz of product from Sephora, Ulta, and the Benefit Cosmetics website. Benefit describes this concealer as "Cover-up goes incognito! This hydrating crease-control concealer - with Vitamin E & apple seed extract - hides dark circles & diffuses fine lines for a silky smooth, ultra-natural look. Available in three shades, it’s proven to keep skin hydrated for 6 hours!"

This concealer comes in three different shades: light, medium, and deep. I purchased the shade light and I found that it runs very light, so I think it's best to swatch this product in a store before purchasing so that you ensure that you get the right color. I wish this concealer came in a couple more shades so that it provided a better match with all skin tones, but because it's very moisturizing and doesn't provide too much coverage, it isn't too hard to match it to your skin tone.
The packaging of this concealer is gorgeous, as per Benefit's usual style. It comes in a sleek silver tube, like a lipstick, that twists up as you use it. I think this is a very travel friendly as it's quite small and easy to take on the go.

Benefit advises that you apply this concealer by "Stroke(ing) fakeup underneath each eye. Using your ring finger, pat gently outward to blend. You can also use it to touch up throughout the day…this “double duty” hydrating & concealing formula won’t cake, crease or settle." Unfortunately, I did find that this concealer settled/creased in my under eye fine lines, which I think is in part, due to how creamy and thick the concealer is. I also found that it was a little difficult to blend out this concealer because of how thick it is.

While I like the packaging of this concealer, I find that I really didn't like the formula of it. It's almost too hydrating and creamy if that's possible.  I have dry skin so I was drawn to this concealer because it's advertised as being a hydrating concealer, but I find that it lacks the coverage I require from a concealer and it almost feels greasy on my skin because of how hydrating it is. Because this is a greasy/moisturizing concealer I found that it was hard to layer products on top of it without it moving around on my face. In addition, it is also a very heavy concealer and I found that if you try to use it in conduction with another concealer for better coverage it looks very cakey and thick on your face. I also found that this concealer didn't do a very good job of hiding my under eye circles. I almost felt that it accentuated them because of how greasy the formula is, as it made my under eye area look very shiny and oily.

Final Verdict:
I really wanted to like this concealer because I know it's a holy grail concealer for so many people, but it just didn't work for me. I think the formula of the concealer is very moisturizing but unfortunately greasy at the same time. It also doesn't provide very good coverage for under eye circles so if you have any that you're looking to hide, this isn't the product for you. I also think if you have combination to oily skin this concealer would probably be bad for you as it would add even more grease/moisture to your skin.

What do you think of Benefit's FakeUp Concealer? Are you in love with it or do you prefer other concealers? Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!
-Meg

October 2014 BoxyCharm Unboxing

Hi everyone!

I loved my BoxyCharm box so much last month that I decided to keep my subscription going and today I have a review for you of my October box. (You can see a review of my September box HERE).

For those of you who are new to BoxyCharm, it is a monthly makeup subscription service that costs $21 and they send you 4-5 full-size products, which is a great value when you consider that Ipsy and Birchbox are half that price and you only get small samples. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that BoxyCharm now has a waitlist, but I think it's shorter than Ipsy's.

This month, the 5 full-size products I was sent were:
     - Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum --> retails for $48
     - Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette --> retails for $19.95
     - Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes --> retails for $21
     - Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow --> retails for $14
     - StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils --> retails for $14

This month's box also came with a special 20% off coupon for Palmetto Derma's website, just use the promo code BCPD2 at checkout. The coupon code is valid thru 12/31/14.

Palmetto Derma Collagen Booster & Restoration Serum
This is a serum that is intended to "protect from premature aging and creates youthful, glowing and beautiful skin, all day and night!" BoxyCharm recommends applying a small amount of the product in the morning and evening after cleansing and toning your face. Allow the product time to absorb before applying moisturizer and they do warn to keep it away from your eyes. A full-size, 1 ounce, bottle of this serum retails for $48, so this is a terrific product to receive in a subscription box as I would probably not buy this product on my own. If you're interested in buying this product, you can purchase it from Palmetto Derma's website and Amazon. I have not tried this product yet, but once I do, I will probably do a Skincare Saturday/Sunday post on it if you guys are interested.

Coastal Scents Eclipse Concealer Palette
This is the Eclipse Concealer Palette by the brand Coastal Scents that retails for $19.95 but is currently on sale for $14.95 on their website.

The palette contains 15 different shades, 11 of which are shades for you to match to your skin (some have warm tones and some have cool tones), then there are 4 other shades, a mint green shade which counteracts redness or pinkness caused from rosacea, blemishes, or capillaries around the nose and cheek areas, a pale yellow shade which conceals black, blue, or purple imperfections such as bruises or unsightly under eye halos, a lavender shade which neutralizes areas with excessive yellow pigmentation and corrects olive skin tones, and a white/silver shade can be used as a highlighter to add sheen to cheekbones, nose, eyes, etc.

This is the second Coastal Scents product I've tried and I'm honestly very impressed! The concealers are very creamy and highly pigmented. They are probably some of the best drug store concealers that I've used, they even beat many high end concealers! It may seem unnecessary to buy a palette like this since you might think that you won't use all the colors, but I find that you can use some of the shades that don't exactly match your skin tone to contour and highlight/brighten your face. I honestly love this palette and highly recommend it to anyone looking to try out some new concealers! The packaging is a heavy duty plastic so it is also a very good item to travel with as it won't get smashed in your bag. I'm really happy with how well this concealer covered my under-eye circles and brightened the area up!

Cult/Commerce x BoxyCharm "Shady" Collection Nail Polishes
I have neve heard of this nail polish before, but I like that they gave us two different colors, one a dark gray and one a deep purple. I actually really like the purple color and think I will get a lot of wear out of it this fall. I will try them out and report back on how well they wear.

Be A Bombshell Eyeshadow
Prior to receiving this product, I have previously tried a mascara and eyeshadow quad from the brand Be a Bombshell. I wasn't impressed with the mascara since it had a truly horrible smell to it, I couldn't even bear to put it on my eyelashes. On the other hand, I was very impressed with the eyeshadow quad I received.

Because I really liked the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow quad I previously received from an Ipsy/Birchbox, I was excited to receive one in this BoxyCharm. However, I was disappointed to receive this color. I don't tend to wear green eyeshadows, and since this is a dark green shimmer eyeshadow intended for a smokey eye, I don't think I will actually wear it.

However, I do like the texture of this eyeshadow, it's very smooth and finely milled. It just glides right on. I am really curious to try these solo eyeshadows in a color that I might actually wear because the quality seems really great.

Here are some hand swatches of this eyeshadow. On the left side in each photo is a heavy swatch and on the right is a light swatch (only one swipe).

StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencils
The last product in this BoxyCharm was a StarLooks Ultra Gem Pencil in the color ultra violet. I was excited to try a StarLooks pencil since I've heard really good things about them, but unfortunately this is not a color that I wear. I barely wear eyeliner since my eyes water a lot and it usually gets messy and wipes away.

The quality of this eyeshadow pencil is pretty amazing! It's a little smudgy, so if you like to smudge out your eyeliner this is a pretty good one. All in all, I'm really impressed and will definitely check out getting a more normal color one that I would actually wear.

If you do like colored eyeliner, this is a very beautiful color. It's a rich, deep blue-purple that I think would be very beautiful on people with all different eye colors. I might keep this eyeliner for New Year's Eve or some other special event just because I think it looks very beautiful on the eyes.

Final Verdict:
All in all, I think this was a great box this month! I wish that my eyeliner and eyeshadow would have been more neutral colors, but getting brighter and more different colors really pushes me to expand how I wear my makeup so I guess it's not the end of the world. I love that for about $20 a month you get to try out 5 full size products and they always retail for MUCH more than the cost of the box, so it's a great deal! For those of you who are getting tired of your Ipsy/Birchbox subscriptions, I highly recommend checking out BoxyCharm!

Are you interested in trying BoxyCharm? Are you loving any other subscription box services at the moment that you'd recommend I try? Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!

NYX Cosmetics: Dark Circle Concealer

Hi everyone!

Today's review is of the Dark Circle Concealer by NYX Cosmetics. I recently stocked up on a bunch of NYX Cosmetics products during Ulta's 40% off sale so you'll be seeing me review several of their products over the next couple weeks. But honestly, how could I pass up a deal like that?!?

I do struggle with dark under eye circles and I'm always trying out new products to see which work best at covering them. I love trying out drugstore products because I'd love to find a cheap option that works well and that I can recommend to people to try out. So far I'm still on the hunt because unfortunately this product did not work for me. Nonetheless, I am reviewing this product because I know it does work on some people. This product received a 3.8/5 based on 90 reviews on Ulta's website and a 3.8/5 based on 44 reviews on the NYX website, which shows that for some this product is amazing while for others it just doesn't work.

Okay, so to start this product retails for $5.99 at Ulta and $6 on the NYX Cosmetics website. The concealer contains 0.10oz of product and is available in four different shades - fair, light, medium, and deep. I selected the color light, which will be the shade described throughout this post.

This is an orange-toned product which is suppose to counteract the blue and purple tones of under-eye circles. Since I have a significant yellow undertone to my skin, I didn't find that this orange-toned product wasn't all that color correcting on me. It actually seemed more like a regular concealer to me, as the orange was very faint. I think this product would work best for those with neutral undertones who don't need much help with color correcting. I was honestly expecting the product to be much more orange based than it actually is, more like the Ben Nye Mojave Adjuster in Sienna Orange, Adobe Brown, or Apricot.

The formula of this product is very lightweight and creamy, and it contains coconut oil which helps moisturize and hydrate the under eye area and keep it from getting dry. Unfortunately though, this coconut oil does end up making the product feel a bit on the oily side. When applied, it made my under eye area seem very oily and shiny, and since I have dry skin so I can only imagine how bad it would look on those with oily skin!

This concealer claims to be full-coverage, but I think it is much more of a light coverage product, as my dark circles seemed to still show through even after multiple layers of it. However, when you use multiple layers of this concealer it looks very cakey and unnatural. This concealer does have some light-deflecting particles in it which help to brighten the under eye area, but unfortunately on me, all these did was illuminate the area where my dark circles weren't covered - not a look that I want! I also did find that this product settled and creased into the lines under my eyes, so I wouldn't recommend it for older people who may have more fine lines and wrinkles than me.

As I said briefly above, I was disappointed in the orange-tone of this product. Since it claims to be an orange based concealer, I was expecting much more of an intense orange shade. In the photos below (left is a light swatch, right is a heavier swatch), you can see that the concealer actually seems more pink and salmon in tone than orange on my skin. I think you can also tell from the photos below how sheer and light coverage this concealer is. Also, you can see that it has an oily sheen to it, even in the natural light photo which was taken without a flash. I honestly don't see any difference with it applied to my under eye area.

Final Verdict
All in all, I like the creamy texture of this concealer, but there's no coverage or pigmentation so even when you apply multiple layers of this product it still shows your darker circles through it. I thought the formula was a little too oily and too lightweight to do much color correcting or providing much coverage. In all honesty, I will probably return this item as it doesn't seem to do anything for me and I know I won't use it.

Have you tried any NYX concealers yet? Are there any that you would like to see me do a review on? Please leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading!