Swatches, as well as Comparison and Before and After Photos
NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar $5.00
NYX Dark Circle Concealer $6.00
Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector $24.00
Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer $24.00
Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-Hour Concealer $22.00
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I've been to the end of the internet and back, searching for the best products and reading their reviews, but they have all fallen woefully short. In hopes of helping someone else out there that is like me, I wanted to publish in-depth reviews of some of the concealers I've tried. I know a lot of people do this sort of thing on the internet, but they leave a lot of bases uncovered and end up confusing their readers instead of informing them.
I'm self-taught, and have been experimenting in make-up for about 10 years. I love looking my best, so sometimes I'm really hard on myself about how my make-up turns out. Being a college student and working part time, I don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on trying new products. Although I'm only 20 years old, I have some pretty bad dark circles under my eyes, as well as creases. I'm not sure what they're from, and I've tried EVERYTHING to get rid of them, so I'll just have to find a way to cover them. I also have the occasional breakout, and some dark spots on my face that I want to hide. My skin is combination (normal-dry with an oily T zone).
Here is a before photo to give you an idea of what I'm up against:
The first concealer I tried was the NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar in Porcelain, and after using that for 2 months, I couldn't stand how light it was for my skin tone, so I purchased it in the shade Light. I don't like this concealer. When applied with a Beauty Blender, it definitely has fabulous coverage of imperfections such as dark marks and acne, but my dark circles would still show through! When applied with brushes and blended with your finger, it doesn't seem to blend at all; you end up looking spotted. This concealer is extremely greasy, and it annoys the piss out of me. Even if I set it with a powder, it still settles into my fine lines and pores throughout the day. If you try to re-blend the concealer with your fingers at any point during the day, it pretty much melts off. I love most of the other NYX Cosmetics that I have tried, but I will not be purchasing the Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar again.
My second attempt was the NYX Dark Circle Concealer, which has the same problems as the Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar I mentioned previously. The only difference is that this concealer only comes in one color. It is peachy toned and definitely helps cover the dark circles better than the Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar, but it is still greasy and settles into my fine lines, actually making them appear worse. I'm too young and well-rested for this, moving right along.
This is how both the NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar and the NYX Dark Circle Concealer look when you first put them on: (Please ignore my ratchet eyebrows. Thanks)
Some minimal creasing but overall a generally flawless finish.
This is how they look less than 5 minutes after application and for the remainder of the day:
Clearly, these concealers settled into my fine lines and the inner corners of my eyes, making me look like I stayed up all night partying, or used drugs. One or the other, I’m not sure but I’ll let you decide! As you can see in the headshot where I’m all painted up, the NYX Above and Beyond Full Coverage Concealer Jar covers my dark spots excellently.
Attempt #3: Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector in Light/Medium. I read that this product is supposed to be used under concealer, because it is in fact, a corrector and not a concealer. That didn't stop me from using it as one. It is only available in two shades, Light-Medium and Medium-Tan. The directions tell you to apply with a brush and then blend with your finger, but that did not hide my dark circles enough. So I turned to my trusty Beauty Blender, and received a better result. I like this product because it dries-it's NOT cakey or greasy, therefore you do not need to set it with a powder; HOWEVER it still does not yield enough coverage and the coloring is not good to cover imperfections with. Again, that's not what it's for anyway, because it is a corrector and not a concealer. At first blush, all of the Tarte products are wildly expensive for such a teeny amount, but when it comes to the Amazonian clay products, a little goes a long way. The Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector is very creamy and thick. It has the clay consistency as promised, and I read that it's great for your skin. It settles into my fine lines but it does not accentuate them like the NYX products do. I like this product, but it does not cover my breakouts or dark spots, so for financial reasons I wanted to eliminate the need for a corrector AND concealer. My search continued.
Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector after application:
And by the end of the day:
I decided to try the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer next. I had THE WORST TIME trying to squeeze this product out of the tube! I read that you have to melt it with your fingers a bit before application, so I kneaded the bottle for a minute and that seemed to do the trick. You only need the tiniest amount for full coverage anyhow. Using my Beauty Blender, I applied this product in the shade Light Sand on my dark circles. To my dismay, it is extremely yellow. It has light-reflecting properties, so when you move, it appears as though you have radiance under your eyes, almost like a highlight. Because this color has such yellow undertones, I had to set it with a powder. With or without powder, it did a really great job of concealing my under eye darkness, but not my dark marks or breakouts. To be honest, if you have lines under your eyes, you're doomed. EVERY PRODUCT WILL SETTLE INTO YOUR LINES EVERY TIME, regardless of what the label says; HOWEVER, the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer doesn’t settle into my fine lines as much as any of the other products that I have used. Unless set with a powder, this product doesn't completely dry, making it a tad bit greasy and easy to accidentally smear. All in all, the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer is still better than the NYX concealers, and it better be, since it’s 5x the cost.
At the end of the day:
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You can clearly note that the coloring is too light for my skin tone.
Despite being Waterproof, the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Concealer is really easy to wash off. I used the shade Fair-Light, which ended up being too light and yellow for the pink undertones of my skin. A little bit of this concealer goes a long way, and I feel that the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-hour Concealer settles into my fine lines more than the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer, and does not cover the darkness under my eyes as well as the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer does. It also does not cover my dark spots or breakouts either. This product comes in a stick form, making it easy to dot it under my eyes and used my beauty blender to blend it out. Because the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-hour Concealer has a very creamy texture, it doesn't seem to blend very well when you use your fingers.
This is immediately following application:
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This is how little the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-hour Concealer creases throughout the day, but you can still see the dark circles under my eyes showing through.
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I decided to take a photo and show you how the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-hour Concealer appears in incandescent lighting. As you can see, my dark circles appear more significant in this lighting.
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In conclusion, I am going to return all of the products that I mentioned here today, and repurchase the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer in the shade Fairly Light Neutral, in hopes that I can throw caution to the wind and have confidence in the daily products that I use to enhance my appearance. I plan to eventually replace the rest of the products that I use daily, with higher quality products. If only the Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof 12-hour Concealer had better coverage, then it would be perfect for me. And with that, my search for a miracle concealer continues..
*All photos were taken in natural sunlight.
**Here is a list of the products I have on in these photos. I will be writing reviews on them as well, in the near future.
L’Oreal Paris Magic Perfecting Base
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