Hi beauties!
I have had many requests for a tutorial on applying concealer to under eye circles/bags. Whenever I have a request for something, I don't just grab a popular concealer & bang out a quick tutorial on how to use it. If you take a look around the beauty blog world & of course, at the beauty videos on YouTube, many of them have excellent advice but they all have one thing in common: their method of applicationis sworn by. Many of them also seem to promote fancy, top of the line, too rich for my blood concealers....when there are many, many affordable, drug store concealers that work just as well.
You guys know my philosophy: Why purchase high-end, break the bank makeup products when many, many affordable drug store brands work just as well, if not better? Any product can work for you, with the right tools & the right techniques!
I LOVE many of my fellow beauty bloggers/vloggers across the web but I am the odd ball when it comes to applying concealer, especially when you require full coverage like myself. I will admit that as a 30-something year old mom of 4, my under eye area looks like a puffy, so-blue-it-is-almost-black, dry, wrinkly hot mess. Hey, don't judge....that is what happens when you work all day from home, while taking care of 4 kids ranging from a very hormonal 12 year old to an ADHD 9 year old to a super smart, nothing gets by me 5 year old to a toddling, into everything & everything goes into the mouth 1 year old! Even though my job is to hide these type pf perfect imperfections, using makeup to give clients & to teach you how to achieve that perfect look we all desire, it doesn't leave a lot of time to use those makeup tricks on myself!
I want to give you a little backstory on why this post came into creation. A few months back, I was asked to participate, along with several other beauty bloggers/vloggers, for a series of joint tutorials on 'the best methods for a flawless makeup application.' I was assigned to write tips & tricks to concealing under eye circles, which is my best makeup technique because of my own need to conceal terrible eye bags. I wrote out my tips & tricks article, mentioning that if you had severe discoloration, puffiness or a lot of laugh lines, then you did not need to use your finger to apply concealer because it thinned out the product too much for a decent coverage. I was asked by the website host to remove that statement because she swore that using your finger was the best method & that by me opposing her view, I would discredit her to her readers.
However, I refused to do so...she asked me to write the article, instructed me to post my most accurate concealing method & insisted that it should be my 'tried & true" method...not to mention, I was not paid to contribute & I have never and will never write anything that is not the truth, proven by trial and error. My contribution has since been removed & that is ok. I don't agree with all of the tips & tricks of the other beauty writers and I do not expect them to believe in all of mine. That is what is great about makeup...it is all about creativity. What I create is different than anyone else's creations; even if the same results are created, the methods are always different!
But I will say this: I stand by my original concealer tips & tricks article & my convictions that beauty bloggers should never create fictional reviews or tutorials to please another beauty blogger, receive compensation or receive free products. And you will never see me do it here on Your Infallible Beauty!
Why do I say NOT to use your finger to apply & blend concealer? Body heat!!! 98.6 degrees combined with a patting or rubbing motion that increases the temperature by 2-4 additional degrees will melt any concealer you attempt to use, unless the product is super thick. But I don't recommend going the thicker concealers either...because the result starts to look cakey & cracked with thicker concealers, even top dollar concealers, because of the constant twitching of the muscles located under the eye with blinking, the weather, the length of time that passes after applying it & the drying that comes with every liquid type product. That is, unless you can refrain from blinking or stop the passing of time. LOL Have you ever noticed that some concealers are full coverage for your sister but give you no coverage at all? Yeah, 75% of the time, it is application method! After explaining my first experiment, make sure you read my latest experiment that any of you can do in just a few months to substantiate my claim that full coverage concealing of the under eye area should never use the finger application technique
Let me state that one concealer may work great on you & not work at all on other people, depending on skin tone, skin type, type of problem that needs concealing & the extent of problem. If your eye bags are more blue than green, more puffy than sunk in, thinner skin, fine lines, etc. is all taken into consideration in concealer comparisons. However, by learning the proper technique & with the right tools, you can get the natural, complete coverage you want!
I have already shared the results of my concealer experiment, comparing type of concealer (stick, liquid, cream, mousse, powder, etc), concealer brands from high end to drugstore and my experiment of which concealer application method was best. I used brush, finger, sponge and concealer applicator that come with the product. I used a different one for an entire week, on 3 different people: myself who required full coverage, my friend who required medium coverage and my preteen daughter who required light to no coverage.
Without rehashing all of those results, I will say the ONLY one of us who the finger application method gave decent coverage results to was my preteen daughter, who didn't need much concealer at all except to hide some slight puffiness & a light green-purple discoloration on some days- with 3 exceptions (Makeup Forever Camouflage Cream Palette, Benefit Erase Paste & Kat Von D Tattoo Concealer) because these three more expensive concealers have a thicker, very heavy coverage, they are able to be spread out before your body heat thins them too much to get a good coverage. However, these concealers needed a lot of blending to give a smooth appearance which lowered their coverage some. Because of the thickness of the coverage, a setting powder....every one we used, even with the smallest & lightest applications...immediately made the concealer cake. On me & my bestie, we needed the setting powder to fill in any lines not hidden with the concealer & to ensure our constant running around between work & mothering didn't wear the concealer off, leaving us with our bags of glory exposed. On my preteen, we could skip the powder but within minutes, the area began to look sweaty, almost damp in appearance...leaving the under eye area very artificial looking. These thicker concealers began to crack at the 2 hour & 15 minute mark after applying and each one of these thicker, more expensive concealers were completely gone by the 4 hour mark. The high temperature body heat doesn't actually thin out the thick cream or stick concealers BUT it actually sets them, making them clump up on top of the skin. Even though the price is higher & you could use your finger to apply, what good are they if they are gone half way through your day & even though they hid the discoloration well, you could tell their was a heavy, artificial product under the eye... isn't the point of makeup to hide the imperfections & enhance our God given beauty, without making it obvious we were wearing makeup?
Here is what I want you beauties to try: Grab your favorite concealer & apply the normal amount you use under your eyes to the tip of your finger, without blending it in. Set a timer for 10 minutes & press your thumb against the concealer on your finger firmly. Hold it in place for the full ten minutes & then observe the product in a bright light. Notice how thin, slightly runny the concealer product is? Now, try to use it to pat into your under eye area. How much coverage did you get? If you chose a thicker cream or stick concealer, do you notice how thick the product looks when placed under your eye. Regular concealers thin considerably with body heat which lowers your coverage terribly, requiring many, many coats to cover the under eye circles which in turn causes a cakey, dry, fake appearance. The exact opposite happens with thick, heavy concealers. This type of concealer actually starts to harden & set with your body heat, leaving it clumpy, hard to blend & very obvious that you are wearing something under your eye.
Why not skip all of that & find a concealer brush or beauty sponge that gives you the look & coverage you desire?? Trust me, with a great tool and the right technique, you can get the exact amount of coverage you want while keeping it natural looking. Trust me, there is a tool out there that will work perfect for you. Don't try to buy ever single one that MIGHT work...instead Google is your best friend. Read concealer brush reviews...read different techniques for using brushes & sponges to apply technique. Make comparisons. Just make sure that when you are doing your research, you are making these comparisons using women who have the same skin type & problem areas, including the correct color of eye bags, as you do! Then, purchase the one that is within your price range, created for your skin type & needs & meets every one of your coverage requirements!
I am sure there are thousands of you who are thinking "I always use my fingers & it works great" or, like many of the comments on my tutorial before it was deleted, "but so & so has this many readers or this many subscribers and her makeup always looks flawless & she says the ring finger is best". Its okay if you prefer to use your finger. It is ok if you want to disagree with me because of another makeup artist's method. But for those of you who need a full coverage & want to skip all the extra layers, cakiness, clumpiness, etc, then just give it a try! Try out my finger experiment above then try out this concealer brush with my concealer application tutorial. Come back & tell me how your results are!
WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT MAKEUP METHODS. I LOVE & SUPPORT EVERY ONE OF MY FELLOW BEAUTY BLOGGERS/VLOGGERS. BUT WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, WITH DIFFERENT LIKES & DISLIKES & DIFFERENT MAKEUP PREFERENCES. THOSE DIFFERENCES DO NOT MAKE ANY OF US WRONG...THEY MAKE US UNIQUE!! UNIQUENESS IS AWESOME!!
This post ran a little long so my concealer tutorial will be a part two post. Click here to read it!
<3 Missie <3
Monday, September 30, 2013
The Concealer Series Part One: The Best Under Eye Concealer Brush Ever!!!!
Hi beauties!
Here is part 1 in my concealer series. Part 2 is all about why NOT to use your finger to apply concealer, part 3 is my 'every day' concealer tutorial, part 4 is the reverse triangle method for concealing under eye bags and part 5 is a run down of my favorite concealers from light to full coverage: every single one of them drug store! I am just going to skip the rambling, give a little background for new readers & then jump right into discussing the best under eye concealer brush I have ever used! I tend to get excited, rambling on & on to make sure I have covered every single detail about a product or tutorial to ensure you guys have no questions at the end but recently, I received an email stating that I talked too much. I'll try not to do that this time, to see if it is better for you guys!
You all should know my theory by now....THERE IS NO REASON TO BREAK THE BANK TO BUY BEAUTY PRODUCTS & TOOLS BECAUSE ANY PRODUCT CAN WORK FOR YOU WITH THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE AND TOOLS. Affordable makeup & tools are much better because not only are many, many drug store products high quality but with the money you save by not purchasing a high end product because of the name or because someone , you can build your collection quicker & try several products for the price of someone you admire mentions or endorses the product.
For example, MAC's Toxic Tale lipstick runs about $16.50. Did you know Maybelline Coral Tonic is an exact dupe for the MAC color, including being heavily pigmented & very long lasting? By purchasing the Maybelline product for $6.99, you can get an additional lipstick for the price of the one MAC!!
Shop wisely, beauties....I own high & low end brands, but for the last year, I have purchased nothing but drug store products for an experiment I did. I created a 12 month spreadsheet, including very accurate drugstore dupes for hundreds of high end products, including every product I have ever loved that was high end, that at purchasing time I thought was worth the money (wrong) & calculated the money saved! Click here to see the results and details of ALLLLL the great dupes I found! (The link won't actually work until tomorrow morning, as I am just writing my post describing my experiment & the results!)
Let's get started....after you hear all of these amazing pros to this Essential Tools brush, you will want to run right out and get it....best part is that it is super affordable! You'll get a set of 3 dual ended makeup brushes, which is 6 brushes total, for a total of $9. Trust me, every one of these brushes are amazing! I have recently been loving the Sedona Lace brushes but haven't touched them once since discovering the Essential Tools line. I have used every brand of brush from MAC to e.l.f. and not one of them have come close to the awesomeness of these Essential Tools brushes, especially the one discussed in this review. They are marketed as Hi-Def eye brushes, as you can see below. Here is what you get:
Brush 1: The first end is flat, semi-domed thin brush for packing on color or applying concealer with a medium sized semi-domed blending brush on the opposite end.
Brush 2: End one is a small pencil brush formed with bristles (many of the pencil brushes lately look & feel like a tiny sponge but I believe this new type of pencil brush is actually a smudge brush, some say smudge brush while others say pencil brush...think old school pencil eyeliners with the small sponge tip on one end) & the second end is standard blending brush, slightly larger than the normal eyeshadow blending brushes.
Brush 3- The first end is a a thin angled brush with a mascara wand at the opposite end.
There were no specific instructions regarding what each brush was created to be used for but all were listed as eye brushes & there was a description on the packaging that spoke about vibrant eye shadows, packing on the color, applying eyeliner with ease, etc. I don't follow instructions but instead I play around with brushes to find out what makeup product they work best for. After some trial & error, here are the ways I discovered to get the best usage out of each brush.
Brush 1: under eye concealer & setting powder
Brush 2: packing on, detailing & blending eyeshadow
Brush 3: eyeliner, eyebrow filling & eyebrow grooming/brushing
Now, for the very best concealer brush on the market (brush 1):
Concealers are hands down my favorite makeup product on the market. If I only had the option of owning & using one makeup product (that would be a sad, sad day to only own ONE makeup product for makeup lovers like myself), concealers would be my product of choice. Dab a little concealer on under eye circles, blemishes or redness & your face looks as smooth as a baby's bottom. (ugh what a bad expression!)
Boy, does this brush make applying concealer...any brand of concealer...a breeze, giving perfect coverage every single time. It gives a smooth, even application, blends in the concealer quickly & easily without rubbing it off and the coverage is much better than with my fingers or other brushes. Every single day for 2 weeks, I used this brush with a different concealer-both drug store & high end- to ensure that it was the brush itself giving these amazing results, not the concealer product, and the results were exactly the same with every concealer I tried....even light coverage concealers became medium coverage with this Hi-Def Essential Tools brush!
The small, flat end of this Essential Tools brush (lower left corner) is great for patting concealer on to the on top of blemishes, on any discoloration around the lips and into the crevices of the nostrils where women are prone to redness from hormones. But it is more than amazing for the under eye area. Soft bristles ensure a gentle touch to avoid damaging the delicate under eye area. The small, flat shape is perfect for patting the concealer on top of the discoloration under the eyes. It holds a lot of product so one pat into the concealer is more than enough to do the job, no matter what concealer you use. The angled tip of the brush is perfect for placing concealer into the small crevice underneath the inner corner of the eye & patting concealer in a downward triangle for complete coverage of severe under eye bags. Click here for my concealer tutorial using the triangle method (part 3 in the concealer series)
Because your finger tips are very warm with an average 98.6 body temperature, the heat warms the product to quickly. What happens to liquid based products, even those marketed as cream, stick or mousse are all simply different forms of a liquid base? Liquid based products melt when exposed to heat!! Although that can be a good thing for blending it out, the heat actually thins out the product extremely which significantly reduces the coverage you get. It is very simple ladies: the thinner the product, the less it will adhere to your skin & cover up that imperfection! Click HERE to see my entire post dedicated to applying concealer. (Part 1 in the concealer series)...but before you read the concealer tutorial (part 2 in my concealer line up), read about the experiment that discredits every single beauty guru online that swears using your ring finger to apply & blend concealer under the eye is the best method (part 1). WRONG!
Go grab this brush, if you are like me & steadily climbing that 30-something ladder with children & sleep loss that gives you wrinkled, dry, so-blue-its-almost-black under eye bags. The other side of the brush is a fluffy blending brush (lower right corner). Because of the severity of my under eye circles, I need a setting powder that finishes the job. Foundation smooths out your skin tone, concealer hides discoloration & puffiness and once you find the right one for your skin, a setting powder lies lightly over the skin, filling in fine lines and leaving the skin smooth and free of under eye circles plus locking in the concealer for coverage that lasts all day.
Most of you know I have started a love it or leave it series here on Your Infallible Beauty. If you don't absolutely love a product or tool & its results, why keep it? I have a fairly large makeup collection but every item gets used between tutorials for this blog, tutorials for the other to magazines (one online) that I contribute to, all my freelance makeup work & makeup on my kids for things like Halloween, pageants, etc. This brush is definitely a LOVE it...especially for us 30-something, mothers who spend more time bouncing teething babies at night than we do sleeping! Even though I work hard to cover my under eye circles so I don't frighten the world, I am still proud of these eye bags because they mean I was the one taking care of my own babies!!
Did I say I wouldn't ramble on, talking forever? Oops I forgot! Have an awesome day beauties!
<3 Missie <3
**I am not affiliated with Essential Tools. Essential Tools did not request this review. Essential Tools did not send me these products; the brushes were purchased with my own money. Every single word of this review is my own opinion, typed solely by me & is my honest thoughts on these products.**
Here is part 1 in my concealer series. Part 2 is all about why NOT to use your finger to apply concealer, part 3 is my 'every day' concealer tutorial, part 4 is the reverse triangle method for concealing under eye bags and part 5 is a run down of my favorite concealers from light to full coverage: every single one of them drug store! I am just going to skip the rambling, give a little background for new readers & then jump right into discussing the best under eye concealer brush I have ever used! I tend to get excited, rambling on & on to make sure I have covered every single detail about a product or tutorial to ensure you guys have no questions at the end but recently, I received an email stating that I talked too much. I'll try not to do that this time, to see if it is better for you guys!
You all should know my theory by now....THERE IS NO REASON TO BREAK THE BANK TO BUY BEAUTY PRODUCTS & TOOLS BECAUSE ANY PRODUCT CAN WORK FOR YOU WITH THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE AND TOOLS. Affordable makeup & tools are much better because not only are many, many drug store products high quality but with the money you save by not purchasing a high end product because of the name or because someone , you can build your collection quicker & try several products for the price of someone you admire mentions or endorses the product.
For example, MAC's Toxic Tale lipstick runs about $16.50. Did you know Maybelline Coral Tonic is an exact dupe for the MAC color, including being heavily pigmented & very long lasting? By purchasing the Maybelline product for $6.99, you can get an additional lipstick for the price of the one MAC!!
Shop wisely, beauties....I own high & low end brands, but for the last year, I have purchased nothing but drug store products for an experiment I did. I created a 12 month spreadsheet, including very accurate drugstore dupes for hundreds of high end products, including every product I have ever loved that was high end, that at purchasing time I thought was worth the money (wrong) & calculated the money saved! Click here to see the results and details of ALLLLL the great dupes I found! (The link won't actually work until tomorrow morning, as I am just writing my post describing my experiment & the results!)
Let's get started....after you hear all of these amazing pros to this Essential Tools brush, you will want to run right out and get it....best part is that it is super affordable! You'll get a set of 3 dual ended makeup brushes, which is 6 brushes total, for a total of $9. Trust me, every one of these brushes are amazing! I have recently been loving the Sedona Lace brushes but haven't touched them once since discovering the Essential Tools line. I have used every brand of brush from MAC to e.l.f. and not one of them have come close to the awesomeness of these Essential Tools brushes, especially the one discussed in this review. They are marketed as Hi-Def eye brushes, as you can see below. Here is what you get:
Picture courtesy of walmart.com
Brush 1: The first end is flat, semi-domed thin brush for packing on color or applying concealer with a medium sized semi-domed blending brush on the opposite end.
Brush 2: End one is a small pencil brush formed with bristles (many of the pencil brushes lately look & feel like a tiny sponge but I believe this new type of pencil brush is actually a smudge brush, some say smudge brush while others say pencil brush...think old school pencil eyeliners with the small sponge tip on one end) & the second end is standard blending brush, slightly larger than the normal eyeshadow blending brushes.
Brush 3- The first end is a a thin angled brush with a mascara wand at the opposite end.
There were no specific instructions regarding what each brush was created to be used for but all were listed as eye brushes & there was a description on the packaging that spoke about vibrant eye shadows, packing on the color, applying eyeliner with ease, etc. I don't follow instructions but instead I play around with brushes to find out what makeup product they work best for. After some trial & error, here are the ways I discovered to get the best usage out of each brush.
Brush 1: under eye concealer & setting powder
Brush 2: packing on, detailing & blending eyeshadow
Brush 3: eyeliner, eyebrow filling & eyebrow grooming/brushing
Now, for the very best concealer brush on the market (brush 1):
Concealers are hands down my favorite makeup product on the market. If I only had the option of owning & using one makeup product (that would be a sad, sad day to only own ONE makeup product for makeup lovers like myself), concealers would be my product of choice. Dab a little concealer on under eye circles, blemishes or redness & your face looks as smooth as a baby's bottom. (ugh what a bad expression!)
Boy, does this brush make applying concealer...any brand of concealer...a breeze, giving perfect coverage every single time. It gives a smooth, even application, blends in the concealer quickly & easily without rubbing it off and the coverage is much better than with my fingers or other brushes. Every single day for 2 weeks, I used this brush with a different concealer-both drug store & high end- to ensure that it was the brush itself giving these amazing results, not the concealer product, and the results were exactly the same with every concealer I tried....even light coverage concealers became medium coverage with this Hi-Def Essential Tools brush!
The small, flat end of this Essential Tools brush (lower left corner) is great for patting concealer on to the on top of blemishes, on any discoloration around the lips and into the crevices of the nostrils where women are prone to redness from hormones. But it is more than amazing for the under eye area. Soft bristles ensure a gentle touch to avoid damaging the delicate under eye area. The small, flat shape is perfect for patting the concealer on top of the discoloration under the eyes. It holds a lot of product so one pat into the concealer is more than enough to do the job, no matter what concealer you use. The angled tip of the brush is perfect for placing concealer into the small crevice underneath the inner corner of the eye & patting concealer in a downward triangle for complete coverage of severe under eye bags. Click here for my concealer tutorial using the triangle method (part 3 in the concealer series)
Because your finger tips are very warm with an average 98.6 body temperature, the heat warms the product to quickly. What happens to liquid based products, even those marketed as cream, stick or mousse are all simply different forms of a liquid base? Liquid based products melt when exposed to heat!! Although that can be a good thing for blending it out, the heat actually thins out the product extremely which significantly reduces the coverage you get. It is very simple ladies: the thinner the product, the less it will adhere to your skin & cover up that imperfection! Click HERE to see my entire post dedicated to applying concealer. (Part 1 in the concealer series)...but before you read the concealer tutorial (part 2 in my concealer line up), read about the experiment that discredits every single beauty guru online that swears using your ring finger to apply & blend concealer under the eye is the best method (part 1). WRONG!
Go grab this brush, if you are like me & steadily climbing that 30-something ladder with children & sleep loss that gives you wrinkled, dry, so-blue-its-almost-black under eye bags. The other side of the brush is a fluffy blending brush (lower right corner). Because of the severity of my under eye circles, I need a setting powder that finishes the job. Foundation smooths out your skin tone, concealer hides discoloration & puffiness and once you find the right one for your skin, a setting powder lies lightly over the skin, filling in fine lines and leaving the skin smooth and free of under eye circles plus locking in the concealer for coverage that lasts all day.
Most of you know I have started a love it or leave it series here on Your Infallible Beauty. If you don't absolutely love a product or tool & its results, why keep it? I have a fairly large makeup collection but every item gets used between tutorials for this blog, tutorials for the other to magazines (one online) that I contribute to, all my freelance makeup work & makeup on my kids for things like Halloween, pageants, etc. This brush is definitely a LOVE it...especially for us 30-something, mothers who spend more time bouncing teething babies at night than we do sleeping! Even though I work hard to cover my under eye circles so I don't frighten the world, I am still proud of these eye bags because they mean I was the one taking care of my own babies!!
Did I say I wouldn't ramble on, talking forever? Oops I forgot! Have an awesome day beauties!
<3 Missie <3
**I am not affiliated with Essential Tools. Essential Tools did not request this review. Essential Tools did not send me these products; the brushes were purchased with my own money. Every single word of this review is my own opinion, typed solely by me & is my honest thoughts on these products.**
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