little white truths

Hello all! I mentioned recently that I was going through the process of transferring all my draft photos from my old computer to my new one, and working out which ones were worth saving and which ones I would need to take again.

The first two shots in this post are from the old batch, and to be honest I would have taken them again if I still had both products - but unfortunately I've since finished my Light version of this concealer and my Medium one is looking too battered to be photo-worthy.

Still, the swatches are all brand new so that's the main thing, yes?

But let's talk about this concealer: the Medium shade being my favourite budget concealer to date and indeed I like it enough that it made my 2016 favourites list (see that post here).

Maybelline claims/product details:

Now what I've done in the below swatches is popped a heavy stripe of the Light and Medium shades on the left, and then I've attempted to blend them out over a couple of blue and black pen lines so you can see what the coverage of each shade is like. 

Please note that both shades 'dissolved' a little of the pen lines when I blended them, so rely more on the left-hand swatches for colour because the two on the right have been 'cooled down' a little by the blue/black of the pen. Having said this, the difference is incredibly slight and the right-hand swatches do show up pretty true to colour, so they're not completely off.

There we are above in direct sunlight. The first thing you may notice is that the Light shade is quite yellow and the Medium one rather orange. This is indeed how they look when you first apply them, but by the time you blend them out, they don't look yellow/orange at all (at least on me).

There we are again above. The second thing you may notice is that the coverage of the Medium shade is significantly better than that of the Light shade. This is also correct, and I personally wouldn't recommend the Light one if good coverage is what you're after - I'd recommend Medium all the way.

Last one for good measure:

Verdict

This is a fantastic budget concealer and I can't recommend it enough - but as mentioned, it's the Medium shade that's excellent so I'd pick that one over the Light shade any day if coverage is what you're after.

Having said this, my Light shade has been super useful because it's served me well as a lightener for any foundation that's too dark - and while I do intend to buy some shade adjusting drops at some point to see how those work, I would absolutely buy the Light (or even the Fair) shade again to use only as a lightener. Reason being, it's light and fluid enough that it changes the colour of my base without changing the texture, coverage or finish, so it's a great option for that purpose because it costs less than $10 if you can find it half-price and it works.

As for the Medium shade, this is easily the best budget concealer I've used to date and I would definitely buy it again. Better still, for me it's an exact colour match and it takes me from season to season and still works with my skintone. Woot woot! Now if only I could find an exact colour match in a foundation...

You'll see above that I remove my applicator sponges once I've opened the product, and I do this for two reasons: first, the sponge soaks up so much product that I reckon it's wasteful; and second, I'd say the sponge is probably a breeding ground for bacteria. I guess if this is your only concealer and you know you're going to get through it within a few months, it doesn't matter so much - but I like to rotate my concealers so I can see this one lasting out a year, which I feel is too long if you're going to use the sponge.

A few small daps of the Medium shade is all I need to cover my under-eye bags, and the product applies, spreads and blends well. While it does dry down, I still prefer to set it with a powder because this ensures that the concealer won't crease throughout the day - as indeed it doesn't. The product also works well to cover any redness or blemishes on my face so it's a concealer I can use for anything.

While the coverage is very good, it's not quite as good as that of my HG Bare Minerals Serum Concealer (review coming soon), so if I have a lot to cover that day, I'll opt for the Bare Minerals product over this one. I would also say that this product and the Bare Minerals concealer are very similar, it's just that the Bare Minerals one feels a touch more hydrating and nourishing on the skin.

So in sum, I love this concealer and it's my favourite budget concealer to date. While I think the Medium shade has the best coverage, I still think the paler two shades are useful as foundation lighteners so that's something to keep in mind.

Love.