Revisiting Maybelline SuperStay 24 hr Concealer

** read original review

I couldn't resign myself to the idea that SuperStay was just a bad concealer with limited colors and tones. So, I kept looking for reviews and comments from other bloggers, trying to see what they saw in it that I didn't. Finally, one day I had an epiphany!

SuperStay is not a good concealer for me, but it's the perfect corrector.

The difference between a concealer and a corrector is that while a concealer is there to hide your dark circles and is usually skin colored [sometimes with a bit of yellow in it,] a corrector uses colors to mask other colors in your face.
Example: My NC35 concealer makes my dark circles the same color as the rest of my face, but sometimes [most of the time,] they're too dark and the darkness shows through. Putting a pink-based corrector on my yellow toned skin cancels out my dark circles and brightens up the eye area. [I've been doing a bit of reading about all this and it seems that pink based correctors aren't necessarily just for yellow toned skin, so feel free to give it a shot.]

Although SuperStay isn't marketed as a corrector, I found that it is much too pink to work as a concealer, but as a corrector it works wonders.

I apply the too-pink SuperStay to the inner corner of my eye and first half of my under eye area where the circles are at their worst.

I blend blend blend blend until it looks passable [though always a bit powdery,] and then I put my MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NC35 over all of it. Sometimes, I skip MAC and go for the Maybelline FitMe concealer in 25 because the color looks really great.

By mixing the two colors, my circles are effectively wiped out [or at least, as much as they'll ever be.]
I'm really really happy with SuperStay now that I've figured out how to use it to my advantage. I still say that as a concealer, it's incredibly limited because of how thick it is and the very few color options, but as a corrector, it rivals Bobbi Brown's line [that's right, I said it.]

** As a way to deal with how powdery SuperStay is, I always make sure I put a little bit of extra moisturizer under my eyes and I apply the concealers right after so the area is still smooth enough to work with.

Alternate Uses For Beauty Products

As someone who owns entirely too many beauty products, I always find myself with left overs of things I either liked but didn't love enough to use them up, or things I didn't like but couldn't return. There are also the things I liked but forgot about because I got another thing just like it that I liked slightly better and by the time I remembered the first thing, it was too late to use it or I forgot it again [it's a never ending cycle.]

Because of my constant surplus of stuff and my guilt about throwing things away because I'm broke, I find myself having to come up with creative ways to use up products. Some of these, I've discovered on my own, but most, I've collected from various magazines and blogs.

Conditioner= Shaving Cream
I've never [not once in my life] used up an entire bottle of conditioner on my hair. There are just too many other ones to try for me to patiently wait until the bottle runs out. Instead, when I'm done using a conditioner, I use it as a shaving cream. It moisturizes just as well, if not better than a regular shaving cream, and it makes my legs smell super nice.

Shampoo= Soap
Though shampoo tends to be something I do usually finish, sometimes I just don't like the way a particular one works with my hair. Instead of tossing it out, I just use it as hand soap. Also, because the majority of shampoos have some conditioners in them, it won't dry out your hands the way a regular soap can.

Lipstick= Cream Blush
Every girl knows this, it's almost too obvious. Clearly, it can only be done with certain shades of lipstick [I don't think you want purple blush.]

Concealer= Eye Shadow Primer
 I've read some makeup artists say that concealer won't work as a primer, but in my experience, it works just fine. And, Paula Begoun says it can be done, so it has to be true!

Baby Shampoo= Brush Cleaner
I don't actually buy baby shampoo to use on myself [as I'm no longer a baby :P] but I buy it specifically to clean my brushes because it's cheaper. Since the formula is milder than other shampoos and soaps, it's great to clean your brushes without ruining them and making them harsh.

Clear Nail Polish=Preserve Costume Jewelry
This is something else I don't actually use to begin with [because clear polish is so boring it makes me cry,] but i buy it for it's alternative use. Simply paint over the rhinestones on costume jewelry and it will hold them in place longer. Also, a clear coat on the inside of a ring will keep it from turning your finger green.

Mascara= Tame & Color Brows
This actually only works if you have dark hair like me, otherwise you'll end up with blonde hair and black eyebrows [which would only look good if paired with that purple lipstick as a blush.] When a mascara dries out and can't be used anymore, I run the wand lightly over my brows to give them a little color and tame them. The keyword here is LIGHTLY.

Eye Shadow/Pigments= Liner, Blush, Highlighter, Gloss
Eye shadows and more specifically loose pigments can be used for almost anything provided they're the right colors.
A light shadow can be used as a highlighter on the brow bone and cheek area.
A dark or bright shadow can be used as a liner when you want a more subtle look and not the harsh lines that traditional liners tend to leave.
Any shade that looks natural can be used a blush.
Mix a little bit of clear gloss with a loose pigment to create a shimmery lip shade.

What do you do with your old products?

e.l.f. Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter

I received this as a gift from a friend on the same day that I saw it at Target and kind of wanted it but didn't get it. Lucky for me, everyone is well aware of my dark circles and it seems they want to not see them as much as I do.

One end is the concealer and the other end is a highlighter to brighten the eye and other face areas.

I didn't really know what to think about the highlighter being white, but it seemed kind of wrong. I've had concealers of this sort before and usually, the highlighter shade is a lighter beige, but not straight white.

 

My friend picked medium which was fine because that's the color I am in most brands. After I blended it, it actually looked a bit too light though.

Unlike the tone correcting concealer I reviewed a while back, this concealer wasn't as light or liquid. The consistency was actually pretty good, it was just the shade that was off.I swatched it on my eye to better show what I mean.

These are my dark circles on a surprisingly good day :)

The concealer already looks too light to the point where it washed out my skin and it looked a bit gray. It also has a kind of "wet" finish that made the are look shiny. This is something that the tone correcting concealer does as well, but it goes away after a few minutes, so it's not that big of a deal.

Now it's bright gray! I really think that this was due to the color being wrong, though.

As far as coverage goes, I think it did cover the circles, it just didn't work with my skin tone. The consistency was better than the tone correcting concealer, but it wasn't anything too pigmented either. I think it worked for me today because my circles were less visible, but I would never be able to get away with it on a bad day.

The highlighter actually worked even though it was white, it definitely brightened the area but again, it was the wrong coloring that threw everything off. However, there is a bit of sparkle in it, so it should be used sparingly.

Overall, I think this would work for someone with very light or no dark circles. It brightens the under eye area and it's very lightweight. Just make sure to get the right shade.

It's also important to note that this product lacks severely when it comes to the variety of shades available. There's only three shades : Fair, Light and Medium. So, anyone with darker skin or variations on those three shades, is out of luck here.

e.l.f. Studio Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter is available at Target for $3.99 or on the e.l.f. website

Other Thoughts:
Seek For Beauty
She Speaks of Beauty
Dottie K

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer Review

Maybelline recently came out with a new line of face makup named Fit Me.


The purpose of Fit Me is to be more inclusive of the various skin tones people have. They have three categories [light, medium and dark] with several shades and tones in each.

Of all the drugstore brands, Maybelline has always been my favorite, but I've never had much luck with their concealers. However, I decided to try out Fit Me given the wide array of shades available.

The cool thing about Fit Me is that the shades are grouped together in such a way that you can determine what foundation, concealer and blush to buy using their number codes.

By using the tester bottles at Walgreens, I determined that my shade was 25 (Medium.)

The color is actually incredibly close to my actual skin tone. This amazed me right off the bat because I have a very hard time finding concealer that matches my skin.

What I love about this concealer is that it does what it's supposed to do. It mimics my skin tone, but brightens it at the same time, and doesn't look the least bit powdery. It's clear that my hand got lighter, but it's not obvious that it's due to makeup.

However [there is always a however with concealers,] the coverage leaves a lot to be desired.

If it seems like I'm not wearing anything on my had, it's because Fit Me is very very sheer. It's possible to build on it to make the coverage a bit better, but to be honest, it'll never be a full coverage concealer.

I think Fit Me could work for a day when I don't need as much coverage, but mostly I've been using it the same way I use e.l.f.'s Tone Correcting Concealer, on top of my MAC concealer as a way to offset its powdery quality.

I think Maybelline's idea of coordinating foundations, concealer and blushes is a good one, but I do think they should try to make the formula a bit better. I'm sure they didn't intend their products to be used in combination with better ones.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer Review

Because I'm cursed with hereditary dark circles, I buy every concealer that comes out in hopes that I'll find the right one.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer isn't anything amazing by itself, it's very, extremely lightweight, and many times it melts off after a few hours. Also, there is very little product inside the bottle, so I find myself going through an entire one every month.

For reference, I'm an NC35 and I wear Apricot Beige

 The color looks really light, but once it's blended, it looks perfect.

The color is right, and the texture is great but it's clearly very light coverage.


The reason I made a point before to say it's not great "by itself" is because it is great in combination with another concealer.


MAC Pro Longwear Concealer is also not great by itself. I recently reviewed it as part of the series of concealer posts. Longewear dries incredibly powdery and no matter what I do, always looks caked on.

However, when I combine MAC's powdery concealer as a base, with e.l.f.'s lightweight concealer on top, it works much better.

The lightness of e.l.f. is just what MAC needs to look more natural.

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Concealer is a steal at $3, and although it's not enough to use on it's own, I think it works great paired with a dryer, full coverage concealer.

I've seen e.l.f. products at Target and Kmart, and you can buy them online from the official e.l.f. site.

Maybelline SuperStay 24hr Concealer Review

***NOTE****
I did a follow-up review of this concealer a few months later as I just couldn't come to terms with the fact that I seemed to be the only person that hated it, make sure to read it!

I read a lot of rave reviews about SuperStay that compared it to MAC and other high end concealers, so I decided to give it a try.

To be honest, I was disappointed with the selection of colors. Like most drugstore brands, SuperStay just didn't have the variety of colors that they should. The shades are Ivory, Cream, Light, Medium Beige and Deep Beige. The closest I could find was Medium Beige, though it looked a bit light in the bottle, but Deep Beige was too dark.

Right off the bat, the color looks way too light, even though my face is lighter than my hand [as is the case with most people,] it was the wrong color.

There is no other way to describe this than to say it was a disaster. The color is too pink, especially for my skin which has yellow tones [actually "yellow tones" is an understatement, sometimes I think my actual skin color is yellow.]

This concealer is similar to MAC's Longwear in that it dries very quickly and it stays dry and powdery. It's best to apply it before your face cream dries in order to make it easier to blend.

I think SuperStay could be good for people who have more pink in their skin because with the exception of the Cream color, all the shades have pink undertones.

In its favor, I will say that SuperStay has amazing coverage. I think if it had been my right color, it could have rivaled my MAC concealer.

If you're light skinned and in need of a heavier concealer, I say give this a try.

Makeup Alley reviews

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer NC35

I have dark circles that vary in severity depending on the day, but they are always always always there. It's not a lack of sleep and water or anything like that, it's simply a hereditary curse. My mom looks like a panda bear 90% of the time and now I do too.


The next few posts are going to focus on my quest for a concealer, a quest that has been almost as extensive as my mousse one.

I've chosen to spotlight four concealers that work for me in one way or another and hopefully help someone else not spend their lives looking like they got punched in the face.

First up is many people's HG concealer, MAC Pro Longwear.

The best part about MAC is that they have a huge array of shades and tones. Other cosmetic companies make the same 3 shades over and over [Light, beige, and dark] and the tones are either orange or pink. MAC not only has a ton of shades, they also have varying tones [cool, neutral cool, neutral, warm and neutral warm.]

The only problem I've found when shopping for MAC concealers is that the girls always give me the wrong color. I think under the store lights, I look a lot more golden than I actually am, and they end up giving me colors that are too dark. However, after a few tries I finally found the right color, NC35.

I clearly wear this a lot

 

 Longwear is extremely pigmented and concentrated. A little definitely goes a very long way.

That tiny drop is enough for both eyes.
As you can see, the color is pretty much the same color as my skin, so as far as that goes, it's perfect.

My only problem with Longwear is that it dries incredibly fast and it dries super powdery.

It's not very obvious in this picture unless you really look, but you can see that it's quite powdery and dry. Specifically around where my hand meets my wrist.

You can see it better here. The outer edges look powdery and too light.

I've found several ways to work around this.
1. Don't let your eye/face cream dry all the way. Apply Longwear while it's still damp so it'll be easier to blend.
2. Use tiny drops of it at first and if you need more, build on it in small increments. Small is the key word here. It's easier to build on it than to take it away [it's impossible to take it away,actually.]
3. Use a very light coverage concealer on top of it to cancel out the powdery look [the one I use is e.l.f. toe correcting concealer, which I'll be reviewing soon.]

On a side note, I have to say that the pump bottle is a horrible idea. It's impossible to use all the concealer that comes out, but it's also impossible not to get a ton of product out when you use it, because there's no way to control that pump.

There's no way to press on the pump without getting a huge glob of product

My solution to this was to buy a little empty jar at Sally and just pump the concealer into it, use what I need, and leave the rest there to use the next day.

The bottom like is that MAC Pro Longwear is really great. It's a full coverage concealer that is great for the price, $16.50 for a bottle that will last you ages because of how little you need to use at a time.

Anyone tried this yet? I'd love to hear what you think about the consistency of it.