Le Metier de Beaute Classic Flawless Finish Concealer spf 18, My Skin Savior

I am a concealer and foundation junkie.  I have yet to completely clear my face, so it is important to me to have quality base products to create a more even canvas.  

Enter Le Metier de Beaute's Classic Flawless Finish Concealer with spf 18.  

It is meant to smooth under eyes and blur imperfections.  It does not settle into fine lines and wrinkles (I know, I'm 21 but I get lines under my eyes when tired).  It's long wearing and contains vitamins A and E and shea for moisturizing.  In addition, it has spf 18 to help protect against the harmful effects of the sun. 

Here are swatches of the shades in order left to rights from shade 1 to shade 12.  I find the numbering system a tad strange as it doesn't go in order from darkest to lightest, especially in the middle.  However, I think the darkler lovelies out there will appreciate that Le Metier does go quite dark in the spectrum.  I wear shade 5, but may need something a little darker now that I am a bit tanned.  

Overall, Le Metier's concealer is one of the best I have tried.  It's very pigmented and you only need a little to cover.  I find it is best applied with a brush for blemishes, but a finger is fine for under eye.  The packaging is the traditional Le Metier sleek black and it's in stick form.  This product retails for $55. 

Le Metier de Beaute with Marchesa Keren Craig Le Soliel Palette

The Marchesa Collection with which the Keren Craig palette belongs launched last fall for Fashions Night Out.  The collection included this palette, one by Georgina Chapman, a highlighter, an illuminator and several double ended glosses. I picked up this palette about 6 months ago from Neiman Marcus. 

The Keren Craig palette includes the Maldives Magic bronzer, concealer #5, lipgloss le caramel, cream blush la rougeur, and eyeshadow le fauve(which I find to be similar to alexandrite in the regular collection). 

This photo shows swatches (l-r) lip gloss, cream blush, concealer, eyeshadow and bronzer.

And some more because it's gorgeous.

My thoughts:

The packaging is tiny. So tiny.  Its a bit larger than a credit card an very thin.  This can be good though.  It makes it perfect for travel. 

Lipgloss: Its a thicker texture but not sticky.  It goes on very smooth and lasts well.  The color is a little bit frosty, a caramel color.  I can pull it off alone but I prefer to layer the cream blush underneath it. 

Cream blush:  This is a beautiful punchy pink that really makes my cheeks look like they have that healthy glow.  The texture is different from the core cream blushes in that it is thinner.  It also has a bit shorter of a lasting time on my face.

Concealer: Amazing!! Best concealer I've ever used by far.  Its very pigmented which means it is highly effective at covering dark circles or blemishes.  The shade 5 is perfect for my NC20ish self but could work up to NC25.

Eyeshadow: It looks scary and purpley in the pan but on my eyes it transforms into a gorgeous neutral brownish color.  It is very easy to blend out to be sheer or build up in intensity.  Lasting power is above average, even without a primer.

Bronzer: This is dark.  I have to use a very light hand to ensure that I don't look dirty.  It is essentially matte, medium brown with no detectable orange or red tones.  I think this would work with most skin tones but would be best on darker skins because it is so pigmented.

Another photo because I love it so much.

Overall, winner, even at the small size.  As you can see, all the products have been loved.  It is $65 but these are all quality products.  I think, with some detective work, you can still find this at some Le Metier de Beaute counters.  I know my counter still has some of the Marchesa collection in stock.

Laura Mercier Undercover Pot in Shade 2

The Laura Mercier Undercover Pot really is a versatile product: spot concealer, under-eye concealer and setting powder all in one little pot.

Said powder is Laura's translucent setting powder.  It is to be used to set everything once you are done.  I do like it.  I think it definitely helps set everything.  However, I think that it leaves kind of a cakey appearance, especially when used over certain concealers (I'm looking at you Benefit Boi-ing).  Because of this, I probably would not purchase this product on its own, as this powder does come by its self in a larger size.

The spot concealer is really nice and thick.  While from preliminary testing I can tell that it does cover quite well, I can't really give a good analysis as I was already too dark to use the shade in 2.  Which brings me to a positive point, this stuff comes in some really pale shades, good news for the lovely pale ladies out there.

The spot concealer is on the left here.  Sorry this picture ended up being a bit blurry, but, don't worry, another is coming soon.

Lastly, the under-eye concealer is a very, and I mean very, creamy concealer.  I would say coverage is medium at best.  I wouldn't consider my dark circles to be as bad as some, but I wouldn't go out of the house without under-eye concealer.  It did not completely cover them.  Granted, this shade does have alot of peach tones in it, so it did make up for it by doing quite a bit of brightening.  However, this creased on me as well.  This might not be so bad if I were a bit more advanced in years and had some lines under and around the eyes, but I am not.  I am 21 years old and the only time I see lines under my eyes is when I use this concealer.

 As in the above photo, the under-eye concealer is on the right.

Overall, I would not buy this product again.  I do know tons of people who have loved this product though so your mileage may vary. 

Dark Circles, Turtles and Waterproof Eyeliner

Since really getting into makeup, I have noticed that I have gotten much more deliberate with my purchases.  I usually do not pick things up just on a whim.  If I buy something, I have probably thought about and contemplated purchasing it for some time now.  I do have a few things I am dying to get my hands on currently, so I thought I would share them with you.

1. A good under eye concealer.  I have officially become my mother.  I am having the hardest time concealing my under eye circles, probably having a lot to do with the fact that I have never really had much of an issue with this before.  I have tried my Chantecaille stick foundation which I use to conceal blemishes, but I have a feeling that is just a smidgen too dark for my undereye.  I have also tried my Chanel long lasting concealer which kind of creases on my under eye.  Oy. I have plans to go to the mall and play with Chantecaille, Giorgio Armani, and Laura Mercier's concealers as I have heard good things about those.  I would love to try Becca's concealer, but I am wary of ordering base products online as I am not sure if it will be a good color match.

2. Chantecaille Turles palette. When is this going to be out already??? I feel like I've been waiting for it to come out for forever.  The turtle palette is modeled just like the tiger palette, with 3 eyeshadows and a blush, but with warmer colors.  If you want to see a promo picture, you can find one of Temptalia's blog.

3. The black eyeliner from Armani's spring collection.  It is supposed to be the same liner as was released with the spring collection in 2010 which was super black and water proof.  I swatched last years edition on my hand and was completely amazed, but when I went back to find it, it was no where to be found. I am soo excited they decided to rerelease it. 



Do you have any wants right now?  Any reccs for a good under eye concealer?

Chanel Long Lasting Concealer

This review has been a long time coming.  I have been using this sporadically since February, and I think I have fallen in love which is rare since I am super picky about concealers.  I was matched to clair which is the lightest color.  Bad news for super pale peeps because I'm the equivalent of about NC20 in Mac. 
This has a wand applicator with a sponge tip.  I know this is a no no but I just apply it straight to the skin with the wand.  I find it covers quite well for both blemishes and under eye circles. 

I think this may be the first concealer I repurchase after it runs out. Yep, I like it that much.  I think it really lives up to its claims too.  It really lasts even through the mildly humid summer we are having here. 

If Chanel is in your budget, I would definitely recommend you try this.  However, be wary of the limited color range.  There are only 4 shades to choose from. 

I purchased mine from Nordstrom and was color matched by John Fussell, a national makeup artist for Chanel.  He gave me the most lovely smokey eye and a nice nude lip.  I don't have any good pictures of the makeup.

Everyday Minerals Multi-tasking Concealer

image from Everydaymineral.com

Multi-tasking is describes as the perfect color for fair to light complexions which means that this will most likely be too light for me in the very near future.  I tend to morph more into my italian self during the summer where as I am more of my eastern european self during the winter.  

Let me just start out saying that I love this concealer.  At the moment, it matches me very well.  I only use it on blemishes and redness as its a little too dry for my under eye area.  I pat it on with my bare escentuals medium concealer brush.  I actually really like powder concealers.  I find them to be the least cakey.  I usually just apply my powder foundation with the BE concealer brush but this works awesome too.  It lasts decently long as I tend to sweat like a pig.  Well actually, not like a pig since technically pigs don't sweat, but anyways...  

Overall: I would highly recommend this.  It's pretty cheap too!  It costs only $8 for the big size.  

Rating: A-

Disclaimer: I got this product as a free sample from a program that everyday minerals no longer has.  I paid the shipping for the samples.

Dior Diorskin Skin Perfecting Hydrating Concealer

In case I haven't mentioned yet, I have psoriasis.  I will not take time to explain it.  If you do not know what it is, there are plenty of places online that can explain it probably better than me.  I do have some patches on my face which I like to cover with concealer.  The current concealer I am using, Vincent Longo Creme concealer, just kind of accentuated the flakiness.  When I saw that Dior had a new hydrating concealer, of course, I had to try it.

This is the part in the story where I begin my rant of sephora customer service.  When I asked the sales associate to color match me for that concealer, she tried to tell me that that wasn't the concealer for me, without even asking me anything about myself.  Wow, I wasnt aware that SA's could tell everything about you just from one look! I must get this training.  After I explained to her why i wanted it, she proceeded to ask the Dior rep who happened to be in store that day, the reason I came on that day, if she thought it would be good to me.  Of course the Dior rep said it would be fine and I finally got color matched to shade 002.  It was an alright match in september.  After this, she tried to just walk away when the Dior rep suggested she try a new powder on me.  Reluctantly, she applied it to a very small portion of my face which was not enough for me to tell if I like it so I asked for a sample.  After that, she basically ran away.  Gee, thanks for the help.  Did I smell bad or something? I'm pretty sure I went right after I had had a shower.  Anyways, I ended up purchasing the concealer.

 

 This picture is from Nordstrom.com

This also comes in Ivory 001, Honey 003, and Mocha 004, not nearly enough shades if you ask me.  The texture is nice for a liquid concealer.  It covers quite nicely.  However, after a little bit, it wouldnt blend well and it was pretty orangey.  The price wasn't awful at $28 USD.  

In the end, I returned it to Sephora.  

In other news, there was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile.  My prayers go out to them as well as the people expecting the tsunamis as a result of this.  

Disclaimer:  This product was bought by me, from Sephora.