Review: MAC Studio Sculpt!

I FINALLY got matched for MAC. People ask will this suit NCXX skin? and I had no idea how to answer because I had no idea where I was on the scale. Well now I can proudly tell you all! The salesperson stared at me and said "It's hard to tell because you have warm and cool tones in your skin" well yes, that's why I come to you (remember how I said my skin preferred neutral concealer? She ended up matching it to my wrist (lightest part of my body) because I wasn't comfortable with taking the BB cream off.

Ended up with a tester sample of NW15. But as I said she matched it to the lightest part of my body, it's a bit light for my face. NW20 was a bit orangey. So conclusion? I must be somewhere in the middle, haha.

This was supposed to be their full coverage concealer, but it still doesn't make the blemishes disappear. My skin is a bit dry and it showed with this concealer. Plus a couple days after use I started getting new pimples =/.

Won't be purchasing, but I'm glad I tried it out.

The wipe that she gave me after smells so good! Why can't they make scents like this? It's reminiscent of honeysuckle or something. A scent I detected in the John Frieda Hair dye conditioner. So addicting.

Skinfood Salmon Concealer #2

I found it! Hahaha. Quick review/ swatch on the Skinfood Salmon Concealer. THIS STUFF IS MAGIC! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

     Back to the story. So after I had gotten my BB cream from the Skinfood salesperson, I decided to go after the salmon concealer. Only... I didn't know how to say it. So I told her I wanted the stuff for under your eyes. She asked me if it was eye cream, and I said no. Then she asked if it's the stuff to cover up under the eyes, and demonstrated the product. As soon as I saw it I knew that was it. The only concern I had at the time is that when she was putting it on her skin it looked really orange. This is when my mom decides to butt in. Even after I had just told the lady this is what I want, mom kept arguing and was like: No, she wants the eye cream. NO! I didn't want the eye cream because they hardly work, and if they do work they don't work fast enough- we're better off using hemorrhoid cream. So then she continues hindering me getting this product and long story short it was this long embarrassing mess.
     Since I was concerned about the color, I asked the sales person about it (since there is a lighter colored version) but she assured me that this was the color I wanted.
     My embarrassment didn't end. The whole time my brother was whining, and at the checkout when they were giving me samples he complains "how come I don't get any". Really? Really?? REALLY? Can someone just give me a bag so I can cover my face out of shame?! I can't believe my mom didn't even say anything- NOTHING to correct his childish behavior. I should note that he's 20 and DEFINITELY old enough to know better. The sales people were very gracious and hurried to provide a couple samples for him. There are really just no words.

Back to the product. I got home and tried it out. Wow! As soon as I dabbed it on, it was like photoshopping away my circles! Appeared to be the EXACT same color as my skin. Upon closer inspection, it is a tidge more orange so I think this is definitely going to still work on those of you with warmer skin tones (remember I'm more neutral). For those who are clearly more yellow, and paler, you may want to look into the other color. Remember what I said in the BB cream post about how it's best to find a sales associate if you can. I know, it's annoying, but really it's worth it. It's hard to judge which color is best. I have pretty bad circles so the salmon color really helps.
     Texture is not too dry/oily. Didn't flake on me after a whole day's use. Best part is that you only need a little dab if you can see- I didn't use that much. I considered getting a backup right away, but then thought this would last a while and better to get a fresh product.
     The product has a hint of shimmer- probably light dispersion to help with the illusion to make circles go away, but it's not very noticeable. To take extra precautions, I would just take your application finger (shouldn't have much product left on it) and continue rubbing under the eye all the way onto the cheek. Just in case the light hits it funny.

     I don't use this when I step into work though because I'm trying to seem older (baby face ahhh), hahaha. I use it when... there is someone to impress ^^;; (don't want to look like an old hag right?)

Picture


For some reason, the flash makes my circles look not as bad as they are. It's easier to see the change in the non flash pictures. Some darkness after application, but I think a lot of that is just the light/shadows working on my undereye bags in the photo. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

'Til Next Time!

Concealers: L'oreal and Sonia Kashuk

I must admit, I'm a very brand loyal person. When I find something that works I stick with it, and I have absolutely no desire to look at other options. So you can be sure that when I decided to change from my L'oreal liquid concealer that I was unsatisfied with something.

I've been using this particular type of concealer for about 3 years. Wow, that's a long time when I think about it. I actually managed to finish one or two of them. I have two tubes of the thing now because I lost one of them for a while. Before I never really cared since I only had a spot or two to cover. Now though, I'm breaking out all over the place and require quite a bit of product to cover. That's when I noticed that the liquid tends to show up all the cracks in my often dry skin. Highly unflattering. I should mention that I never use moisturizer, which could be part of the problem, but even when I do results are about the same.

Thus I decided to change to a wax/ stick type of concealer, one that was thicker and wouldn't enter every single crack. I tried a tidge bit of my mom's Neutragena one, but I found that to be a bit to oily for my tastes, or my skin. It would probably come right off. I also want to mention that the L'oreal one tends to dry skin a bit, so it would be good for people with oily skin.

I was poking around target and decided to give Sonia Kashuk a try since my friend had said that their concealer quad was really good. I will say, I'm not blown away or anything, but I am satisfied because just as I had anticipated, it doesn't soak into every crack, and justs lays on top, so the dry flaking skin is less noticeable. Strange though, how when I went there were only 4 shades that seemed relatively close to each other. What about the people who were much lighter or darker than my skin tone? that doesn't seem right.

Anyhow, I've included pics. The darker L'oreal used to be lighter, but as you can see, it oxidizes a lot. I think it started out being an exact match to my skin upon first application. The lighter one was even lighter before, but I found it too light for my skin so I added some of the darker one to darken it a shade. The coverage looks good here, but on areas with dry skin it looks horrible.

While you may be saying to yourself, "Hey, the Sonia Kashuk one looks cakey and horrible", you should also know that I slapped a LOT of product on this time, normally i wouldn't use so much, and I would use moisturizer which DOES make a difference. It actually looks better in real life. The coverage is so much more smoother looking. Still, you can see how it's a bit too yellow for my skin. I might have done better getting #20, but at the time it was hard for me to tell because of the cap- it's burry and foggy so the colors are a bit different.

Despite this, I would say I don't regret buying the Sonia Kashuk, but I'm not entirely sure I'd buy it again. I'll still be on the lookout for a better concealer.

Oh, and the Light L'oreal isn't actually that light and different from my skin, it's the flash of the camera that makes it look that way.