I’ve pretty much given up trying to do anything about my dark under eye circles.

A while ago, I wrote a post about the different health issues that can cause them and the measures you can take to reduce their appearance.

And although there are times when the skin under my eyes seem to recover some of their brightness, for the most part, my dark under eye circles are here to stay!

So I’ve resorted to covering them up with make-up. Hooray for make-up and the ability to hide your imperfections!

Here are four concealers that you can find in my beauty cabinet…

1) Fake Up By Benefit

Despite the rather superficial sounding name, Fake Up concealer gives the most natural looking coverage of any concealer I’ve ever tried. Not only does it conceal dark blemishes, it also works to hydrate the delicate skin under the eyes. The resulting look is brightened skin and no cakeyness!

The Positives: Natural, luminescent coverage. Hydrated skin. No creases.

The Negatives: Holy smokes, the price! Also, coverage is not long lasting.

How Much: $24 at Sephora for 3.5 g

2) Collections Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer

I received the Collections Lasting Perfection Concealer from a Beauty Swap. Unfortunately, the medium color is much too pale for my skin tone. But that hasn’t stopped me from trying it out. And yes, it really is as long-lasting as other bloggers have claimed.

The positives: It’s incredibly long-lasting, you need to use only a small amount to get the coverage that you need, and it’s very price-friendly.

The negatives: It tends to settle in the creases.

How Much: £4.19 on Boots for 4.0 g

3) Yves Rocher Flawless Finish Corrector

Technically this isn’t a concealer. It’s a corrector. But I’ve used this alone, as well as in combination with a different concealer. It just depends on how bad my under eye circles look on any given day. I also use this to cover other dark blemishes before applying foundation.

The positives: Good coverage. Lasts long. Goes on lightly and does not settle in creases.  Multi-purpose. Price-friendly.

The negatives: Goes on dry and the tint is a bit dull.

How Much: €7.5 at Yves Rocher for 5g

4) MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

For the longest time, this was the only concealer I used. And I was quite happy with it. So I’m not sure what it was about this concealer that made me start looking for others. Maybe it was because I found it difficult to apply. Or maybe I felt like it made my skin look dry and take on an orange tint. In any case, there are still a lot of redeeming qualities about this concealer.

The positives: Great coverage! Long lasting. Goes on smooth. Does not settle in the creases. A little goes a long way.

The negatives: The pump is tricky. Usually, you will end up taking out a lot more than what you need. Dries out quickly, so it’s hard to apply. And as I already mentioned, it makes my skin look dry and take on an orange tint after a while.

How Much: $18 at MAC for 9ml

Can you guess which concealer is my favorite? 

Naturally, my favorite is Fake Up By Benefit. Because the resulting look is so natural and luminescent. And to top it off, my skin feels comfortably hydrated.

(No Concealer)

(With Concealer)

But, (with the exception of the Collection Concealer because it’s the wrong color), I still find that the other concealers have their occasional use.

And you, do you use concealers to cover up your dark under-eye circles? If so, which products do you use?

I made a GIF! I made a GIF! And not only that, it’s a stop motion GIF!

But first…

I know everyone is dying to know who won the Caudalie + Parisian Tote Bag Giveaway!

So let’s talk about that.

I truly do wish I could make each and every one of my lovely readers the giveaway winner.

But I buy this stuff out of my own pocket, and it don’t come cheap! So this time, only one name could be drawn from the list of participants.

To be absolutely fair, I used RandomPicker.com to pick the winner. Once the name was drawn, I couldn’t go back and change anything. So it was a very final procedure. You can look at the protocol that RandomPicker used.

So, ok ok. On to the winner….

Drum rolls pleeease!!

…………. !!!

And The Winner Is…..!

JULIA!!!! 

Congrats Julia!!!

I’ll be in touch with you shortly to work out the shipping deets.

And if you participated but didn’t get lucky, please don’t hate! I still love you

Now for my beautiful, beautiful GIF!!!!

I’ve added just a couple of things to the Ziba Shop.

Head over there to get your French natural and organic cosmetics shopping on!

And just so you know, I’m open to suggestions…

If there are french/european beauty products that are hard for you to get a hold of where you are, get up with me and we can work something out.

Ok, that’s all for now

Hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day weekend!

And congratulations again Julia!!

What makes mineral makeup so great is not so much the natural minerals that it contains, but rather, all the other ingredients that are left out.

Because it does not contain preservatives, fragrance, and chemical dyes, mineral makeup is suitable for people who suffer from skin sensitivities.

It is also oil-free and made up of inorganic minerals, which means there is less potential for bacteria growth. So mineral makeup is especially useful for people with acne-prone skin. 

Most importantly, mineral makeup provides a wide spectrum of UVB and UVA sun protection.

The main ingredients in mineral makeup are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide—which are physical sunscreens that provide broad-spectrum sun protection against UVA and UVB rays. But I’ll make a special note on that later.

BARE ESCENTUALS

Although there are many companies today who carry their own line of mineral makeup, I have a great affinity for Bare Escentuals because it was one of the original, if not the first, cosmetic company to bring out and popularize mineral makeup in the 70s. 

I’ve been using Bare Escentuals’ bareMinerals Ready SPF 20 Foundation for over two weeks now. And I’ve got to say…

This powder foundation is ZE BEST I’VE EVER HAD!

The powder: A solid, pressed powder that provides medium to full coverage and wide spectrum protection against the sun (SPF 20).

The Ready foundation comes in a wide variety of shades, so it’s easy to find a color that perfectly suits your skin tone.

I use the R330 
color, for tan skin with yellow-olive undertones.

Bare Escentuals claims that wearing this foundation can increase hydration levels in the skin up to 108% after 12 hours of wear, due to their SeaNutritive Mineral Complex formula that contains humic acid and mineral-encapsulated glycerin.

How To Use: I use a kabuki powder brush to apply this powder in sweeping, circular strokes. And that has always given me a smooth finish. There is a bareMinerals Precision Brush that you can buy (at 28 euros) with this foundation. Though I’ve read that applying this with a foundation sponge works just as well.

My Experience: This powder glides on like silk. It blends well and provides excellent coverage. You can easily layer on where you need more coverage. It’s a very light powder, you can’t see it at all! There’s no cakeyness, or powder settling in creases. And a little goes a long way for covering blemishes.

The Result: A natural, glowy, dewy and even complexion that lasts for hours and hours.

I can’t say that using this foundation increased the level of hydration on my face. But it does help retain moisture for areas on my face that tend to dry out.

What I Like About It:
- Smooth, luminous finish
- The resulting look is very subtle and natural
- Great, long-lasting coverage
- My skin can breathe and feel comfortable
- Provides protection against the sun
- Easy to re-apply (for sun protection purposes)
- Clean and simple ingredients
- Simple packaging

What I Don’t Like About It:
- Opening the container is a bit tricky
- It would be great if they could make the packaging re-fillable to limit the impact on the environment

How Much: 28,00€

Would I Buy It Again: YESSSS. It’s a bit pricey, but as I said, a little goes a long way. And the resulting look is just flawless. So this will probably be my favorite powder foundation for a while.

Ingredients: Boron Mitride, Titanium Dioxide, Octyldodecyl stearoyl stearate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, glycerin, magnesium silicate, nylon-12, humic acids, rosa canna fruit oil, jojoba esters, corallina officanilis extract, Lecithin, Betain, Algae Extract. May contain (+/-): Mica, Zinc Oxide (CI77947), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Titanium Dioxide (CI77891).

Closing Thoughts: With so many shades to choose from, it’s better to go out to a store and be color matched in person than buying this online.

Also, be aware that in order to be completely protected from the sun, you’d have to put on layers and layers of this stuff on your face. This is true for pretty much all foundations that claim to protect you from the sun. So if that’s not the kind of look you’re going for, then I suggest wearing a moisturizer with SPF underneath the powder.

There’s so much to be said about sunscreen and SPF in products. But that’s a subject that we will revisit in future posts.

What about you? Have you tried this product before? What is your current favorite foundation?