Category Archives: Concealer

Olive Undertones & Blue Mixers, plus a review of MUFE Chromatic Mix Foundation Mixers

When I started wearing makeup, I couldn’t figure out my undertone. I am caucasian and have light skin (somewhere in the vicinity of MAC N15 without a tan), dark hair, and dark eyes. I tan easily and rarely burn; I feel like silver and gold are equally flattering; I’m not sure if true white or off white looks better on me – my preference is for black; and the veins on the underside of my wrist don’t look particularly blue or green. Long story short, I realized that I have olive undertones that are sort of a cool yellow/green – I was confused because I have surface redness and if I am tan, golden overtones.

I purchased all products featured in this post. All referral and affiliate links are individually marked; unmarked links are not affiliate.

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Ellis Faas Foundation & Concealer Review, Swatches, Photos

Purchased – Affiliate Links

Today I have a review of Ellis Faas’s foundation & concealer, which I purchased at The Makeup Show a few weeks ago. First, let me note that these are way, way more expensive than almost anything I’ve written about on this blog.  The concealer is $40 for 2.4ml and the foundation is either $65 for 14ml (in pen form; this is what I have – it comes with two 7ml cartridges) or $90 for 30ml (in a pump top bottle). I bought these at a discount, but if I manage to finish them, I’d repurchase at full price.

First, let’s talk about the packaging. It’s lovely, but known for being difficult to use. This is my second concealer pen (I lost the first), and both have functioned just fine – the brush on the first was a bit wonky (see it here), the brush on this one is fine.  I don’t love click pens for concealer, but I don’t mind them.

Concealer brush / applicator

The brush on the foundation bothers me more. The foundation comes out just fine, but I feel like too much product is lost in the brush, and I don’t like this style of brush for application – I prefer fingers, a beautyblender-type sponge, or a flat-topped brush. I’m probably going to either cut off the brush or just decant the cartridges into a squeeze tube.

Foundation brush / applicator

The products themselves, however are truly excellent. The texture is perfect; they just melt into the skin.  Aside from the coverage, I can’t see that I’m wearing foundation.  The foundation is on the sheer side, and the concealer has medium coverage. Note that the ingredients for each product are online at ellisfaas.com.

I have the foundation in shade 102 and the concealer in shade 202; each is the second lightest shade, and each is described as being for “fair/light skin with neutral undertone.” The concealer is just a touch darker than the foundation, which I find works well.

ellis faas 102 202 swatches

Left: foundation in 102, unblended & mostly blended
Right: concealer in 202, unblended & mostly blended

In the following collage, I have no makeup on in the left hand photo. You can see some redness, some unevenness and lots of freckles.  In the center photo, I’m only wearing foundation; my skin looks better – more even, but still natural. The foundation diffuses light really well, and the texture of my skin looks better as well.  In the right hand photo, I’ve added concealer – I do realize it’s hard to see a difference. The concealer really is great though!

no makeup // foundation only // foundation & concealer

no makeup // foundation only // foundation & concealer

Overall, I adore these products.  I plan to use every last drop of each, and it’s likely that I will repurchase both eventually. If you can stomach the price, I’d highly recommend them both.

*I purchased the product(s) featured in this post. This post contains one or more affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

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Concealer Swatch-A-Thon

Purchases & Press Sample – Affiliate Links

I was suprised to realize that I own 15 concealers and three concealer palettes (the two L’oreal True Match concealer crayons – [review // $8.99 at Ulta] are not pictured below because they live in my desk at work; swatches are in my original review). Here’s a roundup – I’ll start with a description of each concealer, organized by type, with all swatches at the bottom.

Concealer Comparison

The lightweight, light-reflecting concealers:
Clinique Airbrush // Maybelline Lumi // Physician’s Formula Spotless // Rimmel Match Perfection

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Physician’s Formula Youthful Wear Spotless Rollerball Concealer Quick Review & Swatches

Purchased – Affiliate Links I’ve been wanting to try a rollerball-type concealer for a while now, but given that I have plenty of concealer and minimal undereye circles, I couldn’t justify the $10+ price tag on most of the popular ones. The concealer I’m reviewing today (awkwardly named the Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth Boosting Spotless Concealer SPF 15) actually retails for around $13, but between a 40% off sale and a $3 off coupon, I managed to snag it for a bit under $5.

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Ellis Faas Concealer Review, Swatches, Photos

Ellis Faas Concealer S202

One of the items that I purchased at The Makeup Show was this Ellis Faas concealer – my first Ellis Faas product. (I also received another Ellis Faas product courtesy of Ellis Faas and The Makeup Show, and will be reviewing that separately.)  Ellis Faas is a brand I’ve heard a lot about; most of what I’ve heard is that people adore the products, but have very mixed feelings about the applicator system – almost all products come in identical bullet-shaped pens.

The pens are certainly sleek and lovely, but I can understand why they’re controversial.  You can’t see how much product you’re getting, and you can’t see how much you have left.  It takes many, many “clicks” to get the product started, and when it starts coming out of the pen, it comes out very fast and wastes some product.  The design doesn’t seem particularly hygienic, though Ellis Faas does suggest you clean the applicators regularly.  The only distinguishing factor between them is the base of the pen, so they need to be stored upside down if you have several and want to be able to tell them apart.

On the other hand, the pens are extremely portable – great for travel or to throw in to your purse.  Ellis Faas makes gorgeous clips and holders for storage, if you have several of them. Both of the applicators I have function well (though my concealer brush is slightly splayed), and if I don’t want to use them to apply, I can either take a brush directly to the applicator or apply product to the back of my hand and then apply from there.

Ellis Faas Concealer Applicator

Ellis Faas Concealer Applicator

Moving on from the packaging to the product itself – the concealer is thin, fluid, and moisturizing.  I would categorize it as buildable medium to full coverage – which surprised me, given the thin consistency! It did a fantastic job of covering redness around my nose, and the finish was the best part – very natural, just like my skin.

Although I do not have particularly dark undereye circles, I tested this concealer under the eyes as well.  Because it is thin and moisturizing, it worked well under my eyes, and my guess is that it is pigmented enough to cover most dark circles.

Ellis Faas Concealer S202 Swatch

S202: Not blended, partially blended, completely blended

I was matched to the shade S202, which is described as “fair/light skin with neutral undertone.”  It’s a good match for me.  The concealer comes in eight shades, and does have a decent shade range (ranging from what appears to be decently light to decently dark).

Overall, I think this is a fantastic concealer – I can understand the hype!  The packaging isn’t ideal, but it’s workable (and pretty!), and the product is really great – surprisingly pigmented and with a lovely finish.

Ellis Faas concealer retails for $40 and is available to purchase on Ellisfaas.com and Sephora.com (online only).

*As noted in this review, I purchased featured concealer, but received an additional Ellis Faas product courtesy of Ellis Faas/ The Makeup Show.  This post contains an affiliate link. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

L’oreal True Match Crayon Concealer Review & Swatches

L'oreal True Match crayon concealers - N1-2-3, N4-5

L’oreal True Match crayon concealers – N1-2-3, N4-5

Today, I have yet another new 2013 drugstore product review for you – L’oreal’s new true match crayon concealers.   If you haven’t yet seen these around, they’re already available online at Drugstore.com, and should show up at other online retailers soon.

These are jumbo crayons, and packaged just like jumbo lip or eye pencils. They are twist up and do not need to be sharpened. You can twist them up and back down again.  I like this packaging for a concealer to keep in my bag – it’s very portable, just dab on, blend with fingers, and done!

The display I purchased from had six shades, and they are the same shades currently available online:

W1-2-3 (fair/ light warm)
N1-2-3 (fair / light neutral)
W4-5 (light / medium warm)
N4-5 (light / medium neutral)
W6-7-8 (medium/ deep warm)
N6-7-8 (medium/ deep neutral)

It seems odd to me that there are no cool shades, and that there are only three depths — hopefully L’oreal will eventually expand the range!  I had a feeling that I was between the light and medium shades, so I purchased both the lightest and the medium of the neutral shades.

Here are the swatches – first unblended, then blended:

L'oreal True Match Crayon Concealer N1-2-3 (fair/light neutral), N4-5 (light/medium neutral)

L’oreal True Match Crayon Concealer
N1-2-3 (fair/light neutral), N4-5 (light/medium neutral)

L'oreal True Match Crayon Concealer N1-2-3 (fair/light neutral), N4-5 (light/medium neutral)

L’oreal True Match Crayon Concealer
N1-2-3 (fair/light neutral), N4-5 (light/medium neutral)

As you can see, I am indeed between shades. The light is closer, but definitely too light, and the medium is significantly too dark.  Blended together, the two crayons are a good match.

I like the texture of the concealer crayons – they are firm enough to hold their shape as crayons, but soft enough to apply easily, without any tugging. When first applied, they are very creamy and blendable, but after about a minute, they set and don’t smudge with light pressure (they will, like any concealer, smudge if you try hard enough!).

The texture seems better suited to covering blemishes than undereyes – it’s on the thicker side, and I find that a thinner texture works better for me in the eye area (though I don’t have prominent bags and often skip undereye concealer entirely).  Wear time seems average; the concealer lasts until I remove it at the end of the day, but I haven’t tried it on a long, hot summer day.

Overall, I would recommend these if you happen to find a match – they’re a nice, ultra-portable choice for a concealer to keep with you in your bag.