Review: Mac Pro Longwear Concealer

Hi everyone, I've been a bit absent on here for the past week or so due to illness, as I did mention in Monday's post. I had a nasty bout of the flu, which knocked me for six a bit, and it's only today that I've been feeling back to myself and have got the energy to get on here and get back to blogging. I'm glad to be back, as I do hate leaving this little corner unattended. Normal service shall now resume!

I often complain about the dark circles I have under my eyes, and while they are hardly a severe example they do tend to put a dampener on my day in the mornings. I've tried countless concealers and eye creams, and while I have now discovered the Elemental Herbology Eye Elixir, which has worked very well for me in terms of darkness and puffiness, I was still on the hunt for that perfect concealer. Previously, I had been using Benefit Erase Paste, which I did quite like for some while, but essentially I began to notice that it was sinking into and emphasising fine lines just beneath my lower lash-line, and let's be honest, nobody wants to have to contend with that in their twenties. I had often wondered if the level of coverage Erase Paste gave was all there was - it's quite a thick paste, but still I could see the darkness through it.

So, on a fairly recent trip to Mac, I thought I would ask for some advice, having never tried their range of concealers in the past.

I was recommended the Pro Longwear Concealer, which is designed especially for the under-eye area. It comes in a small glass tube with a pump dispenser on the top - something which I quite like as it seems far more hygeinic than dipping your fingers into a pot or jar. The only down-side on that score is that often, one pump is too much, so you can end up wasting a bit of product here and there.

I was surprised to be recommended the shade NC30, which is a shade darker than my NW25 skin (I'm still unsure whether I'm really supposed to be an NW or NC, as I'm yet to find the perfect shade for me in Mac products). Anyway, I have always been of the belief that it was wise to go for a lighter shade under the eyes, since you are trying to counteract the darkness. However, the assistant very kindly applied some of the product for me, and I was astonished to see how much better a job it did of concealing my dark circles. It seems to me that using a lighter shade under the eyes only serves to highlight the problem, and if you're not careful you can easily end up with reverse panda eyes. Saying that, some people seem to swear by this method, so as usual, I suppose it's down to personal preference.

The concealer itself is a liquid, not unlike the Pro Longwear foundation in consistency, and blends effortlessly into the skin when applied with my Real Techniques setting brush (maybe not its intended purpose, but it works for me!). I find  the lasting power to be really good, even more so when I dust a small amount of powder over the top to set it - after eight hours it still looks pretty good, but it does depend on whether or not I've been absent-mindedly rubbing my eyes throughout the day or not, which does happen on occasion!

Overall I'm really pleased with this concealer, and I don't think I've ever been able to say that about any of the others I've tried. I'm going to stick with it, as used in conjunction with the afore-mentioned Eye Elixir, I'm finally feeling better about my dark circles and don't have that moment of despair in the mornings any more.

The Pro Longwear Concealer comes in at £14.50 for 9ml, and is available from the Mac store here.

What are your favourite under-eye concealers and creams? Have you ever tried anything that worked really well for you?

xx

Beauty SOS: October

Another month, another Beauty SOS post. I'm afraid this one is going up a little bit later than usual, and if you read my October Agenda post then you'll know why, so I won't bore you with the details again!

So, last month, I must have been feeling unusually satisfied with my beauty issues, as I only asked for you lovely ladies to get involved with two little puzzles of mine. Either that, or I had already used all my other ones up the month before!

So, what did I ask you lovelies for your suggestions on last month?

1. A blemish-fighting product.

Last month, I was going through a bit of a skin nightmare, which I now believe was due to my over-zealous testing of a large number of new products in a short space of time. My t-zone became really oily and I found myself with some rather large blemishes popping up one after the other. I did freak out a little bit about this, as I usually have pretty normal skin, so I asked you lovelies to suggest something. Needless to say, several of you piped up with the Origins Spot Removing Gel/Pads. Other ideas were Alpha H Liquid Gold, Quinoderm, Sudocrem and Lavender oil. As I had some lavender oil to hand, I decided to give that one a go on a particularly unsightly spot that had chosen to pop up on my chin. I dabbed some on before bed and in the morning, voila - it had dried right out and diminished considerably in size. After my success with this, I decided to give the more expensive products suggested a miss (but thank you very much to those who suggested them!), as I am currently trying to cut back on my spending, and if something as inexpensive as an essential oil can do the job then I'm happy with that. A second discovery I made is that Propolis works equally well, so if you've got eiher of those in your cupboard at home then give them a go!

2. A good volumising product for hair.

Suggestions on this one were Sexy Hair Big Powder Play and Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle. I was very pleased to hear the latter suggestion as it reminded me that I actually already had a can of this, which had been squirreled away and subsequently lost and forgotten at the back of my cupboard. So I dug this out and gave my hair a good spray, and I must say, it does do the job rather well.

If you would like to hear more about my favourite products for big hair then keep your eyes open tomorrow, as there will be a post going up on precisely that.

So, with what do I require your assistance this month?

1. A great anti-ageing night cream.

I'm looking for something really moisturising but that won't clog my pores overnight. I've had bad luck with these in the past as they have often broken me out by morning!

2. A fantastic skin-balancing moisturiser.

My skin is mostly normal, but sometimes my forehead and chin are a bit oily, and sometimes I get dry patches on my nose. I'm after something to sort it out.

3. A good BB Cream.

I say a good one because all those I've tried have been a huge disappointment. Are there any that have really impressed you?

4. I know I have asked this before and gone on and on about it on Twitter, but.....

I am still on the hunt for something to banish my dark under-eye circles, preferably something to actually treat them but if you know of a phenomenal concealer then I would love to hear about that too. I'm sure you are probably sick of hearing me ask about this but if anyone is going to be able to suggest a solution then it's you lovely beauty bloggers and I refuse to give up hope! Whilst I have received some lovely suggestions so far, sadly, none of them have been able to make a difference, and I don't even consider my dark circles to be THAT dark. So, just throwing this out there. Again.

5. Your favourite pampering session products.

So, this one is not really an SOS as such, but I am looking to change up my weekend pampering routine as I am getting a bit bored with my own. I would LOVE to hear about what you do to spoil yourselves and what products you use in the comments below :)

If anyone would like some suggestions for some of their beauty ailments then let me know in the comments. I'm no guru but I'd be happy to share my findings with you, and perhaps feature them in next month's post so we can get some more ideas on the go!

Have a great week my lovelies!

xx