When I started out as a makeup artist one of the biggest worries I had was what to pack in my kit. I would honestly lie awake at night writing out lists of products I thought I needed to have, and I actually turned down work because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the right makeup for the job. When I discovered the online beauty community, it was like my prayers had been answered. Sites like InMyKit.com helped me to understand you don’t need foundations in every colour (mix them daaahling!), and ‘expensive’ makeup is not necessarily better makeup. So in the interest of throwing some good karma back out into the internet I have decided to start a weekly blog post detailing what I carry in my kit and mini reviews of each of the products. Today I’ll be talking about concealers, possibly my favourite bit of the kit.
Let’s get started!
First is Benefit’s Erase Paste. This doesn’t get a huge amount of love in my kit, but every so often it works wonders. It’s the creamiest most viscous texture of all of the concealers in my collection, making it great for people with dry skin. I only ever use it under the eyes as it’s a little too creamy for blemishes and a bit too thick to use on large areas, eg. covering redness across the cheeks. Coverage is about a 7/10, meaning it’s not completely opaque but good at brightening. The main reason I like this product is because of its very pink undertone, making it a fantastic colour corrector for people with light skins and a blue-ish shadow under the eyes. I carry number 1 and 2.
Next is the MAC Mineralize Concealer. This is a new addition to my kit, and I really rather like it! It’s a medium coverage concealer, with a thick fluid consistency. The brush applicator is great for personal use, but not very hygienic for a professional, so as with all cream/ liquid products in your kit, you need to decant this onto a palette before applying to your clients face.
Again I use this for under the eyes and also to reduce the appearance of redness on larger areas of skin (across the cheeks etc). This is a great product for dry skins as it feels quite moisturising with a fresh skin-like finish and it doesn’t exaggerate the look of flaky skin. I wouldn’t recommend this for oily skins because of the dewy texture, and it will not cover blemishes.
MAC Pro Longwear Concealer has become a bit of a cult product in the last couple of years and I can understand why. This stuff is the bees knees! For coverage I would give it about an 8/10 meaning it will cover most under eye circles (unless they’re extremely dark) and will also cover blemishes. It’s quite a runny consistency and the only major gripe I have is the pump top dispenser that always spurts out far too much product, but at least it’s hygienic (silver linings!). This is a long wearing concealer that sets about 10 seconds after applying. It dries down to a semi matte finish and suits dry to oily skins, although I would hesitate to use it on very dry sensitive skin. I carry shades NW20, NW30, NW40, NC15 and NC30.
The MAC Prep and Prime Highlighter Pen is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin – a highlighter pen. On very light skins this can work as a concealer, and on medium skin tones it would work beautifully as a highlighter. This is another fairly recent addition to my kit and although it’s definitely not necessary for me to carry it (I have many other products that do a similar job) I just really like this stuff! It’s a sheer coverage, so it doesn’t conceal very much by itself, instead I like to apply a small amount on top of another concealer to add an extra pop of brightness. At the moment I only have one colour, Radiant Rose, but I do intend on purchasing the other two ( a yellow and a peachy/orange).
The Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover (mouthful!) is a wonderful product, and if you are really strapped for cash getting 3 or 4 of these will see you through a lot of different jobs. This is the most opaque product in my concealer collection, I’ll give it a 9.5/10. I use this mostly for pin point concealing on blemishes, using a tiny eyeliner brush to apply it exactly where I want it. You could easily dilute this with a bit of moisturiser or primer (as I have seen Charlotte Tilbury do) and end up with a gorgeously natural but pigmented foundation. Likewise you can apply this as is directly to the skin of someone with high pigmentation or birthmarks and get flawless results. Because it’s so pigmented you don’t actually use that much product so it doesn’t look or feel heavy on the skin, and in true DoubleWear style it sets to a waterproof finish. Great stuff.
Light
Medium
These two palettes have fast become the products I reach for most in my kit. They are the MAC Pro Conceal palettes and contain (possibly my favourite concealer formula of all time) the Studio Finish Concealers. I own the light and medium colours, as I don’t really work with many dark skin tones for whatever reason.
Studio Finish concealer is a great coverage (9/10), thick paste that I think works wonderfully on blemishes and under eyes alike. Although this product has an SPF of 35 I have never seen it flash back, in fact I think it photographs beautifully. It’s just a great all rounder and I would be lost without it.
This is Makeup Forever corrector palette in No5 and if I’m honest I rarely use it, but I do feel better knowing I have it. I can probably count the amount of times I’ve ever used a green concealer on one hand, but for some reason I feel secure knowing that it’s there. If I ever need to cover a bruise or something extreme like that, then I know I’m all set. Be prepared!
Last but certainly not least, we have the behemoth. I’m breaking out the big guns boys and girls, it’s the Bobbi Brown University Palette (BBU for the uninitiated). I lusted after this bad boy for so long, so when a good friend of mine happened to acquire two of them (she worked for Bobbi at the time) and offered to sell me one I jumped. Literally, I jumped. This one little product has brought a great sense of security into my professional life, knowing that I can pretty much do anyone’s makeup, no matter what colour.
In this palette you get a mixture of concealers, colour correctors and stick foundations (they’re on the other side of palette and we’ll talk about them another day). I had never used Bobbi’s concealers before and it definitely took me a while to get the hang of them. They kind of remind me of Benefit’s Erase Paste, but a little thicker and more sticky. Like the Erase Paste I find myself using them mostly under the eyes as I find the MAC palettes better for concealing blemishes. If you ever get the opportunity to purchase one of these beauties, I say go for it. The comfort of knowing you are prepared for just about anything really is priceless.
Don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin if you don’t want to miss next weeks installment of ‘What’s in My Kit?’. We’ll be talking blush, another favourite of mine – who am I kidding it’s makeup, they’re all favourites!
Hope you enjoyed!
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