Background to this post: I have extremely bad hereditary dark undereye circles. They sometimes have red-purple undertones and sometimes have blue-purple undertones, depending on how irritated my skin is. Also, my face is shaped so there’s shadow there all the time, no matter what colour the skin is. I am on a quest to find the best concealer solution possible.
Currently, I use the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque first to get rid of any purple-blue colours. It is a peachy colour, which leaves me with more natural looking skin than if I’d just used a skin-coloured concealer. Then on top of that, I use my Garnier Anti-Dark circles roll on in the shade Light, which is a slightly yellow-toned skin colour. This helps to neutralise the peachy tones of the corrector. Then if I am still not happy, or if my circle is particularly noticeable, I use the Innoxa concealer just on the edge of the circle (or the “bag”), to make it appear invisible. I got this idea from Goss Makeup Artist in this YouTube video. I guess I conceal pretty well, but I’m always aware of it and I’m always trying to find something more effective.
Recently while I was in Melbourne, I thought I’d visit they Myer cosmetics counters to try and find a better undereye concealer. I wanted to try a particular one that a friend had recommended, so I went to that counter and asked to try their corrector. The girl was made up (predictably) in very heavy thick makeup and was stunning. She sat me down and got out the corrector and concealer (it was a combo one like Bobbi Brown’s one, but slightly different colours and formulation).
Then she took off the concealer I was wearing and was visibly shocked by the colour under my eyes. She told me that because I have red under my eyes as well as purple, she might need to use the green corrector to fix it. That made me feel like an alien. She then went and got her colleague to examine me and ask for a second opinion. The other girl suggested that instead of using a corrector, they just use their “very thick foundation”.
So the messages I was getting from this were pretty much: your face is broken and we can’t fix it with normal stuff. We have to use the heavy-duty stuff because your face is just that wrong. This is a brand that emphasises natural beauty and celebrating the you-ness in your face. But apparently mine was all wrong.
Ok so she puts on the corrector on one side and the super thick foundation on the other side to compare. When she showed it to me, I preferred the side with corrector because it looked more natural to me. The foundation side screamed “I AM WEARING TOO MUCH MAKEUP HERE, THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS”. The salesgirl strongly preferred the foundation.
I touched my face with my fingertips to try to blend out the heavy foundation a little bit, and as soon as I touched it the whole thing immediately creased and cracked. The girl was all “Oh no don’t touch it!! You’ll ruin it!!”
Now I don’t know about you, but I touch my face all day. I live in my face and don’t have time to do little fixes throughout the day. My other concealer doesn’t crack and ruin when I brush my fingers under my eyes! And here I was being treated like an idiot when the makeup failed to conceal properly.
Does anyone else think they’re being made to feel like the ugliest person in the universe at makeup counters? Why are all makeup sales girls these immaculate beauties with no flaws to cover up? Surely if they want to sell concealer, they’d have a girl with bad acne, or bad eye bags, or something that makes us consumers feel like there’s a connection? It’s like watching youtube videos on “how to conceal bad under eye circles” when the presenter has perfectly normal under eyes with no trace of a bag. I guess it’s a deeper problem than just makeup counters. In a perfect society I wouldn’t feel like I need concealer to walk out the door!
This whole experience left me feeling really self-conscious and ugly and sad. I wish I didn’t have to continue my search for the perfect concealer… I wish I could feel perfect without it.
Christina Hopgood 