Concealers: ArtDeco Camouflage Cream vs Perricone No Concealer Concealer

I've mentioned before how important concealer is in my routine. Although Miss MB is two and a half now, she still wakes in the night (curses) so undereye concealer is an essential. I've tried quite a few now and you can find my previous underye concealer comparison here. I have two in particular that I want to review today: the ArtDeco Camouflage Cream in Neutralising Yellow and Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer. I have also included swatches of Ellis Faas Concealer in S202, W3LL People Narcissist Stick in 01 and RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up in 11.

From top, clockwise: Ellis Faas S202, Perricone NCC, ArtDeco Neutralising Yellow, RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up 11 and W3LL People Narcissist 01.

The ArtDeco Camouflage Cream was sent to me by Tender Loving Skincare. This comes in a magnetic pan (which is approximately twice the size of the eyeshadow pans, for reference) and costs £8.50 for 4.5g. The cream is quite densely pigments and provides medium to heavy coverage. If you are applying this to the undereye area, you need to ensure you've prepped with eye cream first. In this case, I applied Clinique's Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector which does a reasonable job of knocking back my discolouration and provides a smooth base.

Neutralising Yellow is very pale yellowy cream colour and is good for correcting purple and blue tones. I realised when I started testing it that my undereye shadows are often quite red and I find Neutralising Yellow doesn't counteract my discolouration particularly well. It's also too light for me to use on it's own as an undereye concealer but of course you can layer this with another concealer, Bobbi Brown style, to correct and then match your skin tone. The camouflage creams do come in several other correcting shades and I suspect that Summer Apricot might be a better corrector for me. On the plus side, the camouflage creams do offer very good coverage and a little goes a long way. I haven't noticed creasing when using this either.

I have already mentioned the Perricone No Concealer Concealer SPF35 (NCC) several times and it is my favourite undereye concealer at the moment. It's quite peachy toned and seems to work particularly well on my discolouration. This is at the other end of the price spectrum to the ArtDeco, costing £37 for 9ml. However, you really need only the tiniest amount (much less than a full pump) so 9mls is going to last a very long time. The NCC does have skin care benefits as well as providing coverage and I do feel it has improved the texture of my undereye area.

Swatches of Perricone NCC on a medium skin tone. Left - blended (yes, it's tricky to spot it), Right - unblended

My only reservations about NCC were about how universal a single 'shade' would be. Because I am a terrible Mum, I decided to use my boys as guinea pigs, as they both have a different skin colour to me. I found it was a good match for Son1 who has quite honey-tan skin. In his words 'why does it disappear Mummy?' when I blended it in. Son2 is quite porcelain skinned and when I tried to blend it on his arm, it left a visible orange patch. So, I would guess that this would be best suited to those in the range fair to medium. I will be sending a sample of this to a friend for a second opinion.

Naked apart from the Clinique Even Better Eyes

L - Artdeco Camouflage cream in Neutralising Yellow, R - Perricone No Concealer Concealer

My apologies for the bare, scary face and messy brows, but I think the series of pictures serve to demonstrate the efficacy of the concealers well. The ArtDeco certainly brightens up the undereye area but it is too light on it's own. The No Concealer Concealer provides very natural looking coverage and disguises the dark circles without really looking like I'm wearing anything. Those who are used to more opaque coverage may consider the NCC too sheer.

Comparison swatches from left to right: Perricone No Concealer Concealer, ArtDeco Camouflage Cream in Neutralising Yellow, RMS Beauty "Un"Cover-up 11, W3LL People Narcissist 01 and Ellis Faas S202.

Disclosure: The ArtDeco Camouflage Cream, Perricone No Concealer Concealer and Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector were sent to me without cost for review purposes. The other concealers shown here were purchased by me.

My Sheer Lipstick Collection including ILIA Beauty Dizzy and W3LL People Lip Shine #3

I was struggling with inspiration for a post this morning, so we have Miss MB and Musing on Beauty to thank for this blog post. Miss MB was wondering around with one of my new lipsticks, which is always dangerous, but seeing the lipstick made me realise that I have a fairly large collection of sheer finish lipsticks which continues to grow.

Nudist Lip Shine #3

The lipstick she was clutching was the W3LL People Nudist lip shine in #3 above, a gorgeous glossy sheer red with a lovely balmy texture. It's one of the items I purchased whilst I was at Content Beauty last week to meet Sasha Plavsic, founder of ILIA Beauty. I will return to this visit in another post as Sasha was incredibly inspiring and I have lots to report back. Meeting Sasha and also browsing all the lovely natural brands in Content has had me reflecting on whether I want to make a more permanent switch to cleaner brands in future. Anyway, I digress..

Sasha inspired another new lipstick purchase whilst I was there, her Lip Conditioner in Dizzy. This orange sheer is a favourite with her Mother, who loves it for layering. Depending on the natural colour of your lips, Dizzy can produce a more coral shade. I purchased it for layering with brighter colours and so far have had success pairing it with Lancome Rose Boudoir.

Dizzy

I have always been a fan of sheer lipsticks, as they're so easy to wear but I seem to have made a major return to them recently. All of the ones I have here are really balmy and comfortable to wear and are excellent if you suffer from dry lips. The ILIA lipstick in Crimson & Clover isn't strictly speaking a sheer but I wanted to include it alongside the other ILIA lip colours. It's more pigmented than the lip conditioners but I don't find it completely opaque either. I have reviewed the majority of these lipsticks before and will add links where available.

From left to right: ILIA Blossom Lady*, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2*, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia, No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour and Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Bonheur.

Swatches L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

L-R: Chanel Bonheur, Ilia Blossom Lady, Arabian Knights, Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2.

L-R: Ilia Dizzy, RBR Murmurings, Crimson & Clover, W3LL People Nudist #3 & #2, Chantecaille Lip Chic in Zinnia and No.7 Poppy King lipstick in Glamour.

Do you like to wear sheer lipsticks or do you prefer to wear a gloss to create a lip shine? I'd also love to hear your opinion of more 'clean', botanical based lines too.

* The lipsticks labelled with an asterisk were received as PR samples, albeit rather a long time ago.

Smoky Green FOTD

Yes, it's another green eye look. I had to look at last weeks FOTD to check that I hadn't accidentally recreated the same look with different eyeshadows. It is similar but fortunately not identical. You will probably spot several favourite products that used in both looks, such as the Perricone concealer, Shu brow pencil and the Kevyn Aucoin eye pencil.

The new item I used here is the Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Pink Tourmaline Mosaic*. This was a limited edition item released with the Summer Jewels collection, but unfortunately I can't it anywhere online to provide a link. It is possible you can still find it in Selfridges. I used the Shimmer Bloc as a highlighter on the tops of my cheeks and didn't apply any blush as my natural colour seemed to provide enough flush. I really liked how this looked in the mirror but it was interesting to see how it photographed. In the photos it definitely looked like I needed more colour on my cheeks and the highlighter seemed to accentuate my crinkles. Maybe this accounts for my moody face below!!

Here's a complete breakdown of the items I used:

Face
Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer*
W3LL People Narcissist Foundation and Concealer Stick (01) blended on cheeks, around nose and chin
Laura Mercier Pink Tourmaline Mosaic Shimmer Bloc* applied with Hakuhodo medium pointed Yachiyo
Shu Uemura brow pencil

Lips
Lancome Rouge in Love in Rose Boudoir* blotted on as a stain. I still don't think this is a great colour for me but I fancied experimenting with application techniques.

Eyes
Too Face Shadow Insurance - not pictured
MAC Brule all over the lid
Edward Bess eyeshadow in Dusk applied from lash to crease
MAC Club eyeshadow on the outer corner
MAC Vex pressed onto the centre of the lid
(Brule, Club and Vex all feature in my favourite MAC eyeshadow post)
Kevyn Aucoin Eye Pencil in Basic Black* on the outer corner and on the upper waterline
Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume mascara*
I used a MAC 239 brush to apply the colours and the 224 to blend.

I was really happy with the eyes but I'm not sure that the lipstick worked to compliment the look. I'd probably go for a more peachy colour next time. What makeup have you been wearing this weekend? Do you ever find that your makeup looks different in person to how it photographs?

* PR Sample

My Holiday Makeup

I realise that it is rather an odd choice for me to show you my holiday makeup packing after I've been on holiday. I ran out of time before I went away but I thought it might actually be interesting to look back retrospectively, so that I can consider which items I could have left at home. Especially as I ended up taking more than was necessary, requiring a larger bag than in the picture above. You may think of it as me sharing what a wally I am!

So, here is what came with me, more or less. I actually managed to forget to pack the Spirit of Beauty facial spritz which was a shame. I would have been grateful of it after the shocking ferry crossing. I think anyone who has travelled the Irish Sea in a force 8-9 gale will know what I'm talking about. There's no amount of correctional makeup that is going to disguise that kind of horror!

I don't suppose it looks like a huge amount spread out like this and I know at home that I tend to vary the products I use a lot. However, I do have a tendency to favour new things and I wore a couple of products almost everyday which I should have predicted when packing.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance and the Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water tinted moisturiser were used daily. I avoided using the perfect skin defense spf30 as it definitely makes my skin look dehydrated. The RBR tinted moisturiser does have an spf of 15 so I wasn't going without sun protection.

I don't regret packing any of the items above. The Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara wand has a big brush head and I do find I blob on my lids but it gives good buildable definition. I forgot to apply my Shu Uemura brow pencil one day and I realised how strange my brows look without powder or pencil. This is as essential to me as covering up the grey hairs in terms of disguising the effects of age. The eyeliners I took with me were YSL Long Lasting Waterproof liner in #5, GOSH Velvet Touch liner in Truly Brown and MAC Teddy Eye Kohl.

The eyeshadows were probably one area that I could have cut back on. Surprisingly, the palette I hardly used was the Guerlain Les Fumes quad. I love this palette and ordinarily, I could have got away with only taking this one. Instead, I fluctuated between days of wearing just the Rouge Bunny Rouge Atlas Swallowtail or Julie Hewett Mystere with liner (for simplicity) or going for a more colourful look. One of my favourite pairings was Chanel Epatant with the grey from the Dolce & Gabbana Fabulous quad. It was nice to re-acquaint myself with NARS Dogon too.

Chanel Epatant and Julie Hewett Mystere

From top, clockwise: NARS Laguna, Illamasqua Rude, W3LL People #5, W3LL People highlighter

I love all of these items but for whatever reason (read holiday red wine intake), I hardly used them. I think I could have swapped them all for one cream blusher such as BECCA Turkish Rose or Edward Bess After Sunset.

L-R: EB Secret Desire, Ilia Arabian Knights, Ilia Crimson & Clover, RBR Murmurings and Hourglass Femme

I had very chapped lips when I arrived at my parents and I pretty much stuck to using the Ilia Arabian Knights and Rouge Bunny Rouge Murmurings all week as they both feel so comfortable. As a side note, these are similar colours and I must do a side by side comparison. I took Edward Bess Secret Desire along in the hope that I might do a smoky eye and nude lip for a night out. I don't really know what kind of special child sleeping miracle I was anticipating!

I could have definitely cut back on the number of brushes that I packed. I hardly used the face brushes as I hardly used the face products. I could have reduced the number of eye brushes too as several of them are multi-purpose, such as the Rouge Bunny Rouge large shader. Using the cream eyeshadows on a couple of days also cut down on my brush needs.

I suspect that I probably won't improve my packing skills next time round. Hopefully, I will remember not to pack for unlikely eventualities though. Feel free to remind me that I said this!

FOTD with JHLA Mystere and Ilia Arabian Knights

This wasn't particularly a thought out 'look', as I had applied several items specifically to take pictures for review posts. I was pleased with how it worked an ensemble though, so I hope you will forgive me for sharing in advance of the individual products posts. The Ilia Beauty lipstick in Arabian Knights is a recent acquisition and I also purchased one of the new releases from the line, Crimson & Clover lipstick.

Arabian Knights is on the left and Crimson & Clover on the right.

As always, I have included links to previous posts where possible.

Face
This Works Skin Defense tinted sunscreen
Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water tinted moisturiser in Adansonia
W3LL People Universalist in #5
Shu Uemura brow pencil
Ellis Faas concealer in S202

Eyes
Too Faces Shadow Insurance
Julie Hewett Hue in Mystere
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Truly Brown
Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara

Lips
Ilia lipstick in Arabian Knights

W3LL People Narcissist Foundation & Concealer #01

I've had the W3LL People Narcissist Foundation for a little while now and feel like I've played about enough with it to give it a thorough review. It doesn't look anywhere as pretty and pristine now as it does in these pictures!

Having got on well with the Universalist colour in #5 and the Universalist Highlighter, I was keen to give the Narcissist stick a try. It can be used as both a foundation and concealer and I've used it as both. If I don't want to wear a full face of foundation, I will apply this to redness around the nose and on my undereye area.

When I use this as a foundation I will apply in Adam Ant style stripes on my face, directly from the stick. Then I use a flat topped foundation brush to buff it in like the one I showed in this post. Buffing it in like this provides a really natural sheer coverage and when it is sheered out like this it has quite a luminous finish.
 

The consistency is creamy but not so creamy that it feels like it moves around on the skin. I do find I sometimes need to touch it up during the day but this is quite easy to do with the stick format. Although I don't tend to be out and about much, I think this would be a handy product to carry around in your handbag.

I do like to cover up the redness around my nose but I find this often causes rash like blemishes in this area. I had hoped that the W3LL People Narcissist wouldn't do this with it's a 'free-from' formulation but unfortunately the red bumps still appear if I use everyday. I've reached the conclusion that it's probably not an ingredient at fault, more the act of covering the area. So, I have returned to my usual habit of not concealing this area everyday.

L - Unblended, R - Blended

Shade #01 is the lightest shade and although it looks a little dark in the swatches, it blends in well on my skin. I consider myself to be fair but not pale and I suspect that those fairer than MAC NC20 might struggle to find a match.

The W3LL People Narcissist foundation & concealer sticks cost £28 and I bought this from www.beingcontent.com. W3LL People is also available from Mise Beauty and for those of you in the States, you can find stockists on the W3LL People website.

My Apologies and a Sneaky Peek!

I hope you will forgive me a little rambly post but I feel like I've been a terrible beauty blogger recently. After a week of Groundhog Day style entertaining, refereeing and tidying up after three small children, it definitely feels like someone needs to hit my reset button. It's been hard to find as much time as I normally would for blogging, so proper reviews have had to take a bit of a back seat.

I just wanted to re-assure you that there are still plenty of good things to come. Once I've managed to re-charge my batteries a little of course. I thought it would be nice to give you a sneaky peek at what's coming up as thanks for sticking with me. At least you can nag me if I continue to dawdle!

Dolce & Gabbana Fabulous Quad

My Haus of Gloi Valentine's Haul

Edward Bess Monte Carlo Quad Royale Palette

Guerlain Les Fumes

Bellapierre Deja Vous

Complete Bliss Travel Candle

Smashbox Girls on Film Collection

W3LL People Narcissist Foundation Stick

W7 Purple Comparison

Have a good weekend everybody!