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.

ARTDECO Eyeshadows

ARTDECO is a brand I've not really come across other than through the online beauty community. It isn't widely available in the UK so I was excited when the talented creator of shiny fings* and curator of Worship at the House of Blues, sent me this set of eyeshadows to try. The eyeshadows come as little rectangular refills which you can slot in to their magnetic palettes. The compact shown above can hold four eyeshadow pans but I believe you can get empty palettes in a variety of sizes.

This is the individual packaging. This was actually an eyeshadow sent to me by Mookie On The Bench which isn't in my compact and I'm afraid I also forgot to include a swatch. I probably don't need to tell you why Klara thought I might like this particular colour!

L-R: 99, 98, 12, 205

The four colours shown in the compact above are: #99, #98, #12 and #205. #99 is a beige pink pearl. Despite the appearance in the pan, #98 is a frosted pale lilac. #12 is a shimmery chocolate bronze and #205 is an ashy brown. According to ARTDECO's own descriptions #99, #98 and #12 are all pearl finish eyeshadows  #205 is a duochrome. Personally, I would describe all of them as having a frost finish apart from the beige pink. #99 is also not quite as pigmented as the other three shades. #12 and #205 are especially pigmented and creamy to apply.

L-R: 205, 12, 98, 99

L-R: 99, 98, 12, 205

As you may recall, I took this palette with me on holiday. It really was an ideal selection of colours to travel with. I could create a variety of looks with this combination of shades. I enjoyed pairing the pale lilac colour with my YSL purple liner for days when I wanted something less neutral.

Here's a look I did pre-holiday. I applied #99 on the inner 1/3rd of the lid, #12 on the outer 2/3rd and #205 blended on the outermost corner and into the crease. I lined with BECCA automatic liner in Goa and used Le Metier Anamorphic mascara in Aubergine on my lashes.

 

ARTDECO products are available online from Cocktails Cosmetics and The Garden Pharmacy. The eyeshadow pans cost £6 each and the Beauty Box compacts come in a variety of sizes.

* ATTENTION: I want to bring to your notice the newly opened online store, The Worshipblues Emporium. If you like shiny fings, you're going to love these pieces!! ♛ ★ ♛

Help me decide!!

I'm just sorting out my makeup bag for my holiday (yes, there's a reason I'm doing it in advance and all will be revealed!). I'm having a dither-y moment and really can't decide which eyeshadow palette to take. Rather than struggle with this complex decision making process on my own* I thought I'd enlist the help of my wise readers!

THE OPTIONS

The shortlist is an ArtDeco palette with a selection of shimmery neutrals, the BECCA Enigma palette, and NARS duos in Brousse and Dogon. Ideally I suppose I should just pick one as I limited with space but we all know that's not going to happen. So, I'm happy to settle for a combination of the two. Which do you think would make the most versatile pairing? I won't be going out in the evenings so this will just be for everyday wear.

You can share your thoughts in the comments or make your selection in the poll in the sidebar to the right. You've got until Friday to decide!


* Tongue most definitely in cheek, I promise.