this was purchased by me
Recently I haven't been getting enough sleep. Truth be told, I'm also getting older (＠O＠;). A result of this combination are the dreaded dark circles under my eyes. It wasn't so bad the last time I discussed it on this blog (link to NYX concealer), but it's become a prominent problem I deal with daily. Along with the dark circles, I have fine lines and the skin under my eyes is very dry. With these issues, I decided to try Neutrogena's 3-in-1 concealer to see if it would provide any help.
This sells for around $8 and has .37 oz/10.4 g of product in the tube. It "conceals and nourishes" and "instantly reduces the look of dark circles and puffiness", as advertised on the packaging. It's also described as:
"1 Ultra-blendable formula provides complete, natural-looking coverage without settling into fine lines"
2 Clinically proven to help correct the look of dark circles, puffiness and fine lines
3 Protects skin from sun damage with broad plectrum SPF 20
It seemed like the right remedy for my dark circles. I wanted something that would treat my skin as well as conceal the darkness effectively. Having SPF 20 is a great added bonus to protect the delicate skin around my eyes from the harmful rays of the sun during the day.
Here is the full list of ingredients:
The concealer is packaged in a squeezable tube that has a tapered opening where the product is dispensed.
I like this because it's hygienic and you're easily able to control the amount of product you need. There are four shades to choose from ranging from Fair to Medium. The colors are quite light so it doesn't cater at all to those with deeper skin tones. The color I chose was Light 10 as I thought it would match my skin tone the best.
As evident in the swatch, the color match is fairly good. I would say Light is just a little bit more peachy than my skin which will work well to counteract the darkness under my eyes.
Let's see how this looks under my eyes! For comparison, this is what under my eyes look like with just some eye cream applied, nothing else.
You can see how there's some redness under my eyes, they've been irritated lately and I've also been rubbing them....Anyway, I take a small amount of concealer (about the size of a pinhead) to cover the area.
I dot it under my eye starting near the inner corner and move my way diagonally down away from my eye. I also like to put some concealer at the outer corner of my eye as it gets a little dark as well.
As fragrance is a listed ingredient in Neutrogena's 3-in-1 concealer there is a slight powdery scent to it, sort of like baby powder, but it disappears quickly. I don't much notice it when I apply this product and it hasn't been bothersome to me.
I blend the concealer with a medium sized, flat brush. The brush from this picture is actually Laura Mercier's camouflauge powder brush (I got mine from a discontinued tinted moisturizer set) and any similarly shaped brush would do. I prefer to use a brush to apply this because it blends the product out better. Whenever I used my finger it would become patchy and it wouldn't spread the concealer evenly.
I blend the concealer with the brush in a triangle shape under my eye and outwards around my outer corner. Here's a comparison of concealer on one eye versus nothing under the other.
I then applied concealer under the other eye to even everything out and help me look well-rested. Here's a before and after comparison to see how well Neutogena's concealer works.
top: nothing under eyes
bottom: concealer used
I think it does a nice job lightly covering my dark circles without feeling heavy or looking cake-y. It leaves a much better finish than the NYX full coverage concealer which can settle into fine lines around my eyes. I also like how this this one is more hydrating, diffusing the lines and brightening the darkness under the eyes. The one thing I don't really like is that this is quite sheer. If you try to layer concealer for more coverage it becomes difficult to apply and the results look really patchy. In the after picture above, you can still see some darkness under my eye on the left side of the screen.
finished look, natural light
I think this concealer does a good job. I'm not sure about the long term effects of using this to treat puffiness or dark circles, but it does help make those problems less prominent. Despite how tiny the tube looks, it actually last a long time. I've been using this since last October almost daily and I still have a lot of product left (you only need a tiny amount to conceal under both eyes). I like this and I might want to purchase this again since it has a low price, but I'm not a fan of some of the ingredients. I'd like to find something else that has more coverage while still being moisturizing so the hunt for a better under eye concealer continues....
Overview
likes
.available in most stores
.affordable
.hydrating
.hygienic packaging
.travel friendly
.tube lasts a long time
.has SPF
.applies smoothly
.covers dark circles fairly well
dislikes
.not enough coverage
.limited shade range
.not very buildable, becomes patchy
bright young person loves it
this much.
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