Top 4 Concealers Reviews and Swatches.

A review of 4 of the leading concealers on the market. These are:

-Benefit Erase Paste Brightening Concealer

-Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer

-Benefit It Stick

-Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Concealer

Product Swatches

Benefit Erase Paste Brightening Concealer

Benefit Erase Paste Brightening Concealer: This is a very thick product, so you would think that it would smooth lines and pores, but because the product is so heavy it sinks into large pores and lines and shows them up more if anything, so I would not recommend this for older women. This product would be suitable for young skin, but is very thick so it does require a lot of blending. As for lasting power, it stays for hours even without being set.

Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer

Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer:  The consistency of this product is quite thin, but the colour of it is highly pigmented, so it comes with a lot of coverage. This product is really nice under the eyes as it goes on smoothly, and Clinique products are 100% fragrance free so it does not irritate the eyes. This concealer is also good on blemishes because of its high pigmentation, and really helps to take the redness down. This product is ideal for more mature skin, as it does not sit in the lines and really does seem to smooth them. This concealer lasts all day, once set with a translucent powder or mineral powder such as Mac Mineralize Skinfinish. 

Benefit It Stick

Benefit It Stick: Unfortunately this has been discontinued, but you can still get them off Ebay and such.

I like this product because it is in crayon form and is therefore less messy, which is always a good thing. Benefit It Stick is highly pigmented so is great for blemishes, but I feel it's a little thick for the under eye area. This product does not stay as long as the two previous concealers, but is great for on the go as you can just pop it in your bag without it making a mess in there. 

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat: This is my absolute favourite concealer (as I'm sure you can tell from the rubbed off writing in the picture.) First of all it comes in 7 shades all with different undertones so it's easy to find the right shade. This product is best for your under eye area as it really brightens the dark circles and makes you look more awake. It is a highly pigmented formula so you only need the tiniest amount on any blemishes or the under eye area, so it lasts for a long time (which makes the price more reasonable!) Regarding staying power, this stays for hours without being set and even longer if it is set.

I hope you find this review helpful and feel free to ask any questions :)

You can get the products I mentioned from:

-Benefit Erase Paste ( http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10001_10001_123901934999_-1?breadcrumb=Home~txterase+paste )

- Clinique Line Smoothing Concealer ( http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10001_10001_123072847999_-1?breadcrumb=Home~txtclinique+line ) 

- Benefit It Stick ( multiple sellers on Ebay )

-YSL Touche Eclat ( http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10001_10001_123066950099_-1?breadcrumb=Home~txttouche+eclat )

Product Review: Ciaté Paint Pots - Twilight

Ciate Paint Pots in 'Twilight'

Ok, so lets start with the packaging. On Ciatés website they describe it as 'Ergonomically designed to enable maximum control with a long handle and curved bottle to sit comfortably in your hand.' Now to me, this is the perfect description. The long handle rests on your hand to keep the brush steady and precise, where as polishes with shorter handles such as the Chanel ones, I find much harder to keep steady as you cannot rest it against your hand.

'Twilight' is a black varnish, packed full of gold flakes. The black is a medium opaqueness, so the gold flecks show through really well.

♥

I first wiped over my nails with acetone, to remove any excess oil and then applied base coat.

After the first coat:

So as you can see, because of the medium opaqueness of the black, the first coat is still a little light.

After two coats:

After applying the second coat and top coat ( I used Seche Vite), the colour turns out exactly like it looks in the bottle. I absolutely love this colour, one of my new favourites.

How does it last?

For me it lasted about 2 days being completely chip-free, but I'm always catching my hands on things as I am a very clumsy person! But with more care taken I would say this would last 4-5 days.

Thanks for reading, feel free to ask any questions! :)

You can get the products I used from:

Ciaté Paint Pots 'Twilight' ( http://www.ciate.co.uk/twilight.html )

Seche Vite ( http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/sechevite/g/dryfasttopcoat/ )

Christmas Nail Tutorial.

For this Christmassy Nail Tutorial you will need:

♥ Base Coat ( I used 'Seche Base')

♥OPI Nail Lacquer in 'Chick Flick Cherry'

♥OPI Nail Lacquer in 'Gettin' Miss Piggy With It' (From 'The Muppets' Collection)

♥High Shine Top Coat (I used 'Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat')

Step One: Prepare Nails.

File nails to desired shape, then wipe over with Acetone/Nail Varnish remover to remove any oil off the nail surface, this will ensure the polish lasts longer and will prevent chipping and peeling. Then apply base coat.

Step Two: Apply First Coat.

Apply one coat of your preferred red nail polish (I use 'Chick Flick Cherry' as I feel it's the right tone of red to go with the glitter.)

Step Three: Apply Glitter Polish.

Apply one coat of 'Gettin' Miss Piggy With It'. This polish contains large silver glitter particles, which you may have to move around with the brush when applying, so that they are spread evenly.

Step Four: Apply Top Coat.

Apply a high shine top coat such 'Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat'-which is my personal favourite. 

Thanks for reading! Hope you try this out and let me know how it goes :) Feel free to ask me any questions.

You can get the products I used from:

-Seche Base ( http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/sechevite/base/ )

- OPI 'Chick Flick Cherry' ( http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/opi/chick-flick-cherry/ )

- OPI 'Gettin' Miss Piggy With It' ( As far as I know, this can only be bought directly from salons that carry OPI)

-Seche Vite Top Coat ( http://www.feelunique.com/p/Seche-Vite-Dry-Fast-Top-Coat-14ml )