Guess who found a college graduation picture of herself at her parents’ house last weekend from 1998 (!).
OK, there’s sooooo much to talk about here, between the hand on the hip pose (why?), to the wanna-be Rachel haircut, to the brows (OMG, I just can’t!) and the lip, around which, if you look closely, you’ll see a carefully unblended darker lip liner (believe it or not, that was totally on purpose).
But I’d really like to direct your attention to the under-eye situation, namely 1) the lack of dark circles, and 2) the lack of concealer.
I WAS LIKE WEARING ABSOLUTELY NO CONCEALER.
I mean, it blows my mind! Seriously, though, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
Fast-forward to today, and you’d literally have to pry the concealer out of my T. rex claws. Ain’t nobody taking away my concealer without a fight, but getting full coverage that doesn’t look heavy is a pain. All I want is to cover my dark circles without it looking like I’m wearing a 10-layer cake.
After a lifetime of doing it differently, I think I’ve finally figured out a way to get full under-eye coverage that works well for me. What I do is apply a thin layer of concealer, then gently blot away the excess (while it’s still wet) with a tissue or a BeautyBlender, then repeat with as many thin layers as it takes to get the level of coverage I want/need.
You wanna put a little on, take a little off, put a little on, and repeat, basically building up your under-eye concealer in thin layers until your dark circles are completely covered.
It takes longer than just dumping a whole bunch of concealer on there and dealing with the ensuing cakey-ness, but I think the results look much more natural.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
That dress! I miss 90s fashion.
I usually layer/blot too .. first with concealer, then with a pink highlighter. Works fairly well 🙂
Monica.
I was young enough in the 90s that I didn’t wear makeup, LOL! I’ll have to try out this tip, with dry undereyes it gets caky easily. Plus, with the freckles, over concealing is super obvious.
I apply mine with a damp beauty blender, which helps to thin it out some while blending. Makes it super easy to blend. I also use the NARS concealer. And even as a youngster, you were a cutie- pa- tutie 🙂
I am definitely gonna try this method tomorrow on my nasty heridetary dark circles and let you know how it work for me 🙂
I’m trying this one today! I have genetic dark circles and was definitely wearing concealer at my college graduation and way before that!
Awwwww, look at you!! 🙂 Yeah, the eyebrows… but we were all there together. HAHA! You looked lovely back then, of course, but I think you’re even more beautiful now. Jerk. HAHA! Honestly, though, you’re aging extremely well so try to appreciate that. 🙂
So trendy and cute! That dark lipliner trend.. why…
you’re missing the blue eyeshadow all the way to the browbown though. Tsk tsk!
Also, I’m going to try that concealer tip!
How funny! Some old pictures of me are bad (that makeup, that outfit, that hair?!) and some I think, wow I look so young and thin! I know what you mean about the concealer though, for some reason I didn’t start using it until my early 20s (gasp!) and I have pictures of me from when I started college and living the typical college life (drinking and staying out late) and I look terrible!
I think you look beautiful! I even like the brows (you have a nice high arch going there!) I miss the ’90s and early 2000s, that was the best time period for beauty and fashion.
Wow, I’m still IN college and I have major undereye circles/bags! I can’t imagine leaving the house (dorm!) without some concealer down there. Like, it looks like I have 2 black eyes. I’ll definitely try this tip tomorrow.
Cute high school picture! I barely wore any makeup except occasional black burned tip Maybelline eyeliner in high school . I didn’t need much until my thirties. Yeah you don’t miss your water til the well run dry! Gonna try layering my Nars concealers.
Cute photo of you! You looked really pretty and still do!
Awww so perfectly late 90s! You look gawgeous! 🙂 I wish I could say I didn’t use concealer in my graduation photo either, but acne had me tightly in its grip at that point! A damp Beauty Blender is my savior when it comes to making concealer look natural, plus Laura Mercier’s secret brightening powder to keep it from creasing.
I’ve seriously been having SUCH a problem with my concealer caking up ONLY ON MY RIGHT EYE! I can’t figure it out. It cakes up, then like.. flakes off (if that makes sense?). It’s been driving me nuts. I’m going to try this trick tomorrow and see what happens.
Aw, you look lovely in that picture.
Different styles is all 🙂
But youuu look so nice! Despite everything, it’s such a nice photo of you during that time. Geez, you should see some of mine…
You were a beautiful college grad Karen! Ah, the 90’s…I remember them well. I was in law school in 1993, no doubt creating the dark under eye circles I have now. I miss my non concealer days. Took them for granted. I keep an ample concealer collection including Nars, Marc Jacobs, LA Girl to the new Sephora gel concealer which I’m experimenting with now. I pity the fool who tampers with my concealers.
I want your dress!