Doctor Fealgud, it’s a Code Brown! The patient needs a cup of coffee, stat! She’s going into a decaffeinated stupor!
With cream and sugar, doctor! WITH CREAM AND SUGAR!
Howzit, ladies? Ye olde mental motor blew a head gasket this morning because I was up late last night watching the new Harry Potter movie.
I won’t post any spoilers (outside of the comments) today, but I will say that this one scared me more than the other ones did. If you’ve seen it, let me what you thought in the comments. I didn’t read the book, and I’d also like to hear what someone who read it has to say. I’ve read some mixed reviews.
Weird… You wouldn’t think that sitting relatively still in a movie theater for a few hours could be as tiring as it appears to have been, judging by my dark circles this morning, but it gives me an excuse, like so many things do, to try new makeup.
I’ve been trying to find a good drugstore concealer, and I picked up this one by Almay last week called Smart Shade with SPF 20 ($9) in Medium. It’s the darkest of the three shades it comes in.
The company claims these change color to match your skin tone when they’re applied. The Medium shade definitely does darken as you work it in, but I can’t tell if it’s just darkening as it dries, or actually responding to my skin tone… Either way, it sure is neat to see it change color on the skin.
After using it a few times this week, I think it’s time to set it aside and get back to shopping. I mean, it’s easy to blend, and I like the color changing aspect, but the Medium shade is lighter than I expected and has pinkish beige undertones that lend a gray cast to my skin. Plus, the coverage is just way too sheer for this brown girl.
If you get real deal Holyfield dark circles, you’ll probably need something more opaque, but if you have good luck with beige/pink face products and only need mild coverage, it’s probably worth a try.
Before you Tom Cruise outta here, we can’t let those good waves go to waste. Are you up for a little Saturday Surfing with me?
Saturday Surfing: Sites I Surfed Today
- International super spies should check out these covert lipstick gadgets
- Two words: bacon latté
- The Nicki Minaj/MAC lipstick collaboration is on, YES!
- Take your eye looks from yawns to POW with one simple step
- Send dry skin packing with the Votre Vu On Holiday Moisturizing Body Oil Spray
- What the heck is going on with these pointy nails from Illamasqua?
- The Origins Modern Friction Face Scrub caters to ladies (and gents) with sensitive combo skin. I’m there!
- Why it pays to be nice in business
- Help for the hopeless/hapless male holiday shopper: Holiday Gift Guide for Dudes
- The sparkles in the Zoya Fire and Ice holiday collection are so hot you, might need a cold shower
- NP Set does smokey eyes this holiday with their Smoke Signals Eye Palette
- LORAC’s new Visual Effects mascara is making me blue…
Via Milo Minousky’s Munchkinland
Have fun today. 🙂 Tabs says hi.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I’m going to go see Harry Potter tomorrow morning 🙂 hopefully the theaters won’t be too full then. The best drugstore concealer I’ve found is Maybelline’s Double Age Rewind concealer. The only reason I didn’t repurchase after I ran out was that I never ever used the highlighter side, so it wasn’t worth the money for me. Coverage was ok, could’ve been a little more opaque, but I loved how easy it was too blend and how natural it looked on me.
Thanks for the rec, Makeup Morsels! Um, I could use some Age Rewinding, LOL!
Perfect drugstore concealer? Have never found anything that need apply 🙁 I’m actually a huge fan of using Estee Lauder’s Maximum Cover as concealer, but unfortunately, the color selection sucks. If you can find a shade, though, it’s got the best coverage I’ve ever found, but it’s a liquid texture so it doesn’t cake. It is also water and transfer resistant. Apparently Lauder has changed the formula, so I suppose I’ll have to go grab a sample and see how it measures up. BTW, also loving the new MAC longwear concealer! Not drugstore, but good!
Hi Jessica,
The MAC Longwear Concealer is great. If you have very bad dark circles try it sometime on top of Smashbox Photo Op Under-Eye Brightener. The combo works wonders:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/cosmetics/dark-under-eye-circles-hate-this-power-couple/
And here’s the original review of the concealer just in case anybody wants to read it:
https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/product-reviews/mac-pro-longwear-concealer-is-catching-up-to-timebalm-in-the-polls/
I believe these ‘color-adjusting’ products work on the idea that once it reaches the right darkness for you, you will stop blending. 🙂
I used to use NYC’s stick concealer. I thought it worked pretty well! These days I like something with a little more coverage.
Hi Amber,
I’m all about maximum coverage, but the stick sounds interesting. I’m also betting that since it’s NYC that it’s a good deal as well.
My favorite drugstore concealer is the Maybelline Mineral Power Liquid Concealer. LOVE.
I’ve actually had a bacon latte before, believe it or not! There is a cafe in SF (Pirate Cat Radio) that serves a yummy maple bacon latte. Ironically, it’s a vegan cafe (go figure!). It was definitely worth trying, but I probably wouldn’t make a habit out of drinking them, haha.
Hi Janet,
Kinda funny that a vegan cafe would sell a bacon latte! I’d probably never try it, but I can see why it might be appealing with the contrast of the salty with the sweet and all.
What kind of coverage do you get from your Maybelline concealer?
I’m a bacon fiend so I HAD to try it 🙂
I get pretty good coverage from it. I’m a college student and I work until 4am (ah!) so I needed something that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to cover up my dark circles from the late nights. They have a wide range of colors and it’s maybe $6 tops so it might be worth a try!
I’ve always been curious about those color-adjusting products! I can definitely see the consealer changing its color on your skin, but I don’t know if it’s really “adjusting” so well to it… (judging from the swatch).
Have a great weekend, Karen!
Hi Antonia,
I think the color adjustment products are fun, albeit a bit gimmicky. They’re kinda like mood ring makeup!
How’s your weekend going so far?
I’ve been looking for one too!
Have you heard about the Milani HD Concealer? It’s compared a lot to the YSL Touche Eclat, I want to try it really soon! Please blog if you find a good drugstore concealer!
HI Francesca,
I tried that a loooong time ago and remember not being that impressed. It’s very sheer.
If I do find anything good I’ll let you know! You gotta do the same, though!
Love that cat video Karen. Particularly the expression the cat’s face who is driving. Priceless!
And haven’t all cat people seen that face on their cat before.
Hi Julie,
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it in the last 24 hours! His face cracks me up so hard!
The movie was really good as a movie, but if comparing to the book, it just doesn’t do it justice. I understand with maybe budget, but.. yeah 😛
bacon latte? yes plz! we went to costco and came home with a 2 pack of thick cut bacon – omnomnomnom! 😀
This one was WAY darker and intense-the last book was darker too. The snake Nagini freaked the heck outta me and my 17 year old-holy jeebus that’s one evil big snake. We went at midinight and on Friday too. We loved it. They changed just a couple of things from the book, but that’s ok to me. The first half of the book I found a little boring frankly-kind of amazed how they managed to make it so intense!
I went to see the first show of HP at the theatre this morning. My friends and I were there at 10 and waited until 10:45 to be let up into the theatres. We made a mad dash up two flights of escalators. It was intense. Other than that bit of excitement (we were also juggling our full cups of hot tea with us too), we found the movie to be the best out of the last six that we’ve seen. It was definitely filmed with a darker tone. It also felt like it wasn’t being rushed to stuff as much material as it could in a span of two hours – so they definitely paced it a lot more naturally. They did a good job of editing out things that in my opinion, was a bit dry. It was an intense movie and I am slightly bummed as this is only part 1 yet excited for the next and last instalment!
Today is my day off from work and I usually sleep in. So, this topic of concealing dark circles are near and dear to my heart when I find myself with plans for the weekend. What I like to conceal my under eye dark circles these days are to pat on Smashbox’s Under Eye Brightener and then pop on Amazing Cosmetics concealer. I’ve tried drugstore concealers in the past but I’ve found most that I’ve tried are not opaque enough to hide my dark circles. I love Amazing Cosmetics concealers! They’re so opaque and they cover up quite a lot.
thank you for sharing the Almay concealer…I went hunting all evening tonight for a concealer. I ended up buying the Maybelline 24 hrs day concealer. So far so good.
I’m alway effy with Almay, since I bought the blush smart shade and it’s way too light.
anyways have a good rest of the weekend 🙂
Karen! You MUST read Harry Potter! This last movie was the best yet, and I liked it, but the books are amazing! J.K. Rowling knows how to tell a story. You won’t regret it, I promise.
I’m a huge Harry Potter-phile, if you can’t tell. 😛
i just wanna say that modern friction…… SMELLS SO DAMN GOOD! yum! wish it was a dessert! hah
Too bad it didn’t work for you Karen 🙁 I love the picture at the beginning of this post, buhuhu I want summer back!
xxx
Oh, that gray cast doesn’t sound good at all. 🙁 I haven’t seen the new HP yet, but I’ve read all the books, more than once. I think you would really like them. I always sort of rolled my eyes when adults told me how good they were, but I was very pleasantly surprised. You should give them a whirl! 🙂
As someone that has read the HP book and recently saw the movie, I would say they did a fantastic job. They included most everything from the book, which made it worth splitting into two movies.
I agree with you Karen, it was scary!! I had to hide my head a couple of times with fear. But they did a fantastic job with the characters and such. I really enjoyed the part where they told the story of the Deathly Hallows as well!
I guess I have the opposite problem as you Karen! I’m too light toned for most foundations.. They all give me a very orangy or yellowy or peachy look that doesn’t look good at all. 🙂