New Year, New You: Time to try a new concealer?

Welcome to the first installment of a new series I'm rolling out for January called "New Year, New You" which will focus on popular New Years resolutions, and also popular ruts that we all tend to get stuck in from time to time. Since it's a new year (and a new decade) I'm hoping we can pull ourselves out of these ruts and generally start to treat ourselves a little better, without breaking the bank of course! Sound good?

So today I'm going to be reviewing my new favorite concealer: Maybelline SuperStay 24 Hour Concealer. But before I begin, I want to give you a little backstory about my history of concealers.

One rut I'm notorious for getting stuck in is the concealer rut. During high school and most of college, I used Max Factor PanStick as concealer and I freaking loved it. It covers everything, and I do mean everything, even on oily skin. But then one day I discovered that the shade I had been using (the only shade that even remotely resembled my skintone) was not a good match at all.  Nobody ever bothered to tell me this except for a passive-aggressive college roommate whose sole purpose in life was to make me feel bad about myself. One day she just said, "You do know that your concealer in no way matches your skin color, right?" What the heck did she expect me to say? "Oh yeah, of COURSE I knew that. I just LOVE looking like a complete idiot!"  Anyway, sorry for my little "Mean Girls" rant but so that's how I came to discover that I was wearing the wrong shade of concealer, and that's what led me directly to MAC. For years and years and YEARS after that, I was a die-hard user of MAC concealer (the one in the pot). I just didn't even look at other concealers--not even a sideways glance.

But then I started to open my mind to drugstore concealers which cost less money, are more easily accessible, and can be just as good (if not better) than my beloved MAC. And that's when I found Revlon ColorStay (the one that comes in wand form).  That was a holy grail product for me for about three years because, well, let's face it, who doesn't love a long-wear concealer? I have oily skin and I don't want my concealer to play slip-n-slide all over my face in the summer. So ColorStay was the answer to my prayers.

But then last summer, along came Maybelline's response to Revlon ColorStay: Maybelline SuperStay 24 Hour Concealer (click here for my original post to see the display I spotted last June).  This collection of liquid foundations and concealers looked similar to Revlon ColorStay, but what about performance? Could SuperStay possibly be better than my holy grail drugstore concealer?

There was only one way to find out, so I snatched up a Maybelline SuperStay concealer a few months ago (I paid $7.99 for it at Walgreens) and the rest is, as they say, history.  This concealer fits ALL of my needs, every last one of 'em.

Let's take a look at some pics before I get into details:

Now those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I am a MAC NC20. So you might wonder why I purchased such a peachy shade of SuperStay concealer (730 Light is very peachy-pink and has no yellow undertones whatsoever).  Well, thanks to my friend and fellow beauty blogger, celebrity makeup artist (and fellow San Diego resident!) Christina Farrell, I was schooled in concealers a while back  and found out some things that I should have probably known a loooong time ago.  For instance, if you have yellow-based skin and reddish-purplish under eye discoloration (like me), you need to use a PEACH-based concealer. For YEARS I was using a yellow-based concealer because, well, my skintone is on the yellow side. But back then, I really didn't have under-eye discoloration, which hit me in my mid-thirties. So anyway, once I started to see some darkness under my eyes, I just kept slappin' on my usual yellow-based concealer and would get frustrated that it made my under-eye area look almost grayish in color. Ew! I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, so I talked to Chrisitina in a fit of frustration and her words to me were: "Peach, peach, peach!" Well, DUH! It makes so much sense now, right?

Sorry for the tangent....so that's why I purchased SuperStay in 730 Light. It's a light peachy color and perfect for my under-eye area.

So let's cut to the chase and see how this baby works, shall we?

This is my lovely eye with NO makeup on whatsoever. Do you know how much courage this takes? Oh, of course you do. But I'd still like someone to pat me on the back for posting this. lol. :)

And here is my same eye, after applying Maybelline Super Stay in 730 Light and nothing else:

Now, I should tell you that, with the wand, I dab this concealer on in little dots. Then I take my ring finger and lightly dab it into the areas that need it. I use this all over my under-eye region, and then with whatever excess is left, I also dab it onto my upper eyelid area just to make things even up there.  I always do this, whether I plan on using an eyeshadow primer or not. It's just a little extra security.

I need to warn you about something before I go any further. Maybelline SuperStay concealer dries FAST. You MUST work quickly when you use this, and it's really my only complaint about this product. If you're used to applying your concealer in little dots all over your face before you start blending, you simply cannot work that way with this concealer. You need to apply it to one eye, blend, and THEN apply it to the other eye. Then for any spot-applications, apply it to one imperfection at a time and blend before you start applying it elsewhere. If you don't follow this tip, you WILL be sorry because once this baby dries (and again, it dries quickly) it's on there for good. It simply will not budge.

But ooooh, the payoff! I thought I was concealing flaws with ColorStay UNTIL I used SuperStay. Now I know what true concealing is.  In fact, I went back to ColorStay for a day after getting hooked on SuperStay, and I could not believe how sheer it felt. I felt like it wasn't covering up anything at all, now that I have SuperStay to compare it to. Now that's not to say that ColorStay isn't great (obviously it is or I wouldn't have used it all these years) but if you have serious dark circles, acne scars, etc., consider SuperStay to be ColorStay on steroids. This baby will cover up anything and everything and the best part? It doesn't settle into my fine lines and it lasts...and lasts.

I find that if I blend well after application, I can then apply my usual liquid or powder foundation, set it with a little powder and I am good to go. I don't have to fear that if I look in the mirror a couple hours later, my concealer will have found every last wrinkle on my face and decided to camp out there.  For me and my oily skin, this concealer provides full coverage that lasts and lasts until you take it off, even during the hottest heatwave that San Diego can throw at me (120 degrees was the hottest it got last summer). In fact, this concealer survives long after your foundation and powder have gone by the wayside. Crazy, right?

But again, you need to work quickly because this concealer dries in seconds.  Also, if you have dry skin, be sure to apply a touch more moisturizer to your face (especially your eye area) before you use this. You will be AMAZED at the difference a little extra moisturizer can make.  And if you use a face primer, I've found that this concealer is perfectly compatible with high and low end silicone-based primers as well.

I hope this review helps some of you who may be interested in changing up your usual concealer. It's a new year and I truly want you to treat yourself right this year--without spending a lot of money, of course. So what better way to treat yourself right than with a new, upgraded concealer? Even if you don't think this product is a good match for you, it could be time to change up you current concealer (unless of course you've tried a zillion and finally found your holy grail product, in which case CONGRATS!!). I truly think I've found a keeper in Maybelline SuperStay.