Don't forget to check the beauty sale pages at Macy's here and
Nordstrom here for new beauty deals plus free shipping!


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Review: Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer

Concealers aren't glitzy and they aren't as fun to look at as pretty new eyeshadows or lip colors, but make no mistake: when there's buzz about a new concealer, the frenzy and excitement seem to rank right up there with the latest new eyeshadow or lipgloss collections.

And boy have I heard some buzz about this one! For weeks now, you've been telling me I need to try the new Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer. So I was pretty much doing cartwheels in my living room when the folks at Hard Candy recently sent me a tube:

Hard Candy Glamoflauge Heavy Duty Concealer
(retail: $7 at Walmart)

As we all know by now, Hard Candy is sold exclusively at Walmart, but this product is not yet available on the Walmart website, so you'll need to purchase it in-store for now. This product not only comes with a good-sized tube of concealer, but also with a concealer pencil.


This product comes in three shades: Light, Medium and Dark. The shade I received, Medium, is darker than my skintone, but I can still tell you how it works to even out redness and conceal flaws. The only thing I can't judge it on is how it cancels out/corrects the darkness in my under-eye region, because I really require a more peachy-toned concealer for that area.

So going into it, I pretty much knew that it wasn't going to completely cancel out my under-eye darkness, but I can still give you my opinion on how it works for the rest of my face, and also how it conceals other types of flaws (aside from my under-eye darkness).

Swatches of the concealer and concealer pencil

I tried to capture in the images above that a little of this products goes A LONG way. Seriously, just the tiniest squeeze of this tube is going to yield more than you'll probably need for your under-eye area alone, so squeeze with caution. Ha! I am very impressed by how concentrated this product is, because that means one tube will last you forever. I cannot foresee the average person running out of this in three months, even if you use it every day on say, 75% of your face.


Here are some before-and-afters of my eye region. For the amount of product used for one eye, I only needed the tiniest drop of product. Literally, one tiny squeeze of the tube. The best example I can give is this: if you've ever used a nail art pen, you know how if you take the pen and press down for just one second to make a polka-dot? The amount of polish you'd get from one polka-dot is actually more product than what you'd need from this concealer for ONE eye. I hope that helps paint a better picture for you as to the concentration of this concealer!

Looking at the "After foundation" photo (this was taken after blending the concealer and then topping it with my Physicians Formula powder foundation) you can see that there is still some darkness visible (which I knew was going to be there, as explained earlier) but I hope you can also see that it did a great job of canceling out the redness on the rest of my eye area. Whenever I use concealer, I always have a bit left over and I use that to conceal my eyelids and basically everywhere else around my eye. I was very pleased with how it worked in this capacity.

As for the texture of this product, it's on the thick side, but I found that it blended quite easily for me and I didn't experience any tugging or pulling when applying it to the delicate eye area. I found it extremely easy to work with, especially given how thick it is.

If you have tried Dermablend Smooth Indulgence concealer (which I also own) I can tell you that it's thicker than that product, but it works in quite the same way. In fact, I'd say that it's more concentrated that Dermablend, and more opaque.

After using this concealer every day for five days straight, I can tell you that even though the color match is off for my NC20 skin, I'm very happy with its concealing properties and also the easy of application. The only issue I had with this product was that it seemed a touch drying to my under-eye area when topped with my powder foundation. It didn't settle into my fine lines, but it did make my lines more visible by the end of the day. This could possibly be due to the combination of this concealer mixed with my powder foundation. If you use a liquid or cream foundation, you might have different results. Also, the dryness could be remedied by using a silicone-based face primer first, such as the Hard Candy Sheer Envy face primer, which I reviewed here.

So what fun with this review be if I didn't try this product for its other intended purpose, which is to conceal tattoos? Since I don't have any tattoos, I drew a brown heart on my arm using a permanent marker. For this test, I followed the instructions on the packaging (see above) word for word:

(I apologize in advance for the variance in lighting in the above pictures. The flash on my camera is inconsistent and if I move the camera by just a hair, the flash illuminates a different part of my skin. But I hope you can get the general idea.)

As instructed, I used the concealer pencil to outline my "tattoo" and then fill in the tattoo (pic 3). Then I used a tiny dot of concealer and patted it gently (pic 4). After patting some more, you get what you see in pic 5.

Obviously that didn't do the trick, so in pic 6, as instructed on the packaging, I started with another layer of concealer. In pic 7, you can see that it still didn't completely cover my "tattoo" so in pic 8 I added layer. I like that the packaging clearly states "You may need 2-3 layers depending on color of tattoo" because if I didn't know this, I'd probably be frustrated at this point.

Finally, in pic 9, I blended the third layer and then topped it with a layer of my own powder foundation (I do not own Hard Candy Welcome Matte, which is the recommended product to use for this step). As you can see, my heart "tattoo" is still very slightly visible, but I have to tell you that I was pretty impressed! From a distance, you really couldn't notice it at all.

FINAL VERDICT: I think this is a very good addition to the "heavy duty" concealer category of the drugstore makeup world. I found it easy to work with and extremely concentrated. I think the combination of pencil and concealer would work well for spot-concealing (birthmarks, small tattoos) but for my under-eye area, I didn't find "Medium" to be a good color match, and I also found it a bit too drying by the end of the day. But again, I use powder foundation, so if you use liquid or cream, your results may be different. Also, I think using a silicone-based primer beforehand, such as Hard Candy Sheer Envy, might help keep this from drying. If I could find a better match for my particular skintone, I would DEFINITELY use this on the other areas of my face on a daily basis because it really helped conceal my imperfections and redness, and I found that it lasted all day on my oily skin, no problem. So if you can find the right color match for your skintone, this one might be a keeper.

I hope you found this review useful, and if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer them. In the meantime, have you tried Hard Candy Glamoflauge? Do you think it might be a good fit for you based on my experience? I'd love to hear from you!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.
SHARE:

28 comments

  1. Fantastic Review! I have been wanting to try this for while but wasn't sure. So now I know! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently stumbled upon a beautiful Hard Candy display at a Walmart in Western New York. I bought a couple of things and have to say I was VERY impressed by the quality of the products. I am definitely going to buy more.

    I was suprised that the concealer worked as well as it did on your 'tattoo'. I am wondering how it would do on the blemishes that like to appear on my chin every now and again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the concealer did a nice job on your under eye area. It doesn't look like you were trying to use a concealer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great Review cant wait to pick this up . I have a tattoo and would like to try it for thhat and my under eye circles. Thanks for the info

    ReplyDelete
  5. I use this concealer for covering up random redness on my face and it's really amazing for that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want to try this :) But concealers take forever to use up n I'm sure I still have at least 3/4 of a tube to use up -_- mainly 'cos I use very little each time

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think that this is such a great product. Since it aims at covering tattoos it reminds me of Kat Von Dee's "tattoo concealer", which has been the hype in the high-end makeup world right now.

    It also reminds me of a lesser known product that I LOVE! Clinique has a concealer called "All About Eyes" and it is AMAZING, it really is made for eyes. I have the lightest color which is 003 Light Petal. It comes in a squeeze tube-just like the hard candy one. It is also extremely pigmented. So pigmented that I use it everyday, since March 2010, and I still have another four months of use out of it. It is made for eyes, so it is practically orange. (I can not use it on any other part of my face it is really that peachy) I have severe under eye purple/blueness and it completely cancels it out. At 16 dollars it is pricey, but like i said, it lasts for over a year, even used everyday. I'm not trying to sell you this product in any way. In fact, if your curious, I would go to a clinique counter and ask if you can try a sample in the color light petal- that's the one I'm raving about, i can not recommend any other shades since i have not tried them. Anyways thanks for another fantastic review!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. How does it compare to your beloved Maybelline 24hr superstay concealer? I was going to buy the 24hr but now that you have this review up i'm torn. Which would you prefer?

    ReplyDelete
  9. i was waiting to find a good review of this product before i tried it :) thanks girl!

    ReplyDelete
  10. impressive pigmentation! I might have to skip out because of my dry skin, but it sounds great for other skin types!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great review! It's amazing how it works so well with tattoos. I may need to look for this concealer now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have loved everything I've tried by Hard Candy so far, so I'm definitely going to give this a go. Thanks for the great & detailed review!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have this, and I actually quite enjoy this under my eyes! I can even use it to conceal some acne scarring here and there, and it works great!

    Just one little side note though: I think this comes in light, medium, and TAN not dark. I have mine in the darkest shade, and it's called "tan". Just thought I'd point that out =]

    If Hard Candy came out with more shades of this concealer, it could be one of those concealers you hear every girl has in her makeup kit! Here's hoping!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. FANTASTIC review! Thanks for all of the great pictures. I've been using the Kat von D tattoo concealer for my acne marks and like it a lot, but I'm going to go out and buy the Hard Candy one and see if it works better.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have this concealer and I generally just use it the same way you did for the tattoo, but under my eyes. It is buildable, just wait for it to dry and add another dab and TADA! undereye circles are gone.

    I also have weird lips, the upper one is thin and the lower one is full. I don't like that, so what I do is use the little concealer pencil to line my bottom lip to make it appear just a little thinner, so that it's a better match.

    ReplyDelete
  16. LOL the coincidence is absolutely..wow!!!

    I just bought these concealers last weekend, and after testing them, I'm taking a break from cropping pictures of these...decided to come see if there're new posts from you, and VOILA! you have a review!

    Now I'm debating on posting my review or not lol since you pretty much covered everything I was going to say haha

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great review, G.! I've heard a lot of great things about this concealer but the Hard Candy display at my Walmart is pretty sad and empty (literally! It looks like they haven't restocked anything in months!) and I've never seen this there :( Hopefully they'll re-stock soon!

    ReplyDelete
  18. OMG...totally buying all 4 colors for my freelance kit. It looks amazing. I have a few Dermablend concealers for use on others but for some people it's a little drying. The Hard Candy one looks awesome :D

    Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have yet to try any Hard Candy makeup, but I may have to pick up a tube of Glamoflauge! All of your pictures were really helpful - thanks for posting them!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I was about to buy this today, but I decided not to for some reason. I think I want to buy it now :p haha Though I feel like it would be too thick for my liking. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you all so very much for your kind words about this review! I really, really hope it helps you to better determine whether or not you think this might be a good fit for you. :)

    Rubychopsticks: Good question! You know, I will continue to use my beloved Maybelline SuperStay for my under-eye area for two reasons: it's not as drying as the HC when used with my powder foundation, and also the color match, for my particular under-eye darkness, is much better with the Super Stay. But for the rest of my face, I might consider purchasing the lighter shade of this HC concealer and mixing them (as suggested by another lovely reader) because I really like the coverage and staying power of this on the rest of my face. I hope that helps! :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow this concealer has amazing coverage!! Thanks for the review and the swatches G. , very helpful! ;) x

    ReplyDelete
  23. this is incredible. i bought this concealer, and it does wonders on my face, but i got frustrated with it covering my tattoo. it never seemed to cover it completely but i didn't ever try more than two layers. knowing that it works helps greatly. (:

    ReplyDelete
  24. Very helpful review! I'm gonna go out and buy a tube and give it a whirl :-)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh PERFECT! This is good to know. I've been curious about this. I totally want it now! :) Thanks! <3

    ReplyDelete
  26. Been wanting to try this for ages! Wasn't sure whether to get light/medium? What foundation shade do you wear in MAC xo

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thank you for this amazing review!!! I have loved Hard Candy for a good while now and just recently purchased this specific item. I have tried COUNTLESS concealers and this one has fixed every problem I have. I was mainly baffled by how little you need to use out of the tube! It's great because that means you don't have to run out to buy a new one in a good long while. I use both liquid and powder foundation and it pretty much stays on all day. I have no issues with this set :]
    On a side note, Hard Candy has some AMAZING products... I've used their Sheer Envy Primer for over a year now and its the only primer I'll ever use again. I also use their mascara primer, carbon black volumizing mascara (the only mascara I've used that actually does what it says it should do), all different colors of their nail polish, their cream eyeshadow, pressed eyeshadow, lash tinsel/glitter (which i gotta say is soooo much fun!!), this "lotion"thats supposed to add a certain "glamour" or sheen to your skin, their cream makeup remover and their liquid eyeliner.
    Out of all these products the only one i didnt care for was the liquid eyeliner.in my opinion Hard Candy is among the best of the budget makeup. On top of the qualit, it always lasts me for months!!!

    ReplyDelete

I love and encourage comments here at Nouveau Cheap, and I do not censor comments unless they violate my comment policy, which you can view here.

Please refrain from comments that contain:
• Links to your own blog or website
• Advertisements or referral links

Thanks very much for your help in keeping this a spam-free zone.

© 2009- Nouveau Cheap. All rights reserved.
BLOGGER TEMPLATE MADE BY pipdig