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concealer Tag

PRODUCT REVIEW | MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation and Concealer

Posted on March 10, 2009 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment

I’ve been using Studio Scuplt Foundation for over a month now since its release and the verdict? I’m loving it! The cream foundation glides on smooth and blends well without much effort. Coverage is easily buildable and produces a finish that’s medium to heavy with the more layers you apply. You literally only need a pea-sized drop from the tube to give the face moderate coverage, which is a nice quick fix when putting on my “out-in-public” face on in the morning! When layered on, I prefer the look Studio Scuplt provides over the other staple heavier coverage MAC foundations in my kit (Full Coverage and Studio Fix). With Studio Sculpt, the buildable coverage doesn’t give the face the undesirable flat, matte look – just flawless skin! For those light days when you prefer a sheer and dewy look to your foundation, the formula can easily be thinned out by mixing in a tiny bit of moisturizer.

As for Studio Sculpt Concealer, I found the formula to be too tacky for my liking. The product lasted well on blemishes, but was difficult to work with when applying to the undereye area (my main area of concern when evaluating to see if a concealer “works” for me). Studio Sculpt likely just wasn’t the best concealer for me, as the skin under my eyes has changed from my teens and early 20s (with age, sun exposure, lack of sleep, etc., etc.). The sticky paste formula would blend best on someone with a smooth undereye surface, but I definitely need more “slip” from my concealer. Nonetheless, Studio Sculpt is a great concealer product hiding imperfections well – I just need a little more work!

ARTIST TIP: If your undereyes are similar to mine and are more crepey (ugh, that sounds terrible. Let’s say “have more character”), stick to a concealer formula that has more “slip” (i.e. liquid-based) to help prevent the product from creasing into fine lines around the eye. Yes, character indeed.

Related posts:
BEAUTY 101 | All About Foundation
BEAUTY 101 | The Basics of Concealer

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PRODUCT PREVIEW | Get Well-Defined with MAC’s Studio Sculpt

Posted on February 5, 2009 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment

The heavy-hitters at MAC have done it again releasing a new line of face make-up products developed to meet the demands of both make-up artists and everyday customers. In this latest Studio Sculpt collection (available February 7th, 2009 at MAC stores and counters), a new range of cream foundations and concealers have been designed to give the skin a satiny finish with medium buildable coverage. According to Nick Gavrelis, VP of Global Development for MAC, Studio Sculpt “had to have the wear, flexibility and flawlessness that our makeup artists demanded, as well as the comfort, moisturization, smoothing and perfecting qualities that real women have been asking for.”

I love how MAC offers the widest range of skin tone selection – they definitely can’t be beat in that department. I’m especially looking forward to trying Studio Sculpt concealer, as I’m always on the hunt for the next latest and greatest product to hide my undereye circles (my current fave is Stila Perfecting Concealer)! Since Studio Sculpt is also cream-based, I’m curious to see if they’ll work well as contouring products (hopefully the “sculpt” lives up to its name!)

Check back as I’ll be sure to post a follow-up on my experience with Studio Sculpt within the coming weeks!

BEAUTY 101 | Using Coloured Concealer

Posted on July 28, 2008 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment

Ever looked at coloured concealer (or foundation) and thought what crazy new make-up gimmick are they trying to get me to buy into now?

The idea behind colour concealer and foundation derives from the colour wheel. Colours that sit opposite of each other on the colour wheel are used to contrast one another. For instance, green and red are opposites on the colour wheel so green concealer is used to neutralize and conceal blemishes, rosacea and other areas of redness in the skin. Dig it?

Here’s a brief overview of what coloured concealers and foundations can offer you:

  • GREEN
    - tone down redness
    - perfect for blemishes, skin that is prone to redness (i.e. rosacea)
  • PEACH
    - brighten dark spots (I love to use it under the eyes), lighten areas of the skin damaged by the sun
    - use for medium yellow to olive skintones
  • MAUVE
    - brighten and balance sallow medium yellow skintones

  • YELLOW
    - brighten dark spots/undereye circles
    - use for light warm to medium yellow skintones
  • WHITE (cool)
    - use it to brighten dark spots or to lighten foundation colours

  • CREAM (WHITE – warm)
    - use it to brighten dark spots or to lighten warm, yellow-based foundation.
What kind of formula do I look for?
For blemishes and smaller areas, choose a creamy paste-like, stickier formula. For larger areas, use a lighter liquid texture, as creams will be too obvious when covering these larger areas.

Recommended products:
Lise Watier’s concealer portfolio (pictured above) comes in both a palette for light and dark skin tones. The palette contains all the colour correctors needed right at your finger tips, which is particularly ideal for make-up artists who don’t always have time to fumble around searching their kits for different products!

For under the eyes, I like to layer MAC’s Select Cover in Peach to brighten the under eye area. I always make sure I have at least two of these in my kit, as I tend to go through them pretty quickly.

When all else fails…
If all else fails, it is better to just skip the colour concealer and foundation altogether and instead use your skin-tone coloured one. After all, you don’t want to look like the Incredible Hulk when all is said and done with the colour correctors!

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KIT ESSENTIAL | Q-Tips: The Cheap and Chic Make-up Tool

Posted on July 27, 2008 by rhia amio, make-up artist | Leave a comment
You don’t have to dish out an arm and a leg for some of the best beauty tools out there: Q-tips that you can pick up from your local dollar store can have mutiple uses for your daily make-up application. These Q-tips are actually ideal for make-up application, as they have minimal cotton (which means the fuzzy bits cotton won’t end up on your face–where they shouldn’t be!). The lack of cotton also allows for more product transfer as it reduces the amount of product that is absorbed by the Q-tip. Plus, you can get a box of 400 for a $1.14!

The q-tips are perfect for:
  • applying concealer
  • straightening and refining lines after you’ve drawn on your eyeliner (see picture at right)
  • perfecting line shapes after you’ve drawn on your brows
  • cleaning up any runaway mascara on the face (Just be careful and wait until the mascara has dried! Use a tiny bit of make-up remover and swipe the q-tip away from the face on the problem area)
  • blending lipliner
  • keeping make-up sanitary (avoid double-dipping!)
  • travelling (if you don’t want to lug around brushes)
No sense in spending $5 on a box of 100 ‘cosmetic’ q-tips at your local drugstore…try these dollar store Q-tips out, and for $1 (+ tax) a shot, you can’t go wrong!
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