Drugstore Buys and Mineral Concealers

While the entire United States stayed glued to its collective TV screens watching the SuperBowl last Sunday (which incidentally was held just a few miles from where I live), I was at CVS looking at drugstore mineral concealers and makeup brushes. LOL! The entire family went to a Superbowl party at our friend's house, but I begged off because I wanted a quiet night to myself. Hah. I did watch part of the action, but I just had this itch to drive to a drugstore and check out the cosmetic aisle. There was one attendant all by his lonesome self who I thought looked as though the world had ended just because he couldn't watch the big game.

I browsed the aisles and checked out my favorite CVS brushes, Essence of Beauty. I bought a few crease brushes that are pretty good at mineral eyeshadow application, as well as a big fluffy brush for highlighters with a crease brush at the other end. These are really good, high-quality brushes without the exorbitant price.




Opposite tip of the long fluffy brush

I also checked out mineral concealers along the cosmetics aisle. It was cool because I see household name brands joining the mineral makeup bandwagon and coming up with their own version of mineral makeup. However, I am still not ready to try out their minerals because I really have acne-prone skin, and even though I use conventional makeup for my eyes, lips, and even cheeks, the first makeup to touch my skin has got to be the purest mineral foundation available with only the fewest ingredients. I am a mineral foundation purist, if you can put it that way. Many mineral foundations from the mainstream cosmetics companies still include ingredients I am not quite comfortable. I'd rather buy mineral foundation from my trusted online mineral makeup companies.

However, I am not that picky when it comes to my undereye concealer. I don't grow zits on my eyebags, anyway. LOL. Even though I have my holy grail mineral undereye concealer, Bare Escentuals' Well Rested (the only brand of mineral makeup available in retail stores that I use, for now), I still need a tacky cream concealer underneath for the Well Rested to cling to. I am currently using Mary Kay undereye concealer, but I've been on the look out for others to try. I stumbled upon two mineral concealers from drugstore giants Physicians' Formula and Maybelline. Physicians' Formula has the click-pen mineral concealer called Talc-Free Mineral Wear, and Maybelline has its own version called Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Concealer. I tried both and here are my comparisons and reviews:



In terms of packaging, Maybelline wins hands-down. I hate click pens, whether it be for lipglosses, concealers, or any other type of liquid makeup. Physicians' Formula's click-pen is especially horrendous because it is not twisted at the neck to dispense product, the mechanism is at the base of the pen, and you need to push with your thumb for the product to come out (in thick gooey blobs, although if you are not click-happy, you can dispense an amount just enough for one application). Maybelline has the convenient doe-foot applicator that you can dot along your undereye area and lightly pat with your ring finger to blend in.

The consistency of the Physician's Formula is thick and is hard-to-blend. Maybelline's concealer is thinner and blends like a dream. However, in terms of concealing power, Physician's Formula is thicker, and thus was able to conceal problem areas effectively with just a small amount of product. Maybelline's not bad, though, but it is imperative that mineral powder concealer be applied on top to fully conceal undereye circles and/or blemishes.

Moreover, Physician's Formula specifically has a yellow-based concealer for undereye circles. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Maybelline has come up with a mineral concealer made especially for undereye circles. Thus, Physician's Formula is yellower, brighter, and effectively conceals dark bluish veins in the undereye area.


Top to bottom: Maybelline, Physician's Formula. It's kinda hard to see in this pic but Physician's Formula is considerably yellower and brighter than Maybelline.



Finally, I got this Revlon Bedroom Eyes powder eyeliner on sale at 50% off regular price. It actually makes smokey eyes easier because it's smudger-applicator literally comes up with automatic smudged lines, so there is no need to smudge your eyeliner using a smudge brush or any other tool; this product does it all.


Revlon Bedroom Eyes swatched

I haven't tried it on my eyes yet but I hope it does what it claims to do. Based on the swatches, though, I believe it does a pretty good job.