Earlier this year I was on the lookout for a new concealer, I ended up with two from the Makeup Revolution group and have been trying this one alternately with with the Obsession concealer I reviewed in October. I wanted to give this Makeup Revolution London Conceal and Define concealer more of a go as I’ve heard it being compared to Shape Tape and some great things about it. It’s also vegan and cruelty free.
It has a range of 18 shades and I chose C1, which I think is the lightest in the cool range, though there’s a 0.5 for warmer skin tones and a pure white. I’m normally the lightest shade in any makeup range but this one is definitely a bit lighter than I’d normally go for in a concealer and I’ve been using it a bit as a combination highlight and concealer for the area under my eye. It costs £4 for the 4g tube, though it’s recently been on Beauty Bay for £2.79 and they have some shades left, just not this one.
This concealer comes in a clear plastic tube with rose gold lid and label and I really like the look of this. It’s not the same as a matte black but I still think it gives the look of being more expensive. Unfortunately it is a bit f a fingerprint magnet, but given that it’s a base products I tend to find these end up the messiest anyway. It has a doe foot applicator, which I quite like and think I prefer to a pot really, not that it makes much difference as it still makes contact with your skin before going back in, but it does feel easy to control and apply the right amount exactly where you want it.
The formula for this is quite thin, thinner than most of the concealers I’ve used except the under eye brightening type that don’t actually do that much Concealing. However, this one does have decent coverage. It works well with a sponge or just fingers, fingers give a better coverage and it seems to help melt the product into my skin, whereas a sponge helps to buff it in and means you can build up the layers. I wasn’t a fan of using a brush, it just seems to spread it around and then it moves a lot. With my fingers or a sponge it lasts well, it does benefit from setting but even without it didn’t move too much. I found that leaving it for ten minutes to settle and going over it with a sponge again removes any that settles into fine lines around your eyes and then you’re good to go.
I did find that it does deepen as it dries, colour wise. I’d say it changes by two or three shades on my skin, though a lot do seem to turn orange on me if they start light so this may not happen for you. It doesn’t go orange, just depends a bit so I’d probably suggest going a shade or two lighter than you’d expect if you don’t have the chance to try it, especially if you plan on using it for the contouring aspect as a highlighter.
As far as coverage goes I’d say it can be built to a medium to high coverage finish. It does depend on application but with a sponge building up the layers it does cover highly pigmented parts of my skin pretty well. I wouldn’t go so far as calling it high coverage, it’s not going to completely conceal redness, but under a foundation it does a good job. I’d say with building it up and getting used to how it works you could get up to 80-90% coverage which stays well. I found that it lasted ten hours on multiple occasions, including going from hot rooms to cold air, and didn’t really move once it was set. It does benefit from a primer though, I found the pore filling ones that leave an almost powdery finish worked best as it seemed to take longer to set on a tacky base.
One down side to this product is that if you have even slightly dry skin it clings to this and makes it stand out so much. My skin can get dry, especially in the colder weather, so I spent ages trying to work around this but couldn’t get it to stop looking caked on these areas. If you have normal or oilier skin then it shouldn’t be an issue, though I did find that if I used a richer moisturiser underneath it didn’t set as well and moved throughout the day so that may be an issue for oiler skin.
Overall I think this is a decent concealer, especially for the price. It has a good staying power, medium to high coverage and doesn’t leave my skin feeling oily or tacky, both of which can be annoying with concealers I’ve tried, especially budget ones. The only issue is the dry skin factor, which is a problem for me at this time of year. I think if you have normal skin this is a good concealer to try. If, like me, you get drier patches in the winter than wait until spring time or your skin isn’t as dry to give it a go. If my skin is being good I’ll definitely be using it, though I have a feeling it’ll stay in the drawer in cooler months, so I think it’s worth checking out if you’re in the market for a medium to high coverage concealer on a budget.
I think I got this around the time the foundation was released, or at least when I was hearing about it, and I kind of wish I’d bought that to try as well. Have any of you tried it and is it worth giving a go?
