Best concealer there is!

Hello, Beautiful!

This is definitely a product recommendation post, but it's a ramble too. I'm in a talkative mood - probably because it's midnight, I've been up too long, I was out too much today, and I'm exhausted. I'm almost always super talkative when I'm tired, so I warn you now that this blog post will likely ramble on and on instead of being direct and to the point (but I'll do my best to keep this from becoming a novel).

Today I made a trip to Sephora with no specific products in mind that I wanted to purchase. I was meeting up with a friend to give her some hair accessories she's using for her wedding (beautiful rhinestone twists - which are coming to the website soon and look like you're wearing one karat diamonds in your hair).

Normally I order online from Sephora because the closest Sephora to me is nearly an hour away. The distance doesn't really phase me all that much though. I used to drive the same distance Monday through Friday when I had a boring office job. My husband still makes the commute everyday. I'm lucky enough to be a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom. I don't miss the commute, although an hour to myself in the car to listen to any music I want, as loud as I want, would be nice. Or to have an hour of silence. Or an hour to talk to anyone without interuptions from a 5 year old. Anyhow, back to the topic on hand.

Although I was tempted to purchase many, many items from Sephora I only ended up buying one thing (which is shocking). And it's not even something I don't have (even more shocking). I picked up a concealer - the best concealer there is.

It's Make Up For Ever's Full Cover Concealer. It will cost you $30, but the tube will last you a very long time. Because it's full coverage a little will go a long way. I have this now in three shades. The latest is shade 8 because I needed a darker shade due to the summer tan I have going on. I also have this in shades 4 and 6.

For me, concealer is a neccessity. I have really awful skin thanks to my health issues. I've never had an acne problem but now I have adult acne (for the past 3 years). I break out everyday usually and I scar very easily (it scars brown).

[Although I started a new skincare routine and it has been working miracles! I will be doing a post about that soon.]

No one ever believes me when I say I have bad skin. That's because whenever I see someone I have makeup on. I've become a pro at covering it all up and making my face as flawless as possible. I couldn't do that without using this concealer.

I cannot live without this concealer. I repeat, I cannot live without this concealer!

It's simply the best of them all, and believe me, I've tried a lot since getting this hideous skin. It beats out MAC, Amazing Concealer, Benefit, Philosophy, NARS, Smashbox, and many others.

The consistency is a thick, creamy liquid that blends easily and isn't drying. It's waterproof and sweat resistant. It's very long lasting.

One tip though: if you're trying this product at the store be sure to blend it into your skin and let it dry before you select a color. I find that they dry down with a slightly different undertone than they first appear with just a dot squeezed out. For example, in the winter I picked shade 4 which looked perfect in the store, but after I tested it out on my face and let the product dry, I realized it had a slight pink undertone to it (which isn't my undertone). Shade 6 was the next shade that worked for my undertone. Shade 8 works for me perfectly at the moment.

Anyhow, I wanted to make this post because I really think this is the bees knees of concealers.

Pick it up at Sephora.com for $30 or visit your local Sephora store.

I don't have swatch photos just yet, but they will be up on the Valentine Beauty Closet soon.


Speaking of the Valentine Beauty Closet...

It is opening soon! If you don't know what it is let me give you a quick description:

The Valentine Beauty Closet will be a great source of all things beauty related. You'll find swatch photos, reviews, tutorials, tips, and so much more. New stuff will be added every week and you can even make requests on what you want to see next.

I've been super busy uploading hundreds and hundreds of swatch photos. In fact, I think it's more like thousands of swatch photos! Not only that, but I finally got an HD camera and I've started to re-make all my videos so they are better quality. That's been taking the most time. Although there is no exact opening date just yet, I'm hoping to have it launch by the end of August.

Anyhow, I really need to get to bed.

Until next time,

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com