Review: Concealers

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while, I have been slaving away at university. I decided I would take the time to do a concealer review, but then I had a better idea! This is a review and comparison of EVERY CONCEALER I OWN!

The concealers I'm going to talk about are CoverGirl TrueMatch, CoverGirl + Olay concealer stick, Revlon Photoready concealer, Maybelline Age Rewind, L'Oreal Perfect Match, Benefit's Lemon Aid, and Vichy solid concealer. I have only tried the lightest shade in all of these products.

CoverGirl TrueMatch: This is a liquid concealer with low-medium coverage. I really like this one, and I used to use it a lot because it's not too thick. It matches my skin tone really well, and doesn't feel heavy! I often pair it with the CoverGirl foundation from the same line.

CoverGirl + Olay: This is a concealer stick that I've heard a lot of good things about. Personally, I find it a bit dry for my skin type. However, it does give you decent medium coverage, and is not overly drying for a concealer stick. It's just not my favourite.

Revlon Photoready: This is my favourite concealer stick! Feels less dry than the CoverGirl + Olay, and it matches my skin tone really well. Provides medium coverage, and doesn't feel to heavy on your skin! If you're going for slightly more coverage than a liquid concealer, this does the job!

Maybelline Age Rewind: This is a dark circle eraser, which means it's a light concealer with illuminating properties, and it helps cancel out red and purple tones under the eyes. Personally, I love this concealer. So much that I use it all over my face! It's really light and provides just enough coverage to get rid of minor red areas or small pimples. For someone with no acne problems, this concealer works great for the whole face, and really helps wake up the eyes.

L'Oreal Perfect Match: To be honest, I was really disappointed. This is a liquid concealer that has a brush dispenser. The idea of it sounds really convenient, but the concealer dries up on the brush. This concealer is very drying, and has an orange tone. It got chunky and gross from staying on the brush, and it wouldn't come out evenly. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.

Benefit Lemon Aid: This is a yellow concealer made for covering dark under eye circles. For the price, I don't really think it's worth it, but it does help cancel out purple tones really well if you have bad under eye circles. The texture is really nice, and it goes on well.

Vichy concealer: This stuff is very drying, but extremely high coverage. If you have really bad acne, acne scars, or any injury (cut, bruise, etc.), this stuff will cover all of it. The lightest shade is still a bit too dark for me, but I put some normal concealer on top and it looks fine. I use this for the rare moments I have bad acne. I also used it when I hit my head and got a massive bruise, and it hid everything! A high coverage concealer like this is worth having for those moments.

If you have questions or comments about these products, let me know! Tweet me @PennilessBlog or email me at pennilessbeauty@gmail.com

The Many Uses of Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree Oil is a natural disinfectant that can be used not only for cleaning, but also for skincare and health remedies! The bottle I own is from Holista, and it is 100% Pure (very important) Tea Tree Oil. Like it says on the bottle, it's considered a herbal antiseptic.

1. Treats acne
This is the main reason why I started keeping a few bottles of Tea Tree Oil in my house. Because it is a natural disinfectant, it will clean out your pores and make acne disappear. I find the best way to use it is to put a drop on a cotton swab, and press it directly on any pimples you may have. Another option is to add 20 or so drops to you bottle of face wash, though I would only recommend that if your face wash is a mostly natural product. You don't want to risk adding Tea Tree Oil to something that won't react well with it. It could cause irritation and redness.

2. Insect repellent
Add 15 to 20 drops of oil to 1L of water, and place in a spray bottle. Very effective, and this way you're not putting chemicals all over your skin!

3. Antiseptic for cuts, blisters, and burns
We all know that blisters on your heels hurt like crazy and prevent you from wearing your favourite (though uncomfortable) shoes. With Tea Tree Oil, just clean the blister, burn or cut. Then, apply 2 to 3 drops of Tea Tree Oil on the wound, and let it sit for a few minutes before putting on a bandage. This keeps the wound from getting infected, and also speeds up healing!

4. Helps relieve cold and flu symptoms
There are multiple ways of using Tea Tree Oil for relief of cold and flu symptoms. The first, add 2 to 3 drops into a pot of boiling water. Remove the pot from the stove, and breath in the steam once it has started cooling down. This is also good for any kind of chest congestion or asthma. The second, add 10 or so drops with some Epsom salt in a warm bath. This also helps with muscle pains, and any chest congestion. You can also dilute it with another oil (like grapeseed or olive oil, 1 drops per tbsp. of cooking oil), and apply directly on your chest. It acts like VapoRub.

5. Anti-fungal treatment (for Athlete's Foot and Eczema)
For Athlete's Foot, clean your feet, then apply Tea Tree Oil directly on any affected areas. You can dust corn starch on it after to wick any moisture. Do not do this more than twice a month, since Tea Tree Oil is very strong, and should not be used in large quantities.

6. Help with dandruff, dry scalp and head lice
Add 20 to 30 drops of Tea Tree Oil to your daily shampoo. You can also add a drop or 2 to your lip balm to help with dry, chapped lips.


Hope you find this helpful! It's definitely a cheaper, more natural solution to most of these problems. Plus, there are dozens more uses for this natural antiseptic! These are just the ones that I've heard good things about.

P.S. I'll have a post on travelling carry-on up later this week! You can follow me on Twitter @PennilessBlog