Innisfree Mineral Stick Concealer in No.2 Natural Beige Review

My sister originally bought this for her under eye circles but it made it to her Reject Pile so I was happy enough to adopt it and test it out. And I'm glad I did! It's served me well ^^

I should probably explain why it was rejected in the first place, my sister would directly apply this to her under eye area and try to blend it but ended up with a dry and patchy effect which is never a good look; so then took it upon myself to try and make it work.

The concealer stick itself is sleekly packaged in a smooth matte white tube with a pop-on pop-off cap. I don't take this out with me so can't comment on how well it holds up against being bashed around but the packaging is still in perfect condition after a few months of usage at home albeit a little stained from other make up residue. The concealer is dispensed very simply by a twisting mechanism. By the way, you get a lot more product than pictured in my photos, I've been using this for a while before I decided on writing a review for it.

Colour under natural light

Taken under flash

The formula is creamy and offers medium to high coverage. Upon applying the first layer, my dark circles are concealed quite effectively but still shows through very slightly so I often like to apply a second layer. I've applied three to four layers before but I didn't spot any caking nor did it feel heavy and cloying. Even though it's creamy, it does cling to dry patches of skin so make sure your skin is well moisturised prior to using it.

Concealer barely looks cakey, there's three layers on here.
Sorry for the creepy cut off eye!

As for the longevity matter, the concealer lasts all day on my non-oily under eye area but I find the concealer does need a powder to set it to make sure it lasts and it stays smooth on the skin. Throughout the day, the concealer sometimes settles into fine lines even when powdered but the lines can easily be blended away and aren't very noticeable anyway. I tested the concealer by powdering under one eye and leaving one eye with just the concealer on its own. I noticed the non-powdered concealer stays on my skin but becomes uneven and looks sort of scaly, it was a strange thing to see so I conclude it's best to set it with a powder to keep it looking at it's best.

Now to fix the dry and patchy problem my sister experienced,  I recommend drawing some on the back of your hand and warming it with your finger before patting it onto your problem areas and blending out. It doesn't seem to work quite a well if you apply it directly to your face and then try to warm it up and blend it, probably because you won't use nearly as much pressure to blend out the concealer on your face than you would on the back of your hand.

So would I recommend this concealer?

Of course! The concealer is relatively cheap (I believe under £8), works well at concealing problem areas and hasn't caused me any skin irritations. It's also easy to use and it's compact size makes it easy to slip into your bag for touch ups (if needed at all anyway). Just make sure to warm the concealer before applying and moisturise your skin well.

Jia

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My Everyday Make Up - How to Achieve a Natural Look!

I often come across tutorials for "no make up" make up tutorials, and to be honest, there's always so much involved! Here's how I achieve my natural look with very few products! (This is pretty much my daily make up because I'm so lazy XD)

1) Choose a concealer and hide any flaws
Hide dark circles and uneven pigmentation with a concealer/foundation of your choice. I suggest spot-concealing, as in only cover the areas that actually need coverage! Most of the time I will just use my fingers to blend the product, but occasionally I will use my Sigma brushes. If your skin is oily, use a powder to set the concealer.

2) Fill in your brows!

For a polished and youthful look, fill in your brows with a matte powder or a pencil that gives a natural effect. Follow the natural shape of your brows. Make sure you don't draw them in too heavily and use a spoolie to diffuse the colour a little for more natural looking brows. I used to a matte sketchily-pigmented black powder to fill in my brows as it gives the most natural look but I've recently changed to Shu Uemura's Hard 9 pencil. 

3) Curl your eyelashes! 

I don't do anything else to my eyes on most days purely because my eye make up takes a long time as I need to prime and apply things perfectly. If I'm in need of an eye brightener, I'll lightly apply a pale shimmery cream eyeshadow on the inner half of my lower eyelid.

4) Blush and Contour

I need blush to look alive, the corpse look really isn't attractive! I usually apply it above the apple of my cheeks as I find it a more flattering place to apply blush. I use a contour powder on my nose and around the edges of my face to give some definition, I'm not really particular about it but I feel it does give a more structured look.

5) Apply lip colour

I actually really like red as my lip colour as it's vibrant but also can look natural. Orange is also a personal favourite and goes well with a coral blush. I use both tints and lipsticks to achieve a soft coloured lip that goes well with a natural look.

My make up picks for a natural look!

From top row left to right

Canmake Creamy Touch Rouge in Sweet Cherry

Peripera Tint Water in Cherry Juice and Orange Juice

Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in RD301

Garnier Anti-Dark Circle Concealer

Innisfree Mineral Stick Concealer in no.2

Shu Uemura Hard 9 pencil in Stone Grey

MUA matte black eyeshadow

Kate Cheek Colour in PK-2

RMK Crayon and Powder Eyes in Coral Beige (I think this is limited edition though)

Rimmel Eyeshadow quad (This is discontinued now, but I use the lightest shade to highlight me eyes)

And that's it! I've written quite a hefty chunk for what's supposed to be a quick and natural look but this really doesn't take me more than 10 minutes.

End result: I look like a more awake and fresher version of myself but the make up is barely visible. 

Jia

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