Thursday, November 15, 2012

NYX HD Concealer Wand in Fair 02 Review and Swatches

Alright, I've had this for a couple months now and I should really review it, but it's concealer and therefore boring, so I'm going to take the lazy girl's route and not bother with structure. Here's the rubric, with comments as needed (ended up being rather plentiful, surprise surprise).
Effectiveness: NYX claims this concealer is "lightweight[,] obscures imperfections, discoloration and under eye circle without ever looking cakey or obvious", and that it is "concentrated" and "emollient-rich", applies "like a dream", and "creates medium to heavy coverage". I will agree that it is lightweight, never looks cakey, is emollient-rich, and concentrated, but I don't find it to actually be all that great at concealing my blemishes, which is what I need a concealer to do. It applies fine, nice and creamy, but it just will not stay where I want it to and is always sliding off my bigger blemishes. It does work nicely on discoloration, but anything that changes the texture of the skin poses a problem for it. And heavy coverage? Puh-leeze. Medium at best. 3
Ease of Use: As an undereye concealer, this would be a 5, but as a blemish concealer, there's too much tender care needed to get it to stick. 3.5
Senses: Hasn't made me break out further, so that's good. 5
Pigmentation: So, yes, it is nicely pigmented, though it would be better if the texture weren't so creamy (too easily sheered out). My issue with it here is that it is a wee bit too light for my skin––and this is the second lightest shade!
Swatch on my underarm, which is the palest part of my body (with the exception of the parts that never see the light of day, of course), and a couple shades lighter than my face
I'm somewhere around a NW10, and just about always wear the lightest shade in foundation (especially for drugstore brands); I'm also a match for MUFE Pink Porcelain 1 concealer, which is––surprise!––the lightest shade in that range, and it's a good shade darker than this. I'm just not really sure how many people there are that could wear the lightest shade in this concealer! I would be more okay with the weirdly pale bent they have if not for the fact that there are only 8 shades (not to mention that the next darkest shade would have been much too dark). I guess I can't really complain all that much, since most people have a much harder time finding shade matches than I do, but damnit it's annoying. I think the shade range would be more suited for undereye concealer than blemish concealer, since that's supposed to be a little lighter to mask any darkness. But I don't need an undereye concealer, so it's moot for me. Whatever. It is quite pigmented, so you must be sure to get a shade that works! 4
Duration: Eh. I always wear it over primer and under powder, but I do find that it fades after a few hours. Again, it works better on discoloration than blemishes, lasting all day on the former. 3
Consistency: Creamy, to the point of being hard to work with for blemishes. As undereye concealer, though, the texture is just right, and it doesn't cake or fall into lines (because I'm a beauty blogger, damnit, and I tested it thoroughly!). 3.5
Price: It's $5.50, which is pretty awesome. 4.75
Value: A little goes a long way, and it's super cheap, but it doesn't work great on blemishes, and it's a mere 0.11 oz, so...it depends on what you want it for. It's a 3 for me, but if you need help with your eyes (which generally need less concealer), I would give it a 5. Average: 4
Quality: This is just my general view of the product, without extensive logical thought. 8.5
Grade: B-


Bottom line: Good undereye concealer or pigmentation evener, not great blemish concealer, and super, super pale. I'm glad to have MUFE Full Cover now (arrived yesterday, whee!), but this was okay when I needed it. $5.50 for 0.11 oz, available from Ulta, NYX, and other random stores (including Sears, wtf?!)

What's your favorite concealer? Have you tried this NYX one?
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