Beauty Review: La Prairie Light Fantastic Cellular Concealing Brightening Eye Treatment

Promise (laprairie.com):
...refreshes and illuminates your eye zone while concealing imperfections such as puffiness and dark under-eye circles...

Product Profile in Short (laprairie.com):
Combining both cosmetic and skincare properties, it effectively minimizes signs of aging, such as fine lines and wrinkles, while adding a touch of radiance.


Contains:
Ginseng Root Ectract, Papaya Extract, Camomile etc.

Close-up on Active Ingredients:
Water
Cyclopentasiloxane
Isononyl Isononanoate
Cyclohexasiloxane
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
Glycerin
Diisopropyl Dimer Dilinoleate
Butylene Glycol
PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone
Talc
C18-36 Acid Trigluceride
Sodium Chloride
Glycoproteins
Panax Ginseng Root Extract
Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Extract
Arnica Montana Flower Extract
Carica Papaya Leaf Extract
Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chesnut) Seed Extract
Glycosaminoglycans
Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Extract
Lauryl Mathacrylateb / Glycol DimethacrylateCrosspolymer
….

My Experience and Impressions:
When I was buying this concealer, I wasn’t even aware of its double purpose as makeup and skincare. Later on, when I looked at the ingredients more carefully and read up on it, I realized that La Prairie Light Fantastic is a multi-tasker. Great! I appreciate such products!!!
I liked its texture from the moment I tried it at the counter! I liked how smoothly it went onto the skin and how it looked on it – just seemed to melt into the skin. I got the lightest shade #10. It was the best choice for my medium-fair skin. However, to tell you the truth the first several times I applied it I felt a bit allergic. Maybe it was just me focusing my attention on my sensations too much. Later on I did not notice any reaction.
Of course using La Prairie Light Fantastic I was all the time comparing it to the genius YSL Touche Eclat. The first difference between YSL and La Prairie concealers is their texture. La Prairie Light Fantastic has a very creamy texture. It feels like a rich eye cream - not makeup. The concealing powers differ as well. La Prairie Light Fantastic doesn’t offer intense coverage but seems to look more natural as it doesn’t at all get into lines. Everyone knows concealer gathering in fine lines is way worse than wearing no concealer at all! So it’s a huge plus for La Prairie Light Fantastic! However you can’t really build up coverage with Laprairie Light Fantastic. Yes, it is subtle but this has its benefits as well - apply it as much as you want and you won't end up with those weird white circles around your eyes.

I do not use La Prairie Light Fantastic as I used to use YSL to brighten up the face and lift up eye brow. Because of the texture and the subtle color it just doesn’t feel right to use it for this purpose. I apply La Prairie Light Fantastic concealer with an applicator brush under my eyes and pat it lightly into the skin – it blends perfectly and looks very natural…


Price Tag:
70$

Bottom Line:
I like this product! The texture is great and the fact that it has double purpose is wonderful. I think the price is good because you get a refill as well! However if you need stronger coverage I would go with YSL Touche Eclat.

Beauty and Makeup: Concealer Overview, Application and Tricks

When I was looking for a good concealer, I did not have time to look into what actually makeup artists recommend and what application tricks they are using. So in this post I will mention the concealers I tried out and share some YouTube vids I found useful. A couple videos are by makeup artists and one is a show episode from Tyra Banks where she gives tips based on her experience as a model.

Concelaers/Highlighters I've tried:

So I've tried concealers from Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer Kit (available with loose powder), MAC (comes in a small container with a brush applicator), L'Oreal (comes in a pen with a brush applicator),Bourjouis(pen-brush), Laura Mercier's Undercover (combines Secret Camouflage & Secret Concealer in one compact), Dior's Skin Flash (comes in a pen-brush applicator), Helena Rubinstein’s Magic Concealer (comes in a tube without an applicator).
Now I am using

Highlighter - YSL's Touche Eclat (i think it is Luminous Ivory but they have no number on the pen so I need to make sure),

Concealer - Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish Concealer (Anti-Cernes)# 02 Medium



and am experimenting with a

concealer palette by Catrice that includes light salmon, green, beige tones.



Concealer Color and Application Technique:

First of all, what only experts don’t recommend! Some swear by yellow concealer tones, others, by salmon tones, some recommend to set concealer in with a powder, others don’t. Everybody has their own technique I guess.

In terms of the color choice, makeup artist Eve Perl made it clear once and for all. It should be salmon color! Sharing some makeup tips in her video, Eve said: “Think about it for minute, if you mix yellow with blue, what do you get? Green. That’s how we get these racoony undereyes…” Well, out of my experience, I think pink tones do help to neutralize dark under eye shades but I don't think concealer has to be intense salmon color. The light ivory tone with a touch of pink in YSL Concealer works for me excellent. See the video below.


I have not come accross many salmon colored concealers. But check Laura Mcier's Undercover.

In the next video a makeup artist applies concealer on the inner corner lower lid, of the eye (not completely over the whole lower lid) and a bit of it on the outer corner. As she says, "everybody has a bit of the red eye" on the outer corner of the eye. I tried this technique and I like it a lot - it does open up your eyes and make them look brighter.



In the next video below a makeup artist addresses the problem of a concealer creeping into fine lines and looking so obvious that you actually look better without it! So she recommeds to apply it only in the inner corner where the darkness is most intense and set it with a loose powder. She claims the loose powder will prevent concealer from getting into the lines.
As I have mentioned above, applying concealer only in the inner corner works great for me. However, I don't really think setting it with a powder makes a huge difference (at least what I noticed). I believe, it still mostly depends on the consistency of the concealer if it will eventually get into the fine lines and accentuate them or not. If you want to apply concealer to the whole undereye circle area, choose a very light texture. When I have very intense dark circles, I apply Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish Concealer (that has quite thick texture) close to the inner corner and then tap a bit of YSL on top and all over the circle. So the bottom line is that I would recommend using high coverage (thicker type) concealer when the circles are really-really intense and only on the inner part of the eye. See 2 videos below.



This last video is an episode from Tyra Banks' show where she explains how to apply a concealer. Her tips are mainly the following: sellect concealer to match your skin tone, warm it up before application on on your hand, apply foundation over the concealer and a ton of loose powder which you will remove together with any bits and pieces after you do your eye shadows and lashes. Have not tried this technique but will test in the near future :-) Tyra is very animated in her explanations - enjoy.

Beauty Shopping: Looking for Perfect Concealer

Still hunting for a perfect concealer, I tried out Helena Rubinstein’s Magic Concealer, had a brief look at Dior’s SkinFlash and gave another chance to YSL’s Touche Eclat.

Helena Rubinstein’s Magic Concealer comes in a tube without an applicator. I liked its texture: light, easy to apply and blend into the skin. I think this is one of the least noticeable concealers I’ve tried out! It also offers a very good coverage. Though after some time and a bit of laughing, you do notice a couple lines …

I have recently read that Dior's SkinFlash is great to camouflage dark circles so I briefly looked at it. Just like YSL’s Touche Eclat, it is a highlighter. When I was already back home and looked at Dior’s site, I discovered that they have a product specially made for under eye area: Anticerne Perfecteur Hydrating Concealer. Now I am dead curious how it compares to others.

With one eye comouflaged with Magic Concealer and the other with Touche Eclat, I was trying to decide which I liked better. A sales girl expressed an opinion that I, in fact, DO NOT have any dark circles. I asked what those shadows under my eyes are. To what she replied that first of all I tend to stand too close to the mirror and second, you always see more imperfections on your own face. She was really pushing for Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Eclat as a more natural look. YSL does look very natural as it has very light texture, blends nicely and smoothly. It does not have concentrated color pigment. In fact, YSL’s Touche Eclat is a highlighter with some concealing properties. However it is so often mentioned as a concealer that you just forget it is actually not. For example, In Style last year featured it as the best “Undereye Concealer” of the year. I constantly read that this or that makeup artist loves YSL Touche Eclat. So I just made up my mind to buy it. So now I am a proud owner of YSL Touche Eclat! The picture of it I made (below) is kind of symbolic with those heavy shadows on the one side and golden light on the other - got it like this just by chance.



My Best Concealer List (based on a product's ability to conceal but at the same time not to emphasize fine lines):
1. MAC's Select Moisturecover - seems to be the best!
2. Helena Rubinstein's Magic Concealer - blended very nicely into the skin
3. Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer Kit and Bourjouis' Anti Dark Circles - Bobbi Brown has to be applied over a moisturizer but in the end looks quite natural, get an additional point as it comes with a powder, both have nice texture. Get mor details from my previous Concealer Hunt Posts:

Bobbi Brown, MAC, L'Oreal

Bourjouis, Laura Mercier

Beauty Shopping: Concealer Hunt Continued

Yesterday I continued my concealer hunt and checked out a couple more products. What I learnt while trying out all these products is that you need to apply a bit of a moisturizer before a concealer. If you have dry skin around eyes, concealer doesn’t slide on nicely, gets immediately into the smallest creases and gives you this desperate-to-conceal look.

This time I paid a visit to Laura Mercier counter. Laura Mercier offers several products to cover up those circles and imperfections: Secret Camouflage, Secret Concealer, Under Cover, Secret Brightener.

Secret Concealer (photo on the left) is developed specially for eye area and is described as “moisture rich”. On Mercier’s website it is available in 3 tones ranging from very light to medium intensity. However in real life these tones looked much darker. So, this one was out.

Secret Camouflage (right photo)combines 2 tones in a palette and can be used to camouflage various imperfections. For some reason, the consultant did not offer me to consider that option. She suggested trying out a product called
Undercover which actually combines Secret Camouflage & Secret Concealer in one compact. I took a sit. First, a Secret Brightener was applied. I was explained that this color-correcting highlighter works to brighten dark circles, "helps to conceal violet color". Then, she applied concealer with a special brush, tapped on it – while I was wondering how long her nails are and if anybody ends up with a poked eye. Finally it was sealed with a touch of powder. I liked the results. It seemed pretty natural and it gave me a brighter, more rested look. However I was still hoping for a more intensive camouflaging effect. I also thought that to get it right I will need to invest into Secret Brightener (which I don’t really mind, while I liked the product, but I need to keep focused on concealers here!) and a powder (I use an oil absorbing one, don’t think it will be great for eye area) and a brush. Well, I decided to keep looking.

Next product I checked out was Bourjouis’ Anti Dark Circles concealer. It comes just like L’Oreal and YSL products in a pen-brush. I was pleasantly surprised with the texture. It was just a bit creamier and seemed to have a more emollient consistency in comparison to other similar products. I couldn’t really try it under eyes as I was already wearing Laura Mercier Concealer. But Bourjouis’ concealer is definitely a possibility.

So, right now I have 3 favorites on my concealer list:
1. Bobbi Brown
2. Bourjouis
3. Laura Mercier

I am thinking I need to reconsider YSL concealer, it seems to be a favourite of so many make-up artists and now I know how to correctly apply a concealer.

Beauty Shopping: Concealer Hunt

I have been trying to find a quality concealer for quite some time. My goal is to conceal the under-eye shadows. Up till now mission looks impossible!

I am not expecting too much from a concealer: I just want it to conceal - NOT reveal. I don’t want it to accentuate lines under my eyes and form creases after I smile or laugh a couple time… I don’t want it to look like it is REALLY there…. Like you could really tell I have something to conceal… So I have been trying out some products for several weeks now and then… I have to admit, I can be very picky…


First, I tried out the famous and renowned concealer star by YSL. I was not happy with the way it looked like I did paint over my eye circles. Perhaps it was the wrong shade. I might give it another try since it seems to be so popular.


Next I moved to Bobby Brown. The sales girl offered me to test the product, sat me down and started applying a concealer with a special concealer brush. “Have to buy that one in addition.” - I thought to myself and inquired about the price of a brush. The concealing procedure was finished up with a touch of special powder that comes together with the concealing cream. I found it looked quite natural but I was hoping for a stronger concealing effect. I know… I know – I am a very hard to satisfy customer…

Next destination - L’Oreal counter. I love and trust the quality of L’Oreal’s products. However when I applied an under-eye concealer, I looked like I was quite desperate to conceal.


A couple more mid- and budget concealers later I arrived to a M.A.C counter in Jelmoli. Sales girl suggested a moisturizing concealer (Select Moisturecover), as she thought my skin around the eyes looked a bit dry. Tested and loved the results! No creases, looks natural, does conceal. Mission accomplished, I happily proceeded to pay. A had a bit of a teary feeling in the eyes. So at the cash register I decided to confirm that it was ophthalmologically tested and there was not risk of an allergy… was relieved to hear a positive answer. Off I went with my precious purchase looking forward to the future without under-eye circles. But my happiness did not last long. The teary feeling in the eyes became more and more uncomfortable, soon eyes felt quite irritated… I knew I had to take my treasure back – I was definitely sensitive to the product… sigh… and I came soooo close!

The lesson: It is the third time that I have problems with products that are applied around or right on the eye area. Need to try it first! Give it some time - then buy….

Next stop - Laura Mercier… Nars…