Author: Nikki

I’ve wanted to do this for a while, but I always took it way too seriously and got overwhelmed 😂. I’ve been spending the last few weeks shopping my stash and getting reacquainted with a lot of my things and suddenly I felt like I could probably do it. It’s only hypothetical after all. This tag pops up ever so often, but I believe it was initially started in 2018 by Kelly Gooch on YouTube. As Kelly points out in her video, the interesting thing about doing this is that it narrows things down and not necessarily to your favorite products. If I had to just use one product every day (and of course, I want a cohesive look), it really did change the products that I initially would have picked. So let’s see what made the cut.

Soooo I went a little concealer crazy this past year. I used to have 2 concealers and didn’t seem to be bothered by that. Then for some reason, I got it into my head that I needed to try out more formulas. Admittedly, I’m still not the most experienced with concealer but since these were shades that I personally had trouble finding swatches of, I’m hoping this is helpful anyway.

I am in my late 30’s and my skin type is dry, sensitive, and eczema-prone. I look for medium to full coverage because I do have darkness both under and in the inner corner of my eyes as well as the occasional acne scar that I want to cover. Like many women of color, I also have discoloration around my chin area. If I do wear a foundation that doesn’t cover it well, I do rely on concealer to pick up that slack.

For shade reference, some of my best foundation matches are Estee Lauder Double Wear in 4W4 Hazel and NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation in Tahoe.

These are just some quick swatches of the new baked blush and highlighter palette from the Pat McGrath x Bridgerton 2 collection. A lot of people have complaints about this collection (myself included) so I’m not thinking it will sell out. However, on the chance that I’m wrong, I wanted to go ahead and get some swatches posted. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to test these products out.

UPDATE March 4, 2023: I was shocked to find out Dior reformulated the Forever Skin Correct Concealer. I have tested out the new formula and posted a review. The short and sweet review is that the new formula performs even better for me than the original. It is easier to blend, creases less, and transfers minimally. If you’d like more details, you can check that post out by clicking here.

This Dior concealer has received a fair amount of hype since its release in January 2020. One of the big reasons I wanted to give it a try is that even after a couple of years, I still hear people raving about it. I initially just purchased shade 4WO, but I ended up purchasing the shade 4.5N to see if mixing a custom shade would work better for spot concealing. I had to do this because there is no 4.5W or 5W shade that I could have tried. Ideally, it would have been nice to see a 5WO shade. I’ve been trying this concealer out since September 2021, and I have to tell you, it took some serious experimenting before I came to love it. Now that I know how to use it, I actually prefer it to my MAC Pro Longwear Concealer. There is a lot to like about this concealer,r but as with all things, there are some drawbacks. Hopefully, I can give you the rundown so you’ll know if this concealer might work for you or if you should choose something else.