Concealer Comparison: Maybelline, Garnier, and Kleancolor

I’ve thought about doing this post for awhile, then thought hey, why not? So, here is a comparison of three different concealers I have, which I use for trying to disguise the shadows under my eyes. I have different ones for spots/blemishes/melasma (brown patches caused by sunlight) coverage, usually a stick one, MUA at the moment which works very well.

See how the label on the Kleancolor has worn off? That happened within 5 mins of trying to use it. Odd. The rest has stayed on! 😀

It’s funny, because concealer is the only makeup I will use everyday. We have Maybelline Instant Age Rewind (fair), Garnier Roll-on, and Kleancolor Morning Confession (natural). Side note to Kleancolor should any peoples from that place happen across this wee blog, please make a blush called Morning Glory. I would RUN to buy that.

Anyway! Two of these, the Garnier and Maybelline, are from companies that test on animals. This makes me sad. It’s very hard to buy concealer (affordable concealer!) from places that don’t test, and because I’m kinda addicted to the stuff when I see some on sale, I buy it. THEN I think about it, by which stage it’s too late. I’m sorry. I was super excited to see the Kleancolor version, because roller ball (which I love in the Garnier one), and they don’t test. Yay! But…

Left-Right: Kleancolor, Garnier, and Maybelline concealer swatches, no primer.

Here they are, on the back of my hand. It’s hard to get a small amount of the Maybelline out, and that tends to go chalky and cake if too much is used. A tiny bit on the inner corner of the eye is nice. The Garnier goes on beautifully, and the Kleancolor… does nawt.  The ball doesn’t roll, the make-up doesn’t come out, and when it does it’s patchy. Sigh

So, to demonstrate: here, on my forearm, I have drawn a suitcase – using eyeliner pencil. Why? Because some people have bags under their eyes,; I have suitcases. 😀

Now I popped on a smudge of the concealer: left to right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline.

Then rubbed it in a bit

left-right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline

Then a bit more.

left-right: Kleancolor, Garnier, Maybelline

I think this demonstrates how they work pretty accurately – although there was some smudging. The Maybelline worked  but left too much obvious residue behind, the Garnier is my favourite, best colour for me and hides without leaving too much behind, and the Kleancolor barely does a thing.

So, although it’s my fav, I’m not going to buy more of the Garnier Roll-on. Because my brain is working now. When I run out of it, I’ll pull that ball out and refill it with some of my foundation, which is gorgeous and not tested on animals and should work well. Shame about the Kleancolour, but I’ll get a wee brush one day and use it with that and see..

Have a bright-eyed day!

Ami 🙂

Kleancolor Midnight Seduction: Swatches, Layering, Comparisons

You know, I don’t know where I got this polish from? My sister V? A fellow polish addicts destash? Argh! Anyway, this is Kleancolor Midnight Seduction (really?! Odd name for this colour!)  a pretty, mini glitter which looks pink, purple and blue to my eye. These photos show three coats

It really, really, doesn’t want to be anything but sheer. And the trouble with Kleancolor polishes, apart from the smell (which I actually don’t find too bad), is how thick and slow drying the sheer polishes are. It was alright, I guess. Subtle. Not too showy. A bit boring, for me. And it wouldn’t have dried quickly like this.

So, why not add more, see if I could lift the bland aspect out? This is one coat of my mega-glitter franken. Needless to say, my favourites are the big circles.

Still, a little bland and sheer!

But, why not matte it? I used Essie Matte About You – to see how it looked, and to speed up the dry time.

And it looked… BORING.

Actually, it looked like I was trying to put the FUN in FUNgus hehehe

So, next idea. Layer it over black! And then I noticed my other Kleancolor bottle, waiting to be tried: Kiss Goodbye. And although the colours ARE different, the overall effect is kinda similar. I layered them over Kleancolor Black (one coat), and from left to right the polihses are Midnight Seduction, Kiss Goodbye, Midnight Seduction, Kiss Goodnight.

And they looked great over black! Only one coat too, so dry time was on the faster side of normal, not the slower side of forever.But I really, really thought they were missing holographic sparkle. Possibly because they looked so galactic… easy fixed with one coat of OPI Servin’ Up Sparkle.

(Servin’? SERIOUSLY?Ahem)

And here are the bottles side by side – see, nowhere close to being dupes, but somewhat similar in theme and execution 🙂

Have a great day

Ami 🙂

BC Co Shade 21.

There’s a story here. Neighbour N and I were going for a walk, when I noticed her polish, and immediately wanted it. But, she didn’t know the name (it didn’t have a name, it’s part of the L.A. Girl Polka Dot Nail Art pack, Dot Tastic.The next day, while in town, I spied a new-to-me brand – this one,  BC Co – which had a polish that looked similar to the one Neighbour N had on… and as it was only $3, I bought it.

Neighbour N then very kindly lent me the L.A. Girl mini to try, and as it’s a mini I put it on one finger only, and then put BC co 21 on the other nails.

Can you tell which?

My ring finger had the Polka Dot blue. I reckon that’s a pretty close match, and good going for picking a shade from memory! Two coats of both of the polishes, no top coat. Both have good formula, L.A. Girl was slightly better, but only slightly, and both were slightly runny.

Dry time was a little on the slow side of average, but not enough to be annoying. Removal was easy, and there was no staining. I’m super pleased I found a dupe, because I adore this colour, and don’t have enough cremes!

Have a great day

Ami 🙂

Color Club: Harp On It and Blue Heaven Comparison Swatches.

Quick comparison swatches of two of the Color Club Halo Hues collection I bought from Head2Toe Beauty:

from L to R: Blue, Harp, Blue, Harp 🙂

This is also an update – on this nail mail post here I commented that I thought that I had got a faultily packed bottle of Blue Heaven, as it looked the same as Harp on It. I contacted Head2Toe and, gotta give them credit, they replied within 3 days. No, no fault, Blue Heaven IS supposed to look silver.

So I thought I’d flick up a quick comparison for those looking to purchase these two, to help with any decisions:

Pinky and Middle fingers have  Harp on It,  Ring and Pointer have Blue Heaven.

Rainbows inside lighting!

These AREN’T identical. They’re right. But they are VERY, VERY close.

Personally, I don’t think that anyone would ‘need’ both. Unless you’re a holographic polish addict like myself, I certainly need both. ALL the holographics.  But I may have a slight problem heh heh heh.

These polishes are both super gorgeous, easy to apply, fast drying and very holographic.

So, yes, in real life Blue Heaven should be called Slightly Darker Silver Heaven, but they are pretty.

More outside rainbow photos… in real life you CAN tell the difference, in the shade only. As soon as those rainbows flare, forget it!

Have a wonderful day

Ami 🙂

Gold Holographic Comparisons

Comparisons – gold holos: Layla Gold Idol, Jade Mystic Gold, alternating fingers 🙂

Indirect sunlight, Layla – Jade – Layla – Jade, from left to right 🙂

You can see the color difference!

Sunlight – Layla, Jade, Layla, Jade – from left to right

Now Layla Gold Idol, Jade Mystic Gold and Rivka Vanessa.

Sunlight: from left to right; Jade, Layla, Rivka

Layla is the most holographic, but also the finicky-est to apply. Jade is a much warmer gold, and Vanessa looks barely holographic next to the two of them, but has a very similar color to Gold Idol. Vanessa is a linear holo, and worth owning. Dry time is quite long compared to the other two, but it’s very easy to apply.

Sunlight – left to right: Jade, Layla, Rivka: You can see the line in the holo the Rivka in this photo 🙂

It’s just not in the Layla / Jade holographic class. Jade Mystic Idol is easier to apply than the Layla by lots, the least sheer (though it’s still sheer), and the longest wearing of the three.  All have three coats, no base or top coats.

Sunlight – same order as previously 🙂

All three are super easy to remove, with no staining.

And there you go!

Have a great day

Ami 🙂

Layla Coral Glam vs Color Club Love ‘Em Leave ‘Em

Told you I’d take more photos of Coral Glam 😀 And here they are! Well, the blue hearts peeled off (with NOOOOO help from me *ahem*) so I replaced the polish with Color Club Love ‘Em, Leave ‘Em – the browner toned neutral holographic.

Love ’em Leave ’em on pointer finger, left side 🙂

And.. next to Coral Glam, it looked decidedly UNglam.

Color Club (left), Layla (right)

So, I thought I’d give it a sneaky helping hand and paint a stripe of Darling Diva Polish Dreamy just through the centre of my nail, not enough to change the colour but.. try and get some more rainbow in there.

Layla (left), Color Club (right)

FAIL.

So, a complete top coat of Dreamy it was, which did up the holographic quotient somewhat, but also made it much more grey toned. That’s ok, still pretty!

Color Club (left!) with DDP topcoat, and Layla (right)

Still, even after all the ‘help’ from Dreamy, this was a pretty sad comparison.

It felt like Layla was the kind of friend you never want to be photographed standing next to… that gorgeous one who makes everyone else look plain in comparison. Which isn’t fair: Love ‘Em Leave ‘Em is 15mls of  gorgeous colour with a nice holographic shimmer, it applies like a dream and is perfectly opaque in two fast drying coats, and costs approx NZ $6 including shipping from sellers on Ebay or online retailers like Head2Toe Beauty; whereas the Layla costs NZ $29 including shipping from Candy Girl, for 10 ml. PLUS, you can clearly see the tipwear I have on the Layla holographic-ised nails, after approx 5 hours of wear. And the Color Club will last much longer than that before it tips.

But… but… look at that holographic effect.

Sigh. Have a great day! 😀

Red Crelly Comparisons – swatches

Turns out I have 4 red creme/jelly nail polishes (crellies, I like to smoosh words together). That’s heaps, I think, and definitely enough for a comparison!

So… here they are.

From right to left:

• Little finger/pinky = OPI So Hot It Berns (2 coats no top coat)
• Ring finger = L.A. Colors Cranberry Red (2 coats no top coat)
• Middle finger = Miki No.8 (3 coats with top coat, would have the exact same finish and depth of colour as the others without it though)
• Pointer/index finger = Depend 036 (2 coats no top coat)

The LA Colors stands out by miles as being much darker and heading towards burgandy-ville compared to the others, that much is obvious. OPI (little finger) is a very classic red, but I would call this one ‘blue based’ compared to the rest, as it has that depth and cool tone that the other two don’t.

Of the other two, I would say the Depend polish is a true red, crayon or primary red. The Miki definitely has a bit more of an orange tone to it.

So, no dupes, and I like them ALLLL! 😀 I realise that the Miki and the Depend look very similar in these photos, so I took a bottle shot to show that difference between them a bit clearer.

Miki at the top, Depend on the bottom. heh heh heh

Have a great day!

Ami