With stress, lack of sleep (or rather, waking up earlier than 10 AM), and allergies I've been experiencing major dark circles and fine lines. And I don't mean cute panda circles or aegyo-sal puffy eyes shit... I mean vampiric bruised looking eyes.
I held off for a while considering how time consuming it would be to add a step to my routine. Correct, conceal, and then powder? Ain't nobody got time... but I sucked it up and went out trolling the interwebz for suggestions.
Pink neutralizers looked ashy and yellow brighteners did nothing to address the dark purple bruising, but basic color theory (okay, the internet, I'm not that smart) told me orange will neutralize blue and purple tones in olive skin.
I picked up the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Peach ($23) and Giorgio Armani Master Corrector in 02 ($39) to test against each other. One is a creamier texture while the other dispenses with a wand from a tube due to its liquid-y consistency. If these two options are out of your budget, NYX also does a dupe for around 8 bucks.
{Bobbi
Brown Corrector: For extra dark circles apply Corrector up to the
lashline and into inner corner of eye. Layer with Creamy Concealer.
Apply powder over concealer to set.}
The BB version feels like any other creamy concealer. It's slightly tacky, thick, but emollient. The tiny packaging makes it easy to pop in your purse and go. I found it very opaque to the point that it needed to be applied first before foundation or concealer, otherwise risking red panda mode.
Many have complained that while it does a great job of making them not looking like a Walking Dead extra, it is so thick that it will crease into any fine lines if you have them. I didn't notice this, but I do have two very pronounced lines (wow, caught myself a break) under each eye. This corrector neither made them more or less obvious.
The Giorgio Armani version looks very modest but costs twice as much. Seriously, couldn't they have done a glass packaging with a rubber cap to make up for the ridiculous price tag? It looks drugstore as f*ck.
In any case, you use a brush tip to draw some product under the eyes. I don't like how much it can draw on at one time but it's a mess to remove some product on the side of the tube. I like making quick brush strokes and then blending with my ring finger.
The consistency is liquidy without being drippy, and it's very opaque for how lightweight it feels. At the same time, it is very natural looking on the skin and doesn't require you to slap some more concealer on top or apply it under your foundation. It doesn't have a slip to it meaning the corrector won't just slide off if you don't set it.
With both being set by a powder I found that the Armani had slightly better staying power and thus coverage throughout the day. Figures, right? However, the difference in performance was negligible considering the cost and you can definitely rely on Bobbi Brown if your undereyes aren't dry or cracked.
xo Be
