Don't reveal it - conceal it! (MAC Select Cover Up Concealer)

Member Name: DaisyMarie

Product:	MAC Select Cover Up Concealer
Date:	09/09/08 (638 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Long lasting, wide range of colours available

Disadvantages: Doesnt completely cover my dark undereye circles

I have been using mineral foundation and concealer for a while, but didn't find it as amazing as everyone else had been saying. So, I decided to splurge on some MAC basic products - a concealer, foundation and powder, hoping to find they made me feel much more confident about my skin and ensure me that they were worth the money! In this review I shall be analysing the select cover-up concealer...

Once I had decided to go for MAC, I did thorough research so that my money wasn't wasted - I looked on the internet and spoke online with a MAC artist. The live help MAC offers is very useful because if you do not live near a store you can get thorough and informative help from the comfort of your own home! I told the artist what I was looking for in a concealer - good coverage for under eye circles and to even out my skin tone - especially the redness around my nose. She recommended MAC Select MoistureCover, however I was a bit dubious because it sounded moisturising, and for someone with oily skin, I don't really want or need moisturiser as I provide enough of my own thanks!

I went to the MAC store in Selfriges in the Manchester Trafford Centre (the stores are few and far between but mainly in the major cities and their shopping centres), and I was a bit nervous because the last makeup someone else put on me went horribly wrong. But there was a huge buzz around the counter compared to the others nearby - Olay, YSL, Clarins and Clinique. There were plenty of staff and all looked friendly and professional. I waited in a small queue and a lovely lady asked me what products I was looking for. She immediately knew the colour I needed - NW20 - and recommended the Select Cover-Up Concealer. I decided to go with her choice rather than the online help recommendation of Moisture Cover because she could see my skin and so I figured she would have a better idea of what would be best for me. She was not pushy at all, and I was worried she would push me into buying things I didn't want or couldn't afford. BUT SHE DIDN'T! Yay! I had such a good experience with the MAC counter and would be happy to go back again.

The concealer itself comes in a squeeze tube which is very practical as no product is wasted. The product is administered through a thin pointed nib that doesn't splurt the product everywhere and you can easily control how much you squeeze out. The tube contains 10ml or 0.33 US FL OZ of product and retails at £11.

As with all MAC products, it comes with an outer packaging of a classy, simple black box with the product information on it.

I apply the concealer to my under-eye circles and around my nose with my concealer brush for precise application, a little goes a long way but when I use my brush I find it absorbs a lot of the product so some is still wasted. Therefore, I have started to apply it with clean fingers. The liquid is not runny or firm, but creamy and easy to blend into the skin, I have started applying a thin layer all over my face before foundation and find it improves my overall skin tone.

I would say the concealer is the best I have ever tried, but this is my first non-drugstore concealer. It is probably not much better than Rimmel Recover concealer though, but it lasts a little longer and less is needed. I find that it lasts all day and looks quite natural - my under eye circles are not completely gone but look much less obvious and natural - rather than coated in concealer. I do not break out much so I don't know how good it is at covering acne and spots, but I have oily skin but recently my skin went dry for a few days (weird I know!) and the concealer worked just as well on oily or dry skin - but with all makeup - try before you by! Ask the MAC store if they have samples, or if you are going for a days shopping near to a MAC store, go there first thing and apply the product then shop for the day. Re-assess what it looks like by the end of the day and make your decision about whether it is worth buying because sometimes the products look good when first applied but change over the course of the day.

I would not buy this again because I am going to try different concealers until I find the perfect one, but I feel there is a good chance this is the one I will be returning too!

Summary: Great natural looking concealer to cover most flaws!