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| Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch Concealer |
I am surprised to realise that I haven't reviewed this one before. Not that I'm obsessed with concealers ;-)
This is Armani's take on YSL's Touche Eclat highlighter and dare I say - it's leagues better. Whereas Touche Eclat is strictly only a highlighter, this operates as a radiance-providing concealer which can be used as both concealer and highlighter if required. It has excellent light reflecting properties without too much shimmer (but as it contains Mica it does have a small amount of shimmer).
- 2 Ivory (neutral - pale yellow undertone)
- 3 Pale peach (pale peach undertone)
- 3.5 Light sand (yellow undertone)
Armani Beauty calls this a "high precision concealer which blurs imperfections, treats dark circles, and highlights the complexion".
Water-based, it contains light reflecting pearls (which diffuse light for radiant skin), vitamin E and moisturisers (including glycerin) to nourish the eye area, and has a very thin, ultra-precise applicator brush. Unfortunately it contains Titanium Dioxide (can cause flashback, hmmmm) and parabens (very loud hmmmmmmm and grrrrrrrrrr).
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| Ultra-thin brush applicator |
A really really tiny amount goes a really really long way It's a thin, lightweight liquid formula but with a lot of pigmentation. I find it works best if I dot it under my eyes (the applicator is a very thin brush), leave it there to almost thicken up a little bit and turn from a thinner liquid formulation into a slightly thicker, tackier formulation, then pat it in and blend it out with my fingers. If I'm in a hurry and I don't need major correcting, I can get away with patting it on and blending it out quickly with a flat concealer brush; it really gives a beautiful finish and can be used as corrector/concealer/highlighter all-in-one in this instance.
When my dark circles are more pronounced, it does require a corrector first. For reference, I range between NC20 - NC35 (depending on whether I have a tan or not) and find that #3.5 is perfect for me. I also have #3 for occasional use when I have slight dark circles; however I find that a more pigmented corrector works better first, with the #3.5 patted over it.
This is not a blemish concealer - it has too much radiance which will draw attention to anything you're trying to minimise.
This seems to suit most skin types I've tried it out on, it doesn't settle into fine lines, it doesn't cake, it doesn't separate out, it doesn't dry out.
It's around the €30 price tag (I buy mine at Brown Thomas). Look here for more information. I love it, but because of the parabens, it's unlikely I'll replace it when it runs out :-(