Review/Swatch/FOTD/Comparison: Laura Mercier Secrect Camouflage SC-2 vs. Make Up For Ever Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream #4 Flesh

I have been having a bit of trouble with my HG Make Up For Ever Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream (#4 Flesh). It doesn't seem to cover up as well as before. I don't know if it's because this tube's too old or my skin has changed as I age. Or perhaps the hyper-pigmentation I have on my cheeks are getting darker? (Oh NO!) I can't answer any of these questions myself. I just notice that there is something wrong as I see more spots after my face's been covered with all the makeup. That can't be cool...


So I have been looking out for a new concealer, hoping to find a better alternative. But since I have been sticking to Full Cover for many years, I basically have no knowledge of other concealers whatsoever. Yes, I have read about certain products here and there. But whatever I read was only hearsay. There was nothing concrete.


Anyway, as I am slowly getting into Laura Mercier, I decided to give its concealers a try as they are Laura Mercier's star products. And that's where Secrect Camouflage comes in. This is a product to conceal blemishes, not undereye circle as I was told. It sounds like an item for my needs...

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage SC - 2

Product Description:

- Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage completely camouflages dark circles, minor imperfections & discolorations.

- A unique two-shade system, one to match the skins depth of color & one to match the skins undertone

- Custom-blend your own perfect shade

- High level of pigment requires very little product to achieve complete coverage

- Always apply after foundation

- Use as an under-eye concealer only if you have darker than average shadows by mixing with Eyedration® Firming Eye Creme for a creamier, more emollient consistency - Laura Mercier



Can I just say that I am a bit confused about what's said above?


So basically the concealer has 2 parts, one is supposed to match with my skin tone and the other to match with the undertone? Now... I am not sure what's my under tone. seriously. It is sometimes yellow and sometimes pink depending on which foundation I use. How does one detect undertone anyway? Somebody please teach me!


More so, why can't I use this product before foundation? I mean, if I am to use a powder foundation, shouldn't I apply it before the foundation?


And I am totally clueless with the last statement... I am just skipping that part all together as I don't have the product mentioned to begin with.

This is how the compact looks like now. Major dips! The left side was split into half when sent to me. But that's not a problem since this is a cream product.









Swatch



To be honest, I find this skin tone/undertone business weird. I just blend the two colours till I find the right match. Actually I think the right side (pink) is more of my colour than the left (yellow) as the yellow is a tad too light.

Put to test:

First of all, I apologize for this soft focus collage. For some reason, I couldn't manage to get the pictures sharp enough even though I set the camera on macro setting.


As I was wearing a powder foundation (Make Up For Ever Duo Mat 202), I applied the concealer first then the foundation. I wanted to see if it worked when I applied this concealer before a powder foundation. And the answer was positive. It was just like any other concealers that should go onto the skin before a powder foundation.


The coverage was about the same as my Full Cover. However, it was a lot drier and I couldn't blend it well. I realized that finger application was a NO GO after a couple of attempts. I had to rely on a concealer brush with the product. It was only then the concealer would look appealing (smooth and even).


And because of it's being difficult to spread, I ended up using a lot more foundation! If I used the normal amount of foundation, there would be edges near the concealed parts. I think you can see the differences in thickness of the powder foundation applied on each cheeks. The side with Secret Camouflage SC-2 looked a lot more pasty.


And don't tell me that you didn't see that line under my eye!!! I don't normally notice fine lines around my eyes but with the help of this concealer, I could! No wonder people told me NOT to use this concealer on the eye areas! This was the living proof of all the reviews I had read about it wasn't made for undereye because of its dryness. A certain bitter lesson learnt.


And this was one of the few occasions that I actually saw the pores on my face! Oh My God!!! Not only it emphasized fine lines but it also enlarged pores??? (To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was because of this product so I started doing facial scrub, which I hadn't been doing for years. And I also started doing the Pure Vitamin E Oil Mask more often because I was worried the pore business would get worse... And you know what? If I didn't use this concealer, I didn't have much of the big pore problem!)

Trial 1

I also did a collage of applying this concealer after a liquid foundation (Make Up For Ever Liquid Lift (2 Ivory). And this time, I think the camera was behaving well and I caught all the details on my face. However, I had to take the pictures under tungsten lights with flashlight on so the colours may be off somewhat.


You can see that Make Up For Ever yields much better result than Laura Mercier on me. This picture below tells all!

Trial 2

I have done quite a few of FOTD with this concealer but because I covered it up too well that you can't spot the problems I mentioned above. This picture below is probably the best to show how this Secrect Camouflage emphasizes the pores. You really can see them dancing on my cheeks!

This was why I rushed to buy a facial scrub and did the Pure Vitamin E Oil mask...

If you want to see more pictures, you can click here.



Price/Packaging:

This is $28USD for 0.26 oz. /7.7g. I think it's not too expensive for a concealer, if you don't count what it does!


I was iffy about the compact palette design as the product exposes to the open air and it catches dirt easily. I already found some unwanted particles stuck to the surface of both colours. I think it is wrong to have a concealer in such open concept packaging. A squeezable tube would have been much more hygienic and at the same time, more economical.



My Verdict:

Colour Match: I can get the colours matched to my skin tone provided I mix both colours properly.


Coverage: I think it's about the same as Full Cover and perhaps a bit better at times as it can be blended to a desired darker/light hue.


Staying Power: It is just about the same as Full Cover so it's quite good.


Texture: It feels drier in the pen but not so bad once it's on the skin. I guess it's because the cream's pressed down into a compact? As it's drier, it is more difficult to blend. I must use a brush to apply because fingers tend to smudge off the cream (and it's not hygienic to dip fingers into the cream anyway.) I often notice my foundation doesn't goes on flawlessly and I end up using more foundation to cover up the edges so there is no gap. Nevertheless, no matter how much foundation I piled on, the concealer doesn't cake it up. So that's a plus I must say.


I don't like this concealer. I am too spoilt by Make Up For Ever Full Cover and it will not be an easy task to find something working better than that. Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage is a disappointment in comparison.


If you have a good concealer for covering brown spots, please let me know! Thanks a lot.



Ingredients:

Diethylene, Glycol, Diethylhexanoate/Diisononanoate, Paraffin, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Octyldodecanol, Ethylhexyl Isononanoate, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Oleth-10, Methylparaben, Isopropylparaben,Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isopropyl Myristate, Mica, Titanium Dioxide (C1 77891). +/- [May Contain]: Iron Oxides (C1 77491, C1 77492, C1 77499).



Related Posts:

Review: Make Up For Ever Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream (#4 Flesh)

Review: Make Up For Ever Duo Mat Powder Foundation (#202 Beige translucide)

Review: Make Up For Ever Liquid Lift Foundation (2 ivory)

Review: Colonial Dames Pure Vitamin E Oil



My Colouring:

MUFE Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream #4, Lift Concealer #3, Duo Mat Powder Foundation #202, Face & Body #20, High Definition Foundation #125, Liquid Lift Foundation #2, Clarins Instant Smooth Foundation #1.5, Pupa Professionals Triple Action Powder Foundation #02 (when tanned)

Light Asian skin (obvious brown spots on cheekbones, slightly dry & doesn't break out easily), dark brown eyes, jet black hair, medium pigmented lips.

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