Benefit Erase Paste

It is officially winter and between holiday stress and the end of the semester stress, my skin is looking worse than ever.  In addition to how pale and dull I fear that it looks, my dark undereye circles seem to be more defined and darker than ever before.  The MAC concealer that I have been using for the past few months now doesn't seem to be doing anything and I need a product with a thicker texture and much more pigmentation for this area.  I was considering ordering another tube of Amazing Concealer, a product that has done a great job for me in the past but I wanted to read the reviews of all kinds of concealers on the Sephora website and see if there is a gem that I haven't tried yet.  At this point in time, I am over the holidays and just want the fuss to be over with so that I can battle winter head on and go right into a very hard next semester.

Ignoring all the holiday gifts and glitz, I went right to the Makeup area of the website.  There is no point in me going to the store this time of the season, I will not get anywhere near the counters with all the holiday shoppers trying to get the last few people crossed of their lists.  Based on the fact that I had to order online and cannot try shades or formulas, I wanted to stick with a vrand that I have used many items from before and have trusted for a few years now, when Sephora is empty at the end of March, I can try something totally off the wall and from a brand that I have never tried anything from.  Also, I wanted to find a product that I could trust and that I knew would work the first time that I used it and I wouldn't then have to find another product to order.

Based on the brand's reputation and the reviews that I found on the Sephora website, I decided to order the lightest shade of Benefit's best selling concealer, Erase Paste.  "A brightening camouflage for the eyes and face.  Benefit Erase Paste is a concentrated, creamy, blendable concealer that instantly brightens and camouflages all-in-one. It has an innovative formula which makes sure signs of stress and fatigue are a thing of the past. These three brightening neutral shades give every gal correction perfection.  Erase Paste includes a step-by-step concealing and brightening lesson and a handy little spatula."

This concealer comes in three shades; one for fair skin, one for medium skin, and then one for darker skin tones.  Of course, I ordered the fairest shade in this product, my skin is at its palest in the winter and I won't get any color until I begin self tanning next summer.  The lightest shade is the best for my skintone, it is pretty light and I would think that most ladies will use the middle shade in the range.

Benefit suggests the following usage for this product, "Scoop a tiny amount out of jar with spatula. Dot with ring finger onto any shadowed areas under eyes or on face.   Blend evenly and smoothly."  The first time that I used this product, I dipped my concealer brush right into the jar and barely any product stuck to it, I then tried to put the brush in on its side and still got next to no product sticking to the brush.  The next time that I used the product, I decided to actually follow the directions provided by the company and this time around it worked much better.  I used the spatula one time to get the product out, however I also found out that I can dip my fingertip right into the product and then dot the product onto my undereye area.  Either way works, but I don't recommend trying to dip the brush right into the product itself.  The concealer is thicker than many other formulas, so once I get out it, I have to warm it up in between my fingertips in order to best apply it.  Once I have it dotted in place, then I can blend it with a flat concealer brush and set it with loose powder. 

I use the product mostly for dark circles, I have not yet had any blemishes that have needed to be covered.  I bet that it will work very well for blemishes since it it so thick a formula.  I would not recommend this formula for those with very oily skin, since it has the potential to only make it worse.  This formula is best for normal to dry skin that is in need of good spot coverage.  The light reflecting particles may this product recommended more for use on dark circles, they help to conceal them and improve the overall appearance of the area.

photo courtesy of Sephora