Gift Review: Daiso Double-Ended Concealer & Kat's Method of Concealing (Picture Heavy)

Today's review is on the Daiso Double-Ended Stick Concealer.

This was in Yumeko's "Top 8 Beauty Related Buys from Daiso here. She graciously gifted me with one and I finally got around to trying it out.

One of the unique things about this concealer is that it is double ended. One end is wide and the other end is pencil tip thin.

I like this concept especially if you are wanting to conceal smaller problem spots.

Before I continue into my concealing method, please let me ramble on a bit about my skin blemish "history". I grew up with freckles, a bit unusual for a full-blooded asian, I think. I always hated my freckles especially as they continued to multiply as I grew older. Of course, living in Hawaii and always being in the sun didn't help especially since back when I was in my teens, sun screen protection wasn't stressed. Then one day, I had a pimple on my cheek and after it was gone, it left a dark spot which also blended into a cluster of freckles leaving one huge dark spot on the apple of my cheek which, to this day, doesn't lighten or go away. I've tried many lightening products and have had many suggestions from makeup artists as to the best technique and products to use to conceal this dreaded large spot as well as my smaller freckles. One suggestion was to use an orange-colored pencil to conceal as many makeup artists use this technique especially for photo shoots. I tried it and unfortunately ended up with orange spots that really weren't obvious unless you looked at closeup shots or saw me in person really close up.

So I've taken all the information that I have gleaned over the years and came up with what works best for me. It's probably most unorthodox and perhaps many professional makeup artists will cringe but it's what works for me and I'm happy with the result.

I must say that I like using a peach-toned concealer and my HG is Sue Devitt Bermuda Triangle Undereye Corrector. For the purposes of this post, I'm using the Daiso Double-Ended Stick Concealer to review it at the same time. My technique and products that I use is the same, just the concealer is different.

Normally I prime and prep my face and do most of my eye makeup first and then I conceal and apply foundation. Besides the concealer, the other products that I use are Sephora Smudge/Eyeliner brush, e.l.f. contour brush, Crown Brush fluff brush, Sephora Eyeshadow in sun-kissed N° 78 and NARS Orgasm blush.

I start off with my primed and prepped face.

Using the wider end of the Daiso concealer, I smudge some of it onto my finger and pat it under my eyes.

Using whatever is remaining on my finger, I pat it onto the large dark spot and to the sides of my nose. Using the Sephora brush, I pick up some concealer and start covering the large dark spot.

Using the pencil tip end of the concealer, I dot the larger, darker spots. (Normally I use the Sephora brush to apply concealer to the larger, darker freckles.)

The concealer is quite visible and this is true even with my HG concealer.

To help create a more natural concealed look, and to provide more coverage for the large, dark spot, I use the e.l.f. brush and pick up some Orgasm and then some sun-kissed and apply it to the large dark spot. Trying to keep a light hand, I add this combination until it is concealed decently well.

Using only sun-kissed, I apply it to the other spots that I used concealer on. Using the Crown Brush fluff brush, I lightly apply sun-kissed to under eye, sides of the nose and and over all the dotted areas to blend everything together.

My face is now ready for foundation to be applied.

I do realize that the normal procedure for applying concealer is liquid foundation first and then conceal, or if you are using powder foundation, then you conceal first.  Although I use liquid foundation, I like to conceal first because the areas where you use a concealer will be lighter. Applying a foundation over will minimize and most likely eliminate the white lighter spots. This is also the reason why I like to use a flat-topped brush and stipple on my foundation. Oftentimes I will apply more Orgasm to the large dark spot before and after applying foundation. Because it is on the apple of my cheek I need that area to have more "orange" coverage. After applying blush, it is concealed nicely. If I use a lighter color or powder to cover and set the concealer, that area will show up as a white spot under the blush. I have found Orgasm to be the best color for this purpose. I originally wanted to use a matte eyeshadow as sun-kissed is a bit pearlized but this color was the best for what I wanted to do and it ended up working out much better, I think. It helps to brighten up the under eye area and I think that it also helps to reflect light away from any imperfections.

Although the Daiso concealer isn't peach-toned, which I normally like, using this method helped to color correct the concealer so that it worked out nicely. In Japan, this concealer is only 105 yen, which is a bargain! It worked well on me. I didn't need to touch up (although I don't touch up unless I'm going to go out after work) and it didn't settle into fine lines. As Yumeko said in her post, it's great for keeping in your office drawer or gym locker.

Sorry for the length of this post. I know that it seems like a lot of steps and time consuming but it actually goes quite quickly for me. I must say that I have a love-hate relationship with my dark spots. I really dislike having the dark spots on my face and am considering medically getting it removed. However, I do like the fact that I can test and see how well a product works by having the dark spot.

I will write a post on how I apply my foundation another time.

*Kat*