“Keep Your Friends Close, but Your [Concealer] Closer”

"My father taught me many things here — he taught me in this room. He taught me — keep your friends close but your enemies closer." The Godfather; Part II

That might be a slight deviation from the infamous “The Godfather; Part II” quote, but it certainly rings true for most women and their makeup routine! And once you try NARS’s Radiant Creamy Concealer, it’ll be next to impossible to leave the house without it! This slender tube of pure pigmented goodness will become your new best friend, banishing those dark circles forever and covering them in a soft blanket of glowing light.

After visiting the NARS boutique in SOHO last December, I realized that I didn’t know much about the company or its products, so I decided to try a few and order online. Among an illuminator and a multiple, I chose a concealer in the shade, Vanilla, based on the cubes swatches shown on the website. It was an exact skin match! I mean, it couldn’t get more perfect!

The packaging is very simplistic – not a lot of fluff or unnecessary popping, twisting, pumping, anything of the sort. It’s a rectangular tube with a sponge tip applicator attached to a stick, reminiscent of an Elizabeth Arden lipgloss. The product is so workable and the tip so delicate that instead of merely loading the liquid on my face with the given applicator, I actually spread around and fully apply the concealer on my skin with the tip! I twist the top, pull out the wand ONCE, and that’s all I need for both eyes, around my nose, and any blemishes hanging around. I’ve found that the concealer does tend to crease just a tad in this very deep groove I have underneath both eyes (had it since childhood!), so I apply Tarte’s Smooth Operator pressed translucent powder compact very lightly over the top a minute or two after I finish. The concealer dries very quickly with no tacky residue or sliding tendencies.

This is the type of concealer you can wear sans foundation (granted you’ve chosen the correct skin tone) – it blends in so well. It’s a close race between NARS & MAC now for the grand prize of all-around best concealer!