Product Review: Vichy Dermablend Concealer

So as I sit here, awake at 2am despite the fact that I have to get up in 5 hours, my thoughts naturally turn to concealer. This past summer's been so busy (and cash-poor) that when I ran out of my beloved Cinema Secrets concealer, I had to make do with drugstore brands. (Nice to see Cinema Secrets get some love in Allure's "Best Of" list, this year, by the way) But, to my delight, I came across a fantastic, high-coverage, easily blendable concealer at Shopper's, and it is totally shameful that I call myself a beauty blogger and yet I have waited this long to share it with you all.

Nonetheless, they say better late than never, and here it is: Vichy Dermablend Concealer!



Vichy Dermablend is a gel-cream type of product, and feels almost like a thick-ish silicone primer. On the skin, this translates to the product gliding on beautifully... there's no tugging happening here! Its silky application means that you can apply really sheer layers to cover red areas, but also build up coverage for dark circles.

Ya know how makeup artists are always saying "just apply concealer where necessary and skip the foundation for a fresh-faced look"? I don't know about you, but upon reading that, I promptly go "pfffft" and move along... with most concealers, you end up getting a freaky and patchy-faced look, unless you've also got foundation on. But Dermablend does it right: Just stipple it into your skin with a good concealer brush and it blends pretty much seamlessly. It is even more skin-like than Cinema Secrets, due in large part to the fact that it's in liquid form.

Despite all its good points, Dermablend still didn't give enough coverage for me to use on its own. I think I might have just picked a shade that was a hair too dark (they do have like 12 shades to choose from, which is awesome), but I've achieved great results by layering Maybelline's Age Rewind concealer over top. In fact, I've since bought another little tub of Cinema Secrets, and dare I say it, I think I may even like the Dermablend+Age Rewind combo better! [EDIT: I lied, Dermablend comes in 6 shades. Which is still pretty good.]

(Incidentally, it seems like they may have reformulated the Cinema Secrets concealer... it seems thicker now, and since when was it scented? Of course, the store also didn't have my exact shade for some reason, so I had to pick the next closest one, which could be throwing everything off. Still, I'm pretty sure there was no scent in it before...)

So okay, I should say that despite being available at the drugstore, this concealer demands practically department-store prices. But, for the $23 it costs, you will get months and months of use, and it is at least comparable, if not better than many department store brands. The needle-nose tube is hygenic and doesn't waste product, plus I got mine on sale for like $16, so keep an eye out for that.

But really, the best way to deal with dark circles is to not get them in the first place, so it's off to bed for me! If you've also been bit by the irresponsible-sleeping-habits bug, do hop over to your local Shopper's and check out the Dermablend line.