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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Calvin Klein Mousse Concealer; Review & Swatches of Shades

Ck One Color
Ck One Color Mousse Concealer
New for Spring 2014
Price: $20

Calvin Klein began dipping his toes in the deep blue sea of cosmetics a few years ago with the "Ck One Color" collection. while some of the Color products aren't bad, his complexion products had consistently been a disappointment. Then I saw CK One Color Mousse Concealer and I was so hopeful that this would be the turning point...
First, I want to apologize for not posting this review sooner. I have had the swatches below since April or May and I really thought I had already posted at least the swatches if not the full review. My bad.
Ck One Color is a brand sold exclusively at Ulta stores and on the Ulta Website, so if you don't have a store near you and you were forced to order online, I'm terribly sorry since choosing a shade of the Ck One Mousse concealer is exceptionally difficult. (I'll cover the why of that later.)
Ck One Mousse Concealer is supposed to be a "Unique souffle texture provides an easy application that blends weightlessly and easily on skin. Formula fully hides dark circles, blemishes and imperfections with a natural looking coverage that lasts up to 9 hours" but it's not.

It is a souffle like texture- I'll give them that, but everything else CK One claims about the Mousse Concealer is just false. I was really hoping that Ck One Mousse Concealer would be a dupe for Maybelline's Discontinued Dream Mousse Concealer which remains a coveted cult favorite despite the fact that its been off the market for years. In some ways, CK One did a decent job of mimicking Dream Mousse Concealer. The initial texture and consistency of the Mousse Concealer is kind of a lighter-weight aerated version of Dream mousse, and the base ingredients are actually similar (Cyclopentasiloxane),  but then the similarities stop.

What it seems like Calvin Klein ended up doing, is almost created a watered-down version of Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer. The initial formula of CK's is much, much wetter than Maybelline's and not in a positive "oh so hydrating" way but rather a "mushy" way. Its just off.

Because of the wet texture, building Ck's Mousse Concealer is just not a reasonable possibility. If you try to get more than the lighter-side-of-medium-coverage out of it you're going to end up with either a dry, cracked mess, once it dries and a cakey wet mess initially, and personally, I like a little more than light coverage for a foundation, let alone a concealer!

And then comes the oxidation.....
Ck One Mousse concealer is available in 6 or 7 shades. Ulta keeps having "online exclusive" shades on their website but then they disappear for a while so who knows. The 6 shades that are available in stores appear to be neutral and suitable for fair-deep skin tones but then they dry and deepen at least 5 or  6 shades. I have the lightest shade which is 100 Porcelain and I can't believe how dark it became. Way past your average foundation or concealer, but maybe this won't be a problem if you need less than sheer coverage?

I made the mistake of drying out the Ck One Mousse Concealer for a while [month or two], and this gave me the chance to see one of the concealers few redeeming qualities. Once all of the silly extra moisture had evaporated, I was left with a concealer which would actually offer medium coverage. Of course it had halfway dried already so it was initially about 3 shades darker on its journey to the 6 shades deeper territory, but if you have medium-tan skin and minor blemishes, this may be an ok option for you if you're willing to go through all that extra effort, but I can't see it ever working well on undereye circles.

If you are looking for a good cream-powder concealer, I would actually suggest trying Marc Jacobs Transformative Mousse Foundation which offers full coverage and may work well as a concealer. (You could probably get away with a sample of Transformative Mousse Foundation every few months if you just have a few blemishes to conceal because the initial investment is moderate although you do get alot of product.)

Cream-Powder concealers are a really tricky thing for cosmetic companies to master and I can't for the life of me figure out why when they do have a good formula, they discontinue it. It's absolutely maddening!




Calvin Klein Ck One Color Mousse Concealer; Review & Swatches of Shades 100 Porcelain, 200 Fair, 300 Sand, 400 Bisque, 500 Tan, 600 Honey
Calvin Klein Ck One Color Mousse Concealer; Swatches of Shades
100 Porcelain, 200 Fair, 300 Sand, 400 Bisque, 500 Tan, 600 Honey


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