Stila Perfecting Concealer; Review & Swatches of Shades

Stila Perfecting Concealer 

CRUELTY FREE!

Price: $23 for .27 ounces

(About $3/gram)

Stila Perfecting Concealer is a great example of your typical emollient based "grease paint" concealer. Thicker than formulas like E.L.F Maximum Coverage Concealer or Laura Geller's Real Deal concealer which are emollient based but thinner than Stila Perfecting Concealer.

The Perfecting Concealer is close to Tarte's Creaseless Marcuja Concealer, or It Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer,  but those are much thicker. I would say it is most akin to  Too Faced Absolutely Flawless Flexible Concealer. These formulas are not self setting, meaning that if you have oily skin, you will most definitely have to set them with powder, if you have normal to dry skin, you may have to set them depending on your skin & the climate of where you live.

To find out if its right for you, Keep reading!

Basically, these formulas are very good options for people with dry skin because they moisturize your undereyes there by concealing & plumping skin to disguise fine lines and wrinkles. The issues many people have are running & creasing which basically occur because your skin can not absorb the emollients in the product and as it melds with your skin, it melts. This problem can be cured by setting the product, at least usually. Often people will over do it with setting powder and cause caking, thats worse than the creasing! I wish I could sit here and say that its a one sized fits all problem, but its not. Its a balancing act and you need to know your skin to have best results.

Some formulas will absorb quickly on some people, while others will sit atop the skin for hours. It varies from person to person. As for how much powder to use, that can vary from day to day depending on the humidity level, how much you sweat, your skin's condition, etc. There is no one single solution that will appease everyone...unfortunately.

The best thing that we can hope for is a very richly pigmented formula which allows us to use less product while still concealing our woes. The less product we use, the less likely hood of creasing. That's just common sense. Overall, Stila did a good job with the formula because the emollients are absorbable enough that some people may not need a powder to set it, and some people will nees only a little. Stila claims it has a demi-matte finish, but I would say its more demi than matte unless applied sparingly.

Coverage is very good and this has a reasonable amount of slip which allows you to get it into place properly. It is available in 10 shades, 8 of which are swatched below and all of which are quite nice. I use A & B. A is such a good match for my arm, it is barely visible in the picture, but it is present, I promise!

Stila Perfecting Concealer Swatches of Shades
a. b. d. e.
f. g. h. i.

Tips: Use a brush to apply. 

Many people have success applying a thin layer of concealer, a very thin layer of powder, followed by more concealer & powder, but this is tricky and takes some practice.

Play around with it and have fun to find what works for you. This is a great concealer to try to figure out if you need to go in one direction or another, (either thinner or thicker formula wise), but this is a great in between option!