Back and forth

Between the ‘white’ skincare products with light pigments and the anti-dark circle perfectors clearly classified in the makeup category, but enriched in skincare actives, it is hard not to get lost… As usual, there are many bridges between skincare and makeup, which adds to the confusion. But that is a good point for women: overall, whatever the category of products, their aesthetic results are more satisfactory.

Crayons in the spotlight

For those classified in makeup, large crayons with creamy tips make the application really precise, like a ‘comma’ on the dark circle – perpendicularly to it, one of the most efficient corrections, according to the experts – or in small, hardly accessible areas, like the internal eye corner. Often enriched in vegetable waxes or shea and apricot butter, they slide easily, and moisturize and smooth the fragile skin of the eye contour. After Docteur Renaud in beauty salons (BB Yeux Abricot Eye Crayon Corrector, €19.50) and L’Oréal Paris in supermarkets (True Match Crayon Concealer Balm Perfector, €9.80, three shades), Bobbi Brown (the high priestess of the anti-dark circle segment) and Bare Minerals have just launched their own.
One can adapt to all skin tones (Retouching Face Pencil, €29, ten shades), while the other (Blemish Remedy Concealer, €25.95 with an integrated pencil sharpener, three shades: Light, Medium, Tan, available at Sephora’s) contains many skincare actives (poplar bark, tea tree oil, aloe… to soothe and moisturize the skin, and reduce redness). Lastly, Maybelline will launch their own crayon concealer in October (Dream Correcteur Anti-Cernes Crème Éclat, €6.99, five shades).

A growing hybrid trend

The new Guerlain anti-dark circle concealer (Anti-Dark Circle Multi-Perfecting Concealer, 12ml, €34, six shades, as from September 26) follows all the trends in this category: it hydrates, provides a blurry effect, and conceals. As for makeup, its subtly shaded pigments are available in three bright intensities, from very bright to very dark, to correct all dark circles, while its blurry effect instantaneously clears the least imperfection. As for skincare, its formula reduces the appearance of the bags under the eyes and moisturizes dry areas. As it is not thick and does not create any deposit effect, its texture provides an undetectable result.

Clever optical corrections…

The trendy blurry effect is at the core of the latest Dior and Bourjois creations.
Following what could be seen backstage, Dior has developed a tailor-made corrector with Fix-It Colour 2-in-1 Prime & Colour Correct Face-Eyes-Lips (€35,50), which filtrates both the texture and the skin colour in a single gesture. Its formula contains soft focus pigments right in the heart of its stick to blur imperfections, and coloured pigments to correct colour imperfections. Ideal for matte skins, the apricot filter clears dark, olive-like bags and softens hyperpigmentation areas – these are frequent on this type of dark circles. As for the yellow filter, it scrubs dark circles with purple as the predominant colour.
The Bourjois Blur The Lines anti-dark circle concealer’s soft texture is enriched with a silicone elastomer gel and silica spherical beads and slides on the skin like a silk veil, without marking it or settling in fine lines (€11.90, three shades, next November in supermarkets).
The Essence Cosmetics five-coloured palette is another example of these professional formulas (All I Need Concealer Palette, €4.49, in Auchan stores). Just mix the different shades to create the tone that best corresponds to your complexion.

A new generation of skin perfectors

It is when they started observing the few women that used anti-dark circle concealers on their whole face that brands got the idea of developing these products. As a result, the 2.0 anti-dark circle concealers are no longer reserved for dark circles – that’s too restrictive! Now more generic, they also treat small complexion flaws, like the Flash Luminizer Radiance Booster Pen by Dior (€39, five shades), which gathers all the qualities of anti-dark circle concealers, without bearing their name! In the same vein as the famous Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat, it targets dark areas for an instantaneous illuminating effect.
Here is another expert pen that tracks down tiredness traces, brightens the eyes, and can also be applied on the whole face: Retouching Wand – Retouching Face Pencil by Bobbi Brown (€36, nine shades).
Ultimately, the Too Faced ‘magic wand’ was named Born This Way Concealer, Naturally Radiant Concealer (€26, eight shades, available at Sephora’s). It combines several colour correctors and skincare actives in a patented mixture for a smoother, younger look (coconut water, alpine rose, hyaluronic acid…).

Double agents adapted to ethnic skins

It may prove quite hard to find the perfect anti-dark circle shade for our own foundation. That is why Revlon has created a foundation with a coordinated, slightly lighter anti-dark circle shade in the same box (Colorstay™ 2-in-1 Compact Makeup & Concealer, €12.90, four shades, including Cappuccino for dark skins).
As for the Beyond Perfecting Powder Foundation + Concealer by Clinique (€38, 20 shades), it combines both actions in the same bottle with a foam tip. It is the most complete shade palette.

Slightly tinted skincare

Truly invisible, these skincare products do a little more than just provide light. They contain light pigments, and not the soft focus pigments that give rather poor results.
That is how Genuine Glow Priming Moisture Eye Balm by Estée Lauder (15ml, €34), or Nuxellence Eye Area by Nuxe (15ml, €35) were developed to take care of the eye contour and reveal a more relaxed look.
We can also mention Simone Mahler’s Correcteur Regard Brightening Anti-Shadow & Anti-Wrinkle Care Anti (15ml, €36), Payot’s Uni Skin Eyes & Lips Baume Unifiant Perfecteur (15ml, €39.50), or StriVectin’s Intensive Concentrate for Wrinkles (30ml, €65, at Sephora’s).

Ariane Le Febvre