Review | Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer


Hello! I'm sorry for the long posting break! and can I just say that I haven't been reading other blogs too recently mainly because of how blogger changed its home interface? :( It's been a while since I talk to you guys here and thank you so much to those who's still reading my blog even though I haven't been posting a new content. So, how's May? Mine has been busy and this month is also my birthday month where I got to celebrate with family and close friends on the first day of May.

Today, I'm giving my skincare posting a rest and while that, let me share some thoughts on the Bourjois Radiant Concealer. My trusty Maybelline Mineral Concealer (that I swear by for concealing dark circles) ran out some time ago and instead of playing it safe by replacing the same thing, I decided to try out the concealer from Bourjois. I was not being fussy at picking it up though, mainly because I have already use a lot of Bourjois products before and they generally leave me with good impressions. So, it goes without saying, I was intrigued.... (also by Zoella since she talked about it in one of her youtube videos).


What is it?
I bought mine at Watsons and it seemed to be around RM35.80 at that time (NP: RM39.90). This concealer is a part from Bourjois "Radiance Reveal" collection and it was launced in March 2016. Here's what Bourjois said about the concealer;

"THE MAGIC TOUCH FOR YOUR COMPLEXION"
Correction-radiance-skincare
It conceals imperfections, dark circles and puffiness for a fresh and radiant look. At instant skincare action; enriched with Mont Blanc glacier water and hyaluronic acid, it visibly smoothes away wrinkles and fine lines and hydrates the under eyes area for up to 24 hours. Its plus; a melting texture for a fresh feel. Thanks to its precise applicator, it can be used as a highlighter as well.

Claims;
1) Imperfections are concealed (97% of women agree)
2) Dark circles and puffiness are smoothed away (93% of women agree)
3) Eyes are brightened (90% of women agree)
*tested on 29 volunteers.



Packaging
The concealer comes in a sturdy, glass look-alike tube that is actually made from plastic and it has a wand applicator. The packaging alone receives 5 stars rating from me. It's pretty and the silver cap twisting on top of it makes the concealer appears to be more exclusive and expensive. It doesn't look cheapo! It doesn't even look like a drugstore type of concealer imo. The brand name is engraved onto the one side of the tube (again, pretty!). Meanwhile, tThe wand is not that unique or anything, just the regular ones and it picks up product nicely.



Ingredients
Why do I just realised that they don't have the ingredient list on its bottle.....
So I'm gonna copy paste from makeupalley;

Aqua (Water), Isopropyl Myristate, Dimethicone, Isohexadecane, PEG-30 Dipolyhdroxystearate, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Magnesium Sulfate, Parfum, Menthyl lactate, Ethyhexylglycerin, hyaluronic acid, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Geraniol, Linalool, BHT, Tocopherol (+/- Mica, Cl 77007 Ultramarines, Cl 77891 Titanium Dioxide, Cl 77491, Cl 77499, Cl 77499 Iron Oxides.

You can find the full ingredient list breakdown with its EWG Health Rating (Safety) on CosDNA analysis [here]. The only concerning ingredient is Geraniol, one of the fragrance components used in this concealer. It's capable in causing skin sensitivity through penetration, but geraniol has generally low skin absorption rate, according to [this] journal. I think it's already a well-known fact that all of the Bourjois base products have a nice scent coming from fragrances, so don't buy them if you're not comfortable. 

Shade
Unfortunately, only 2 shades available in our local Watsons; 
(01) Ivory
(02) Beige. 
Another shade they have in the line is (03) Dark Beige. Very...very limited shade range, poor colour selection and that isn't going to suit everyone. 



Verdict
1. Knowing that I'm close to tan (I usually wear MAC foundie in NC25-NC30) and the lightest shade of anything doesn't really look good on me, I picked up the middle shade "02 Beige". The colour is okay for undereyes, but it is leaning towards "peachy" tone rather than "yellow" or "olive" and speaking of which, I don't see a lot of women here are having a cool skin undertone (macam omputeh). We are generally warm, so, I'd say that it probably matches Caucasian skin a little bit more than Asian, especially our locals here.

2. For comparison, let me show you the swatches of Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer (02 Beige) and Maybelline Mineral Concealer (shade 02). Maybelline specifically made the latter available in certain Asian countries. Malaysia included!



Can you see how Maybelline has a lot more yellow undertone to it? It's actually pretty "orange" in real life too. Orange neutralised dark under eyes circle, so kalau kulit awak kuning langsat or sawo matang, I'd suggest the Maybelline ones rather than this Bourjois concealer. On my skin, this Bourjois shade isn't particularly noticeable once it is blended out but it certainly cannot hide my dark circle as much as the Maybelline one does.

3. For concealing spots and imperfection- I'd say it has a decent performance. This concealer has a creamy and lightweight consistency, it's not thick as the famous Collection Cosmetics Concealer, so you need to do a lot of layering in order to conceal acne spots. 

4. The pigmentation and its coverage is okay for concealing redness, however, I feel like you can't really use it in a large amount due to stickiness and please tell me I'm not the only one who feel this. Lol. I remember one time I did the "no foundation makeup challenge" where I only applied this for most of the part of my face and it ended up horribly. Very sticky and transferable! I'd highly recommend setting your face with powder afterwards.

5. Texture is creamy and it's easily spreadable. It doesn't easily goes cakey too, so people with dry skin would probably like this. Because the concealer is hydrating, (means more water-like than concentrated cream-like), I'd recommend using a damp beauty sponge to blend it out. Use 'dabbing' method instead of 'swiping' motion. If you use a bigger brush, the product would probably move away and won't settle into the skin nicely. Picture below shows how 'creamy' and 'hydrating' it is compared to the other 2 concealers. 



6. I'm not so convinced on the skincare claim, just because it has the Mont Blanc something2 and hyaluronic acid in it, doesn't mean that this could smooth away wrinkles and fine lines. I mean, hello... I already have crow's feet situation nearby my eyes okay, even as a makeup, this concealer would still settle in it. Also, usually when a product claim to be 'providing 24 hours of hydration', I had my expectations at the ready; as in it would not crease in a good amount of time...... but it's still creasing after few hours, although not as bad as Maybelline Mineral Concealer. 

7. Staying power is okay I guess? I notice nothing special but at the end of the day, it fades nicely, barely can tell when it's actually gone.



Overall
To summarise, there are only a few things I like about this product; its hydrating consistency and the overall packaging. However, I'd give this concealer a 'meh' due to its stickiness and how I feel like it performs below average according to my concealer standard. Score: 1.5/5 (I'm going to bring back the ?/5 rating onwards because I feel like ?/10 is too broad and I'm a harsh critic). 

I'm afraid that I don't really think this stuff is good (I MEAN I DON'T HATE IT BUT I WISHED I DIDN'T BUY) and that is disappointing because I really like Bourjois products. The score could be higher if I had the lightest shade and use it for highlighting. With the current shade I have, the concealer will disappear matching my original skintone, so technically, that is not "highlighting" or "brightening" as suggested by Bourjois. I'd also prefer something that is a lot creamy and less watery for that purpose, so I doubt I would enjoy using the first shade as my highlighting concealer. 

I won't repurchase. 😪😪😪😪
I heard the consistency is almost similar to Maybelline Fit Me, which I'm planning to buy. Hmm, can anyone confirm this?

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