tinted moisturizer / concealer recs

[xiahe]

ok, so makeup-wise, i'm pretty low-maintenance. i usually only wear some black liner on my top lid, curl my lashes and layer on lots of black mascara...sometimes some neutral sparkly shadow on the lid or sometimes just something in the inner corners of my eyes to lighten them up and some lip gloss. my skin isn't very problematic except for undereye circles and blemishes. i refuse to wear foundation because no matter what kind it is, it always breaks me out. so i was thinking about a tinted moisturizer instead. i was thinking of either Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Enhancer or Cover Girl's CG Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer. i've heard good things about both but has anyone had any personal experience with them? as for concealers, how do you choose a concealer? do you choose it a shade lighter than your skin and blend it with the tinted moisturizer? what about wearing concealer without foundation or a tinted moisturizer (can you even do this or is it "too obvious"?) as for concealers, i was thinking about Neutrogena's 3-in-1 Undereye Concealer for my dark circles and Almay's Clear Complexion Oil-Free Concealer for blemishes. has anyone ever used these?

if there are any other products that you could recommend, please let me know! [preferably drug store products - i'm a poor college student so i can't really afford a lot of high end stuff]

*AND* this is slightly OT, but i have a $50 macy's gift card. what would you spend it on? sadly the macy's in my area DOES NOT have a MAC counter [only dillard's]...but could i use this gift card and order MAC makeup online through macys.com?

*AND* one more question lol. if you had $50 to spend at sephora, what would you buy?

thanks everyone!

 

[Fairybelle]

I tried the CG Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer and I found it to be average. For a cheap tinted moisturizer it even out skintone fairly and goes on smoothly. However it felt a bit greasy on me and I didn't find it to be as good as a colormatch as Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. Now I know you don't want to spend a lot of money on makeup, however I think that if you are going to be putting something all over your face rather than in just spots (like blush or eyeshadow) you should get the most natural and best-colormatched look possible. Even with tinted moisturizer you risk getting an orangey-"tone/tint" or washed out "tone/tint". Not pretty. So...IMVHO (and you may not agree...but I want to help here) I suggest you use the gift card on the tinted moisturizer and concealer and use the leftover money on color makeup. My recs for tinted moisturizer: Laura Mercier, MAC Select Tint, Shiseido, or Clinique Almost Makeup.
For concealer, it depends what you want to cover up. If you have undereye circles, go for a slightly lighter shade. For blemishes, lighter concealer tends to draw attention to the problem, so I would go with a shade as close to your skintone as possible. If you have acne or redness, go for a green-toned primer before you put on the concealer to neutralize the redness. My recs for concealer: Laura Mercier Secret Concealer, MAC Studio Finish concealer--both are great for heavier coverage. For lighter coverage I suggest MAC Select Moisturecover (great for under the eyes).
Hope this helps a bit. I know a lot of people want to go cheap on foundation/base and more expensive on other products, but if you really think about it, a good foundation makes the face IMHO! Good luck and have fun shopping whatever you decide!

 

[urbanlilyfairy]

I love love the neutrogena Healthy skin enhancer im NC25 in Mac and I use the Light to medium color ... I just ordered 3 of them from drugstore.com ..since I have yet to find them here in Italy. I don't like to wear full on foundation everyday but I love Healthy skin enchancer. And I beleive it to be a far superior product to more pricey tinted moistureizers... i have used in the past Laura mercier tinted moistureizer and Mac Foundations ...but I reach for my neutrogena one way more often.

As far as concealers go I bought one from Neutrogena the one that comes in a Pen style dispenser taht was for underye circles ..i don't remember the product name ..but I do remember I hated it ...It was really thick and didn't go on smoothly.

BUt I do love the new Maybelline age rewind concealer duo. It comes with one side concealer and the other side a highlighter. I love it ...the concealer part gives me enough coverage for blemishes and undereye darkness .. but I don't have really dark undereye area just average I guess ... I love the highlighter part ..I use quite a bit in the inner corners of me eyes.. I think this product is great i think its under 8 bucks and it's like a 2 in 1 product ya know.

as far as concealers go ..I have tried many ..the last one before I found one i now love ..was the Balm (i believed the hype on it) I didn't like it ..the color was way to dark ...and i ended up swapping it away heh ...and i tried the Mac concealer that comes in a stick ..I hate that too ...its too rough to work with imo.

also as far as drugstore makeups ... Cover girl eyeshadow singles are awesome ..they have good pigment are affordable and nice selection of colors ...they even have a good mac parrot dupe ..called aqua paradise i belive ..

I love maybelline and covergirl mascaras ...

CG wetslicks l/g

Rimmel L/s and l/p are awesome

Loreal color juice have great colors ..a bit sticky imo ..but the color stays on i guess cuz of the stickiness

Good luck ..hope this helps



Oh and about Macys ..Im pretty sure you can use the giftcard online ..I know you can check the balance online ..but I have never ordered with a giftcard. Oh and if you are gonna shop online ...sign up for EBATES...at ebates.com ...and click on the macys link through them ...and you get cash back percentages that eventually add up for monies lol ... I shop quite a bit online so i love me some Ebates.

 

[Kiseki]

I'd spend that Sephora card in Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer or her set of concealers (Secret Camouflage for blemishes, scars and Secret Concealer for Under-eye), I just love Laura Mercier.

 

[frocher]

Laura Mercier does make a wonderful tinted moisturizer, and her concealer is pure magic.