Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Concealer - Review

A bit ago, I reviewed EL's Double Wear Light foundation, as I had purchased a kit that included a full size Double Wear Light, a deluxe mini-sized tube of the matching concealer, and some other goodies. Because I had requested the foundation in Intensity 1.0, I received the concealer in light.

If purchased alone, this concealer retails for $20.00, and is available anywhere you find Estee Lauder. It's packaged in a tube with a doe-foot applicator, and really reminds me of the MAC Select Moisturecover concealer in many ways (other than the actual product, which we'll get to in a minute). The claims made on this concealer are:

For a flawless look with 15-hour staying power.Conceals flaws and corrects the look of undereye circles, dark spots and discolorations.Transfer-resistant, color-true formula provides medium to full coverage that won't slip, slide or melt away. Feels lightweight, comfortable.Easy-to-use wand applicator.

15 hours? Really? I can't speak to that, but I can say it lasted all day (about 10 hours) on my under eyes, and seemed to last a decent length of time elsewhere on my face. It also covered very, very well. It provides medium-full coverage. I didn't notice this concealer interfering with my foundation (ie, no patchiness or odd textures when my foundation was over it). It didn't seem to oxidize on me, which is always nice, and appeared to have a "natural" finish, not matte, not shiny.

Sounds good, right? Well, it would've been great, except it's not the right color. It's too dark, and a bit orange-ish. As I've previously noted, I am a light NC15 (if such a beast were to exist, I'd probably be a NC12.5). I'd probably recommend this to a dark NC15-light NC20. It looked really obvious under my eyes (where I'm the palest), and although it's easy to blend, I just couldn't get it to work for me. Light is the lightest shade this concealer is available in, so I can't try to find a better match in the line, either.

Overall, I'd recommend this for those of you who are a shade darker than I, because it is a really nice concealer, but if you're fair-skinned, this may not work out for you.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation - Review

Apparently, I need more than 1 foundation (no, I'm not insane), which is why I picked up the deal that Estee Lauder was offering where you could purchase a full size tube of DoubleWear Light, a deluxe mini-size concealer, mini foundation brush (like the MAC 190), a smaller-sized Spotlight Skin Perfecter, and a DVD to tell me how to use these products (gee, thanks Estee!), all for a little bit more than the cost of the foundation alone.

Double Wear Light is available in 6 shades, because EL apparently believes this is a sheer to medium coverage foundation. It's not, but more on that a bit later. It comes packaged in an opaque squeeze tube that is not color coded, meaning you don't know what shade the foundation is until you open it and squeeze some out. This vexes me for a few reasons - 1) this product is usually in stock at my CCO, but I have to look at each tube to find out which shade it is (annoying, but I'll live), and 2) I can't see how much product is left. I don't mind squeeze tubes, but I want to be able to see the color when I'm shopping. The foundation itself is very thin in texture (maybe that's what EL meant when they used the word "sheer?"), but covers better than any other thin foundation I have used.

I selected "Intensity 1.0," the lightest shade. It's fairly neutral, but would probably equate to a dark NC15 or light NC20 (meaning, too dark for the likes of me) that leans to the neutral side. I can sort of cheat a bit, and blend very well to wear it, but... that's a bit too much work (yeah, I'm that lazy). I think it may also oxidize a touch on me, as well, since by the end of the day it's almost always obvious that I'm not wearing the best shade for me.

I will say, though, this foundation lasts all day. Yes, I still get oily and need to blot, but when a foundation lasts all day despite oils, that says something. It also removes very easily with a regular facial soap, which is always a plus! No real noticeable fragrance, either.

Overall, I really wanted to like this foundation. The color matching issue is really the only thing that's holding me back, and my concerns regarding oxidation aren't a good sign (especially since oxidation always gets worse as it gets warmer). I was hoping to find a match in this line, and I just can't, apparently. Next on my list to try (when I get around to buying or sample it), is the maximum coverage foundation (color match, anyone?.