Bare Minerals BarePro Concealer review (shade Fair Cool 01)

I am not reckless enough to be a foundation addict - Estee Lauder Doublewear has been my HG for more years than I care to mention - but I am often to be distracted by the launch of a good looking concealer or highlighter. I bought this BareMinerals BarePro 16 Hour concealer the very weekend it launched in the UK (from Debenhams), which has now given me enough time to cast my judgement. They didn't have testers yet, so I played it safe and opted for the lightest shade, Fair Cool 01, (2.5g, £23.) It seemed from looking at the opened products that the next shade down was rather similar - so I don't know if 01 is my optimal shade. These come in a wide range of shades, with different undertones,11 in all, which span from light through to dark. I would expect that any tone can easily find a match. Having said that, I did assume Fair Cool would be more pink rather than yellow, but it is a cool toned yellow if such a thing can exist, and it works well;

 

 

 

 blended

I was in a hurry to get this because LisaLisaD1 on YouTube recommended it, and she is the most knowledgeable beauty guru out there, if you ask me. Lisa tries everything, and is able to compare products so accurately. I appreciate her talent to isolate textures and colours to the most infinitesimal degree. She claimed that this was reminiscent of the Clé de Peau famed concealer, which I'd always planned to try. I've tried La Mer concealer and was underwhelmed, so I kept putting off spending a wad of cash again. Hence I pounced on this one!

When I first tried it, I applied it directly from the stick. I'm not familiar with solid concealers, the closest I have come to this is the dearly departed Benefit It Stick, a fairly useful thing to cart around; or Smashbox Look Less Tired, useful to a point, but a terrible let down to me. Mainly due to its absurd glitter packaging, but also it wasn't the best anyway. Both of those are pencils but they are broadly similar in texture to this BarePro concealer. The difference is, BarePro is much softer and smoother so it blends super easily. It also contains many healthy sounding ingredients:

 

ingredients

Applying it liberally gave a surprisingly chalky effect, and furthermore, it didn't seem to last on my oily skin. I began to regret my purchase and doubt Lisa for the very first time. Well I should never have doubted the master! After watching a tutorial she posted, I saw her use a brush and daintily take just a tad to cover her undereyes. I used the brush recommended by Bare Escentuals, the Bare Escentuals max cover brush (incidentally my favourite concealer brush and highly worth getting) and I realised: this is a concealer where less really is more. It wore much better when used sparingly, and it's densely pigmented so it covers well. The tone neutralises redness and brightens under my eyes too. Although it's only 2.5g, I see that it will last well.

 

My favourite concealer is the OG Lancome Effacernes (sadly I hear they messed with a good thing, and the new version is not the same. I still have 2 backups so I can only assume this is true whilst I stay blissfully in denial) and I also love Bobbi Bown Tinted eye brightener, which I'm upset to learn has been or is being discontinued! Why! (luckily I have a backup and after it's gone I will investigate Laura Mercier's similar looking offering which just launched, if it's still going by the time I need it...) I also like, to a lesser extent, the cream pot corrector concealers by Bobbi Brown, and Youngblood concealer. And who could be without some brightening reflective concealers, the king of which has to be YSL Touche Eclat, and a pinker more concealing version is MAC Radiant Rose Prep and Prime Highlighter, another LisaLisaD1 rec. I also like and perhaps should have included, Bare Minerals Stroke of Light, which is similar and better value as you get more product, but I can't help admitting that the MAC one is more pigmented and effective. However in my opinion I'm not sure its slight superiority justifies the amount to cost ratio. I also recommend using Estee Lauder Maximum coverage foundation as a concealer. I've had mine for aeons and it's pretty great albeit with a propensity to get stodgy if you're not careful. So in this convoluted hierarchy I'd say BarePro is third favourite, which considering its two usurpers are essentially discontinued, in some ways makes it First Place. In conclusion, I recommend this - give it a try!

 

 the concealer shortlist 

... Have you tried this concealer? 

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