camouflage techniques:Sana Make Essence concealer

Bags are a musthave item, both a little piece of luxury as a essential tool for toting your necessary things around. A girl's musthave!

I have to make an exception for bags under the eyes. They can be very stubborn reminders that you haven't been a Saint, which is quite impossible to be in our modern times. Undereye circles can be a sign of too little sleep, but some people inherit their 'bags' from their parents.

I am one of those persons that needs a lot of sleep. No, that is not a lazy girl's statement...I have tried to live on 6 hours a night for 4 weeks and I could not adjust to the lack of sleep...I became cranky, my skin went mad, even my hair went flat. So I have to sleep at least 8 hours a night, which I religiously do.

Still, I have those nasty circles under my eyes....sight: the inheritary kind.

So, when dear Yasemi was so sweet to send me her unused Sana Make Essence concealer I was really thrilled to try it out. I have a couple of undereye concealers in my stash, but I haven't found my HG yet. Would this be the one?

Sana Make Essence concealor has received mixed reviews on the blogosphere: some seen to rave about it, others have mixed feelings about it. Other beauty gurus that have blogged about it can be found here, here and here.

I understand the different reviews: every person is different and expects different results from their concealer. My personal opinion is that I love this product. Let me tell you why:

First, when you open the cute package, you find a tube inside. The tube does not have any brushes attached to it: it simply has a small end. Although lots of people prefer their undereye concealers to have brushes attached, for example the most popular undereye concealer YSL Touche Eclat, I consider it to be unhygienic: I have tried to clean the brush head of these concealers, but I am afraid my cleanser will mix with the content inside. Secondly, it seems impossible to cleanse the whole brush.

One thing that might be confusing to the buyers of this product, is that is is called a concealer. I would not have called it a concealor in the standard meaning of the word. I consider it to be a colour corrector for the face/undereyes and not a concealer in the term of complete coverage.

The product is also quite thing, which I personally love. It has a similar quality as a eyecream and it does not settle in the finer lines under the eye. It does not cake at all.

The outcome of the product, when applied, is more a pale yellow veil that reflects the light away. When I say that it reflects the light away, that does NOT imply that the product has sparkling parts or other shimmering elements inside. It is more the veil of yellow that has a reflecting quality, which makes slight dark circles dissapear.

For the heavier kind of dark circles, I suggest pairing this yellow cream with a heavier foundation or regular concealer underneath (or on top, but I prefer to layer the yellow on top of the foundation).

Another element that I like about Sana Make Essence concealer is that it even works on a no-makeup face. On some days I skip the foundation part and let my skin recover from all the makeup. However, my eyes still need help...or I will get the odd remarks such as "are you tired?". This stuff does not need additional foundation to look believable, which some conventional under-eye concealers require (otherwise your total look will look a bit odd).

I do not detect any scent at all. I consider this to be a great plus in my book. I did not get any other irritations when using this.

Overall, I will give it 4 bags. It is not the miracle cure-it-all product and I would need more additional products for covering the heavier kind of dark circles. But I like it....(reason enough, he he)