Conceal, Bake, Brighten | Under Eye Makeup

With KKW Beauty’s new concealer kits launching, I started thinking about the products I currently use to brighten up my under eyes.  Her concealer kits are the first thing from KKW that I have considered buying because the past launches just haven’t been intriguing to me. This one seems right on brand for her and I love the idea behind the marketing of it- applying liquid concealer, baking it, then dusting the bake away while adding the brightening powder.  

I  have products to create a brightened look already, and I have been strict with myself (for once) about not getting any new concealers until I finish up what I currently own.  I’ll definitely be trying out the three step “conceal, bake, brighten” process that the KKW concealers promote- I like the idea of adding brightness while sweeping away the loose powder because usually I pick one powder instead of using two in that fashion.

Loose Powders  

Makeup Revolution Lace & Ben Nye Pretty Pink / These are similar products in different colors so I’m grouping them. I bought both of these baking powders from influencer recommendations- Natalie Halcro is the queen of a bright under eye. She goes for a pink rather than yellow in some of her posts, so I got Pretty Pink by Ben Nye based on her Youtube video.  I’d love for it to be a little lighter because I only use it when I am extra tan or trying to tone down a too bright concealer overload.  This is good for deeper skin tones. Lace Baking Powder by Makeup Revolution is my ideal baking powder- it is fairly new to my collection. I bought it after Casey Holmes mentioned it, and I feel like it is my dream baking powder- it offers brightness without making my skin look old and crepey.  It was the first product that I’ve bought from Makeup Revolution and I’m extremely impressed. This has just the right amount of cream pigment to not be translucent and add a boost of brightness under my eyes. Lace is better than Pretty Pink for my skin tone if I had to pick one.

 

Bare Minerals Concealer / Well Rested has been my holy grail under eye brightener for years. I recommend it to everyone and it’s beautiful to set concealer with or use on it’s own. More recently I tried out Bisque, the peach tone.  I reach for Bisque and Well Rested interchangeably now, even though I feel like I’m betraying my first born child… These are SO SO good and the little tubs of powder last forever because a tiny bit goes a long way.

 

Pressed Powders

MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation / Sometimes I don’t feel like dealing with pouring out loose powders and creating a mess all over my makeup desk. For those times I reach for my pans of powder. You can use a too-light face powder and get the same effect as the powders “meant” for highlighting.  I used to use MAC NC20 all over my face for as a foundation setting powder, but now I just put it under my eyes now that I realize it’s WAY too light for my skin. This has a lot of coverage so it’s nice to hide any darkness I have going on and really perk me up.

 

Singles / While any face powder works, the ones meant for highlighting tend to have a banana yellow, peach, or cream tone to them that color correct. I love the MAC Pro Shaping Powders in Accentuate (peach) and Emphasize (cream white).  They have a stiffness that makes them sheer, which I like working with to keep it light or build up the brightness. With such full coverage concealers out, I don’t always need MORE coverage in that area, and I’m just drying to deposit some color correction. Kat Von D’s Lyric in the refill pan fits perfectly in my little DIY highlighting palette. I was super excited when this came out because I had always wanted to try KVD’s Shade + Light formula without getting the whole palette with colors that I didn’t need.  Lyric is much more loose, full coverage formula than the MAC shaping powders. I like the yellow beige tone of it and it is the most “yellow” under eye powder that I own.

Palette

Tarte Park Ave Princess Bronzer & Contour Palette / The Tarte palette was the first contour palette that I was interested in getting. There have been so many releases, but all of them seemed to be for makeup artists.  I don’t think they were good for the average consumer that only works on one- their own- skin tone. This one has an ultra light pink and cream highlight powder, one cool toned contour shade, and three bronzers.  This is perfect for me for traveling anywhere because I can grab one thing instead of bringing separate under eye powders, contour, and bronzers. The pan size is huge and I will admit that the packaging is one of the main aspects that drew me to this palette.  I have a friend that also bought this who is much paler than me and she loves it as well.

 

Cream

Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector / This is a funky product to get the hang of using, but once you get it, you get it. This is perfect for full coverage glam days or super light no makeup- makeup looks. After applying foundation dab a tad on your finger, and pat it under your eyes where you would usually put highlighting concealer.  It leaves a light peach pink tint with a dewy finish. For natural looks, you can set it with translucent powder and be done. For glam makeup, I actually use it as a priming base for my concealer. This is my secret weapon for making my concealer stick where I put it and blend into my foundation well.

 

Pale Pink concealers / I never thought of nude- pink concealers as color correcting until now really that I’m having to actually come up with a description. I picked up the Urban Decay pink color correcting fluid thinking it was another shade of their amazing concealer. It has great coverage like the concealer, but in a white-blush brightening shade. Maybelline Age Rewind concealer in the shade Brightener is a more affordable version that I’ve also used for years. It never fails me and is the perfect light peach shade to brighten up my face. The creamy formula of it almost feels like a lotion.

Bringing light to my under eyes is one of my favorite steps of doing my makeup.  I feel like it lifts up my face and brings attention to my eye makeup. After I have applied these to my under eyes, I use the excess on the brush for my upper lip, between my brows, and around my mouth to balance the brightness on the rest of my face.  I hope this was helpful if you’re looking for some good options for brightening makeup. For now, I’m holding off on buying the KKW Concealer Kits because I love the options I have. I’m looking forward to seeing reviews on them though! Are you thinking of buying them?

-Kim