L.A. Girl Pro. Conceal Orange Corrector Review

UPDATED COMPARISON REVIEW HERE

http://beautyandthemuslimah.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/orange-colour-correcting-concealers.html?m=1

So I've been testing this baby out for the past couple of weeks and I think I'm ready to share my thoughts. FYI I have hyperpigmentation around my mouth which is prone to turning grey when I have foundation on and I have some mild under eye darkness. My skin tone is around an NC35 - NC40 and my discolouration is around NC42 - NC43 (I think). So it's a fairly big difference. It's not obvious when I'm bare faced but once I have any foundation on there, it's like : HELLO UGLY ! I've noticed not all WOC have this problem, I'm a light brown South Asian with strong golden yellow undertones, and have seen people my skintone and darker that don't have this issue.

Well first off the corrector is orange in colour :D ! Orange is used to colour correct dark discolouration under the eyes and for some WOC, around the mouth. The idea is to use this colour corrector under your usual concealer or foundation to counteract the grey shadow that would occur if only an ordinary concealer was to be used. Some people can get away with using only an ordinary concealer to disguise dark circles, whilst others need the extra colour correcting step to mask any discolourations.

I first do my usual skin prep for pre makeup application i.e. a well cleansed/exfoliated and moisturised face and if I need to, a primer. Then gently squeezing the tube I brush on a little orange around my mouth and under my eyes, just a little since it's quite pigmented, and lightly pat/blend it out with my fingers or a sponge. Then I apply my foundation/concealer with my beauty blender and blend that over the corrected areas without moving the orange around. Then I set if I have to. I have only tested this corrector with foundation, as I prefer the lighter coverage and feel of foundation than a concealer. And I technically haven't found a concealer that I like yet :/.

I am impressed with the quality of this corrector. Compared to the Sleek Hide It Concealer in 02 I used before (shade 02 is proper orange), L.A. Girl is tons better, this one is a LOT more pigmented and a tiny bit goes very far. Whereas the Sleek one is a bit more slidey and not as pigmented and kinda cheap (though it does a fairly good job and I can get away with it easily). This one is thicker but is still very creamy and stays put very well! I use this more for my mouth than under eyes, but it works well for there too, when I do use it under my eyes I find that once I've corrected, concealed and set with powder, it doesn't crease too bad. But under eyes isn't a major issue for me, it's more so around the mouth. For just under a fiver the quality is very impressive !

I think it does a reasonably good job at colour correcting my hyperpigmentation. BUT I do find that my hyperpigmentation still fights to peek out from underneath, which is okay I guess, since the corrector manages to disguise the discolouration better than without any colour corrector. I obviously would want it to banish the grey look completely but I know my discolouration is difficult so I won't push my expectancy out to far and I'm not going to expect miracles! If your discolouration ain't too bad it might work better for you. But I still think this product is excellent and wouldn't do a full face of makeup without it! 

A little issue I have is that I have skin texture, specifically around my mouth as well, I do believe it's linked to the discolouration somehow, oddly enough. So layering product is an issue for me, the more layers I have on my face the more obvious it is that I have makeup on. And I'm not too fond of that finish, it's just my personal preference, I would want it to look as natural and seamless as possible. It may be because the texture of the corrector is fairly thick, but since it does a decent job at disguising the grey, I'm not going to argue with that. Plus I admit my general expectations are quite high, I'm just fussy like that unfortunately.

**Update 29/10/15: Another issue I've been having is that I find the orange quite dark, like there's some red in it, sometimes the orange peeks out through underneath. Which has made me reduce the amount I need to use, I use a tiny tiny amount and blend it out. I think this is better for darker skinned people or if you do use it you might have to be more generous with the product you use on top.**

It is because of this specific skin texture that I don't like wearing concealers. I find them too thick and obvious on my skin. I'm not really savvy or experienced with concealers, so if anyone has any tips or suggestions please let me know!! I do have the Nars Creamy Concealer (which I find thick) so I will test it out with the orange corrector. I will also continue to test and try this out in other ways to see if I have better results and will let you know! 

Another little gripe is that I don't like the brush end, the corrector is in a plastic squeezable tube, when it's squeezed, the product goes through a nozzle (which we can't see) and then comes out through the bristles, I would have preferred just a nozzle because I don't like it when product stays in the brush and dries up, it's unhygienic and very annoying to control, since you can't see the amount of product that comes out the nozzle and then through the bristles. What I do is brush my skin with whatever product there was still left on/in the brush and then incredibly gently squeeze the tube to let out a little product and then monitor if product is building up on my skin, then stop squeezing when I have enough. It's tedious because you don't need a lot of this stuff and I don't want to waste it, that's why I would have preferred a clear plastic little nozzle instead. Plus I can't be bothered to clean the brush every time I use it. 

I think colour correcting is a must for those that have colour issues on their skin. I do recommend this corrector, it'll definitely help if not fully counteract the darkness. I do want to try a few more, like the Kiko one, the MAC double ended one, the Armani one too. I also want to try an orange eyeshadow that I saw Arshia of HappyTreasures use. I know many of you were waiting for me to put this up so I hope this review was somewhat helpful. Peace ! Xxx

Note: I bought this off eBay UK from an American seller for under a fiver and it came to the UK in a week!