Undereye Concealers - My current faves

Ever since I had my twins (and now with my 15 month old), I have been on the hunt for the best, most miraculous undereye concealer.  I have some massive bags under my eyes along with the darkness that comes from a lack of sleep and/or interrupted sleep (that and the fact that I'm East Indian and apparently it is prevalent in East Indian's - GREAT!).  Anywho...I'm not sure when I'll get enough sleep to get rid of my undereye circles but until that happens, I will need to find an awesome undereye concealer to hide these puppies.  I have tried many, many different concealers from drugstore brands to high end, department store brands.  Some look ashy and cakey under my eyes, while some do conceal but by midday, it has migrated into my fine lines under my eyes and I have to touch it up throughout the day.  Here are the concealers I have tried so far:

-MAC Select Moisturecover - it's ok; very  moisturizing, decent coverage

-MAC Select Cover-up - I like; moisturizing and pigmented, but creases after a while

-MAC Studio Finish SPF 35 - I like this one; it's thick, creamy, super pigmented and has decent staying power, but eventually creases and settles in the fine lines

-MAC Pro Longwear - decent; long wearing, good pigmentation, good color selection, horrible applicator which ends up dispensing/wasting a lot of product, if they change the packaging I may consider purchasing

-Bobbi Brown Correcter and Creamy Concealer - I really like both; good pigmentation, long wearing but has tendency to settle into the fine lines around the eyes

-It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer - I like; very pigmented, moisturizing, decent staying power, also has tendency to settle into fine lines

-Revlon Colorstay - decent; good drugstore find, good pigmentation, long wearing, creamy, can settle into fine lines around eyes

-Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser - love; current favorite concealer, excellent drugstore find, long wearing, good pigmentation, doesn't settle into the fine lines around eyes

-ELF Studio Concealer - don't like; tough to apply, formula seems hard/tough - I needed to apply it to my finger tips and warm it up first, didn't stay long, settled into fine lines
-Benefit Erase Paste - I like; good color pigmentation, long wearing, decent staying power but eventually settled into fine lines
-Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage- decent; I like this one, good color payoff, decent staying power, not a great color selection

My current favorite is the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser in Light.  I love how this product blends into my skin and doesn't settle into the fine lines around my eyes.  I also like the sponge tip applicator that applies the product in a concentrated way - although I don't use the sponge applicator to blend out the product but rather to place the product under my eye and I use either a fluffy brush (like the MAC 224) to blend it out or my fingers.  I make sure to set it with powder right away and this seems to help keep the product from settling into the fine lines around my eyes.  The color is slightly lighter than my skin color which works perfectly to brighten the undereye area.  I also like how you can see how much of the product is left in the concealer pen. I would definitely re-purchase this product and recommend it to my friends.  I purchased this at my local Target for around $8.00 but you can find this at any drug store or local retailer and you can find it on sale. 

I also really like Benefit Erase Paste as well as Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer.  They both have a salmon/peachy color to it which works wonderfully to conceal my dark undereye circles.  But before adding either of the above, I always add a thin layer of my Bobbi Brown Correcter in Light Peach.  This correcter works amazingly to cancel out the bluish undertones of my dark undereye circles.  Both the Benefit and Bobbi Brown concealers are creamy, thick and highly pigmented so they do the job when it comes to concealing. And despite setting both concealers with a powder, both have the tendency to settle into the fine lines around my eyes after a few hours (4-5+ hours) of wear.  But there are days when I don't quite mind this (days when I might be at home or running an errand here or there) and I will use these concealers in spite of this.  I have to say the same fault lies with my MAC Studio Finish concealer.  I love this concealer - it is really pigmented, thick, creamy and blends well into my skin when using just my finger to apply it.  But like the others, it eventually settles into the fine lines but it takes much longer than the Benefit and Bobbi Brown ones - about 6-7 hours before they settle into the fine lines.

On a side note - make sure that you properly moisturize the area around your eye morning and night to help smooth out those pesky little "fine" lines around your eyes.  I really like using the Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream.  This cream is thick and creamy, absorbs well into the skin and really helps to moisturize the areas under my eye without feeling greasy.  There are many good undereye creams out there at both the drug store levels as well as the high end department store levels.  Test out a few and make sure that they work for the area around your eye. 

I really hope that this helps you busy mom's find the right concealer to hide and conceal those under eye bags and circles.  Our nights of 8+ hours of sleep may not be in the near future but looking like you had 8+ hours of sleep can be!!  Enjoy...