I'm hopeless! I keep trying different concealers in my quest to find the perfect match for my inherited dark under eye circles and skin tone and I keep getting disappointed.

This time, the culprit was Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Color Corrector Concealer in Light.

It wasn't a dud but it wasn't good enough to stop me from continuing my search.

About This Concealer

philosophy: makeup optional skin is achievable, but skin discoloration may sometimes persist. the supernatural airbrushed color correctors are ideal for shadowing around the eye, upper lip or wherever redness occurs. they can be used alone or mixed together to provide an airbrushed finish.

www.drugstore.com

The Packaging

This little black compact comes boxed in classic Philosophy black and white colors. The compact is black matte plastic with the Philosophy name on it. There is just .26 ounce of product in total although very little is needed for concealing. The compact is under four inches long and about two inches wide. It is slim and very portable. You simply flip the top to open and snap it shut. There is a mirror inside which covers the inner top and the concealer comes with a black brush with white bristles. The brush is just over two and a half inches long and the bristles are just long enough to be used on the eye area and around the nose.

My Experience

My experience with Philosophy cosmetics has not been extremely positive. Although I love their skin care and fragrance lines, I think most of their cosmetic products are pretty average. Such was the case with this little compact of three shades of Light concealer.

My skin is between medium and light which always poses a problem for me when concealers are broken into just those two distinctions rather than having several shades like Dermablend products.

This concealer comes in Light, Medium, and Dark. I grappled in my mind about which to choose but I decided to go with light figuring there were three shades and I could customize the color to my skin.

It turns out this concealer in Light is really, really light. You would have to have porcelain skin to truly match the shades in this compact.

Nonetheless, I played with it to see what it could do.

In the compact are three one inch circles of concealer starting at almost porcelain to an ivory shade. The last shade was just a touch lighter than my natural skin color but the first two shades were much lighter.

The little brush actually is quite good. I used it to blend the three shades and to apply the concealer around my eyes and on the little red areas around my nose. Although the concealer was a bit too light or my skin, it did blend nicely and was very creamy.

I liked the three different shades that I could mix and match and I liked that the concealer smoothed on effortlessly with no tugging or caking at all.

The concealer did cover my circles and imperfections fairly well but, because it was too light, it looked unnatural on me. I don't fault the concealer for that though.

Although it did cover pretty well, it didn't last long and soon, my circles were peeking through and I was reapplying the concealer again…and again.

Philosophy says that this is a good eye shadow base. It's not. It creases almost instantly and leaves a line of concealer on the eyelid that is really unflattering.

I used the concealer several times before I called Philosophy and told them I was sending it back and buying the Medium shade. I just looked too fake with the glaring light concealer under my eyes.

Frankly, I doubt I will love the Medium shades. The compact is cute and I like that there are three shades to customize to my skin tone but the longevity just isn't there. I don't think deeper colors will last longer than the lighter ones. Still, I'm going to give it a shot.

For those with very light skin and minor flaws and circles, Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Color Corrector Concealer in Light may be the answer. It is nice to blend the shades and it is very easy to apply. It lasts an average amount of time on me - a couple hours at the very most - but I have yet to find a concealer (other than Dermablend) that lasts much longer than that no matter how thick, expensive, or heavily applied. I have problem dark circles that just don't want to stay hidden.

Although this concealer caused me no irritation or breakouts and it was easy to apply and creamy, it isn't much better than many others I have tried - from very cheap drugstore brands to very expensive name brands. In fact, I had very similar or better results with Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer which only costs a few bucks.

I will give the Medium shades a try and report back but, judging from my experience with the Light shades, this is a decent but not extraordinary concealer palette with a few things going for it (Three shades, a brush, portable compact, creamy application).

For $25.00, I expect better than decent.

Ingredients

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Octyldodecanol, Euphorbia Cerifera Wax (Candelilla), Copernicia Cerifera Wax (Carnauba), Jojoba Esters, Polyethylene, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin, BHT, Vegetable Oil, Propylparaben, May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (ci 77891), Iron Oxides (ci 77489, 77491, 77492, 77499)

Buying Info

This concealer is available at Philosophy.com and at many beauty online stores. It can also be purchased wherever Philosophy products are sold offline. The price is $25.00 no matter where you buy it.

Conclusion

Philosophy is not impressing me with their cosmetic line. I love their skin care but, so far, I have yet to find a really good Philosophy cosmetic. This concealer is no different. It's decent and has some advantages over single shade concealers and may work well on very light skin that needs light to medium coverage. It isn't much better than less expensive concealers though so you're really paying for the ability to customize and the Philosophy name.

I give this 3 stars and I don't recommend it although I am rather on the fence about that. It's certainly not a bad concealer. It just isn't worth $25.00 for the amount and length of coverage it provided me. You may find it is just what you're looking for.

Updated September 16, 2006: I got the Medium Concealer Compact and here is my review of it, as promised. Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Color Corrector Concealer, Medium

A couple other Philosophy cosmetics I have tried:

Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Blush

Philosophy The Supernatural Airbrushed Canvas, Neutral SPF 15

Recommended: No

Coverage: Light to medium coverage