Hidden Gem as a Longwear Complexion Stick
"I’ve been wearing this for years as an all-over skin tint over any soft cream primer (to help with glide). It is surprisingly longwear, even without powder and never patches up or looks makeupy. It is the only base that does not enhance the crinkles around my eyes when I smile and except for the coverage, I can barely tell the difference between which side I’ve applied it to and which I didn’t, even when inspecting up close. It just makes my skin look perfected and slightly filtered but remains genuinely undetectable on my 45 year old skin. For these reasons, it stands alone out of all the makeup I’ve ever worn as a true skin perfector, so I use it (with a primer) in place of foundation. I scribble it directly from the stick GENEROUSLY all over my face after applying any smoothing cream-based primer and blend in with my fingers. Then I swipe again over anything that needs more coverage and just tap out the edges (do not over-blend, this is incredibly thin and seamless). Finally, I swipe the stick with a small detail brush and pat directly on any darkness that is still peeking through and leave it alone (no more blending). I do not bake or set with powder, as no setting powder seems capable of improving upon this perfection. However, when I want a brighter or high glam effect, I strategically dust just a WHISPER of a brightening finishing (not setting) powder, using a sparse/low-density highlighter brush – no puffs). But thankfully, as thin and soft as this is, it’s surprisingly longwear on its own and doesn’t drift at all. In fact, I find it somehow gets better throughout the day as it mixes with my chemistry. Doesn’t oxidize OR fade patchy on my skin (however I do take good care of my skin and exfoliate frequently). I only wish this came in more neutral-muted skin tones and bronzer/contour shades – heck even blush shades, cuz these blow all the new and high end “complexion sticks” out of the water. But thankfully the buildable coverage makes it quite flexible as an overall skin tint that both my adult daughters with very different skin tones (and types) wear it exactly as I do and are just as obsessed with this stuff as I am. Of course. Overall, I think this should have been marketed/packaged as a “complexion stick” rather than a “concealer” because of the lightweight, seamless, buildable coverage. In fact, when I want more coverage than this is capable of building to, I still start with the above steps and then spot conceal where necessary with a higher coverage product – because nothing has been able to make my complexion look better overall. Not new releases, not high end, nothing. And my girls and I are constantly on the lookout for something comparable in other brands because we would like a better shade selection and because I live in fear of this being discontinued someday due to its obscurity in the realm of viral products and brands that don't perform half as good as this Almay Comfort Concealer does. We even tried the liquid foundation in this line and we still prefer this."