If you are like me and like to go light on daytime cosmetics, you might have thought that under eye concealers were only for those women who “plaster on” their makeup. The ones that are 22, but look 40 because of their obsession with using every cosmetic available for everyone section of their face. Eye liner, eye shadow, brow liner, mascara, facial concealer, foundation, compact powder, blush, lip liner, lipstick, bronzer, highlighter…

Whew! You get the picture. I mean, what woman wears ALL of that?! Oh, that’s right, Real Housewife of Atlanta, Kim Zolciak does. Here’s a photo of Kim:

And she was supposedly 29 years old during the filming of the show. Yes, that was TWENTY-nine. When I first saw the show, I had guessed that she was at least in her early 40′s. Yes, makeup can make an ugly duckling look beautiful, but it can also make a youthful face look waaaay old.

Since I’m a strong believer of the latter sentiment, I have always been fairly conservative when it comes to my daytime makeup. There was a time when my daily makeup routine consisted of just mascara, eyebrow gel, compact facial powder and lipstick. Those were the days. Unfortunately, those days are no more. These days I’m rocking some liquid/mousse foundation, brow liner, eye highlighter and blush during the day. With a light hand, of course. But despite all of these new additions to my beauty arsenal, I had never once brought home a container of under eye concealer until this year. (And that is despite the fact that under eye concealer had been calling my name since at least 2006.)

Like many of you, my schedule doesn’t always allow for sufficient sleep. You know the saying about getting your beauty sleep? Well, chicas, it’s true. So VERY true. Lack of sleep equals dark undereye circles. At least in my case. And surprisingly, despite the almost weekly “you look tired” comments, I didn’t do anything about the dark circles other than trying unsuccessfully to get more beauty sleep. Why did it not occur to me to get some under eye concealer? Beats me. I guess I was too exhausted to wrap my brain around the thought.

The light-bulb moment finally came when I was channel surfing and happened upon Bobbi Brown, the makeup artist, hawking her makeup on the Home Shopping Network. When I landed on HSN, she was demonstrating the miracle of under eye concealer on some models. I must say the before-and-afters were impressive. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some concealer!

Within a day or two, I headed over to my local bluemercury shop to get some samples of Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer Kit and her Tinted Eye Brightener. I got the concealer in “Golden” and the brightener in “Dark”. The products did their job; I noticed a dramatic diminishing of the darkness under my eyes. However, being the product junkie that I am, I wasn’t ready to commit to Bobbi Brown just yet. How would I know if the Bobbi Brown concealer was the best for me unless I sampled some other brands?

My research lasted a few months. I bought some products and got samples of others. I tried under eye concealers by all the major department store and drugstore brands (at least those that offered concealers in darker hues). After comparing the coverage, color match, feel, ease of use and wear, I’ve settled on a combination of concealer and foundation that gives me great coverage, long-wear and under eye brightness. And it’s probably not what you expected!

My pick? Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector (concealer-side) used under Prescriptives Virtual Matte Makeup (liquid foundation). This combination beautifully conceals under eye darkness and does not accentuate fine lines/wrinkles under the eye. And when I chose this combo, I didn’t even know that the Maybelline IAR Double Face Perfector had been named Best of Beauty Readers’ Choice 2008 and Best Drugstore Concealer by Allure magazine. (I guess intelligent, beauty product junkies think alike.)

This is my winning routine for covering under eye dark circles:

1. Using my ring finger, I gently apply a non-greasy eye cream to my entire eye area and let it soak in for a few minutes. (I use RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream. It is never too early to start protecting/nourishing the delicate skin around the eye area.)

2. Using the “concealer” side of the Double Face Perfector, I apply concealer to my dark under eye circles in a sort of triangle formation from the inner corner of my eye down to the top of my cheek and up to the middle of my eye under my lower lashes.

3. I gently dab the concealer until blended with my ring finger. (Special note to other women using the concealer in the “Dark” shade: This is the lightest “dark” shade that I have ever used. (The actual color is lighter than the color swatches I’ve seen online.) At first I wondered if “Medium” had been mistakenly packaged as Dark. However, the lightness of the shade is what makes it completely cover the dark circles and give you the bonus of under eye brightness. After applying the concealer, the area under your eyes will be much lighter than your complexion, but please wait until you apply the foundation on top before judging the final color.

4. Shake up your Prescriptives Virtual Matte foundation and lightly apply over the Maybelline concealer with a small makeup brush. Dab it lightly with the ring finger until it is fully blended into your skin. At this point, if you are using the correct shade of foundation, your dark circles are gone!

5. Apply foundation to the rest of your face and blend. If you use a powder, apply it to your face with a large brush making sure to lightly dust your eye area as well. (The light dusting of powder helps “set” the concealer/foundation combo.)

6. For an extra “pop” of brightness around your eye, dab the “highlighter” side of the Double Face Perfector in the corner or your eyes and on your brow bone under the arch of your eyebrows and lightly rub in with your fingertip.

7. Proceed with the rest of your makeup routine including mascara, eyeliner, etc.

Covering your dark circles will dramatically improve your appearance and make you look younger and more alert. Take a little time and enjoy your new view!

TCS Tip: I had always assumed that lack of sleep was solely responsible for my dark under eye circles. However, I’ve discovered a correlation between my caffeine intake and the dark circles. I did a little experiment and coffee consumption definitely gives me dark circles. When I stop drinking coffee, my dark circles lighten up drastically.

TCS’s recommended combo for coverage of under eye dark circles–

• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector (approx. US$7.00)
  • Product category: liquid concealer and liquid highlighter
  • Voted Best Drugstore Concealer (Allure magazine)
  • Available in three colors: Light, Medium, Dark
  • www.maybelline.com

combined with

• Prescriptives Virtual Matte Makeup (oil-control, SPF 15) (1.0oz/US$32.50)
  • Product category: liquid, oil-free foundation
  • A best-seller; medium to full coverage with a satin matte finish
  • www.prescriptives.com
  • Note: I used this foundation for my under eye routine because it is my staple “full coverage” foundation and matches my skin perfectly (Fresh Antelope, shade #09). Other foundations may work just as well with the Maybelline concealer; experiment with your favorite foundation and let me know the results.