June 20, 2013 | 1404 users online

Concealers - Laura Mercier - Secret Camouflage

image

image 0image 1image 2

rated 3.9(548 reviews)

  • Average Rating: 3.95
  • 69% would buy again
  • Package Quality: 3.9
  • Price: $$$

  • Ingredients

rated 4 of 5 on 12/24/2011 12:05:00 AM More reviews by prettyfacades

Age: 19-24 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Black, Straight, Fine Eyes: Brown

I love the results this gives, but I hate the mixing the blending bit.

It is dry, but not drying on the skin. The dryness makes it hard to blend this out but I just mix in a little bit of liquid foundation and that makes it so much easier.

I use this to cover some acne scars I have and redness on my face, it works very well! Even at the end of a very long night with partying and the works, it STAYS PUT. It doesn't separate or cake up. And it really does look like skin, very natural and undetectable.

It's really hard to use this under the eyes though, it doesn't spread easily enough.

I wear B20 in Chanel foundations, and #20 or #21 in Dior and I use SC3. I find that SC3 has more yellow pigment then the peachy/orangey colour while SC2 is the other way round. I need more yellow pigment for facial concealing so I would probably get more use out of SC3 than SC2.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 5 of 5 on 12/8/2011 7:26:00 AM More reviews by Platosfriend

Age: 30-35 Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine Eyes: Brown

I became addicted to this product without realizing it.
Let me explain how it happened. After purchasing it for an exorbitant price for a concealer, 45 euros aka 60 dollars, and driving to a different city to find it (Laura Mercier is a rare bird in Germany), I was disappointed and hating myself for once again falling into the trap of over hyped products. On my under eye area it dried the skin and emphasized my wrinkles and on the blemishes it just seemed like yet another full coverage concealer.
I also didn't understand the need for 2 shades. The peach shade (SC-2) was a nice color for my under eye area, but since it didn't work there, I thought I payed for the extra shade for nothing.
I continued using it because of the price I payed for it.
Then one day, months later, I stopped using it and instead used some normal concealer to cover my blemishes.
Well, that's when I noticed the difference. Immediate upon application, my skin look fine, but after two hours, it started showing imperfections. I do get oily on my tzone, occasional break outs, some redness around my nose and mouth area. I do need some skin evening.
Even if this concealer seems quite normal, it stays put. It adheres to the skin, without being over thick or cakey. It stays on your skin for some solid 8 hours.
And I found a use for the peach shade. When I get breakouts on my cheek, and I still wanna use blush (no shimmer of course), it's much easier to cover them with a peachy concealer then with a yellow one that stands out in the middle of the blush.
I don't know how this works on acne, but for me, it is now, unfortunatley, a staple (cos of the price and availability).

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 3 of 5 on 12/2/2011 1:31:00 AM More reviews by aureliationg

Age: 25-29 Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm Hair: Brown, Straight, Fine Eyes: Black

The colours are great cos it comes with one yellow toned concealer and a peach toned concealer. One good for undereyes and the other for redness. But i find it too sheer, needs a lot of layers to build up coverage, especially on my zits. I love it more for concealing under eye darkness. It's smooth and speads easily.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 4 of 5 on 11/25/2011 9:01:00 AM More reviews by HVW

Age: 25-29 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Not Sure Hair: Blond, Other, Other Eyes: Blue

I agree with a lot of the comments here already, but here are my thoughts anyway:

This is a highly pigmented concealer with a dryish consistency, meaning you only need a small amount and it should last most, if not all day long. The fact that you have two colours to blend means that you can get the shade spot on, adding more or less of the darker colour depending on the colour and visibility of the blemish.

Get a good brush - this concealer is quite solid so you want a firm brush nib and a quality make that won't shed bristles. I had birthday money to burn so I opted for the one Laura Mercier sell for use with the concealer. It was hearbreakingly expensive, but it does the job well.

Unless you live in an excessively hot house you will need to warm the product up before using. I usually use a hair drier until the surface of the concealer looks shiny, then use, but there are plenty of other ideas here from other reviewers that would work just as well.

Buy from a counter and ask for advice on which colour to get and on how to mix and apply. I wish I'd asked more questions at the time but with a bit of experimentation I'm now pretty good at getting the result I'm after.

The packaging is fine, although I think it's a bit mean not to have a space for the brush to go.

This won't magically flatten raised blemishes or smooth uneven skin tone so if your skin is bumpy beforehand (as mine usually is) then don't expect miracles - it can only change the colour of your blemishes, not make them disappear! I wouldn't use it under my eyes, despite what it says on the website, as I think the texture would be wrong and I personally think this is a product to use on small areas only.

Overall I'm very pleased with this concealer. Yes, it is expensive, but it does a great job of covering spots and other blemishes in a way that previous concealers I've bought just haven't. It stays on all day unless I touch my face (must. stop. doing that.) but in the summer I might need to dust with setting powder afterwards, I'll have to wait and see.

Overall, as you might have gathered it's not the quickest or easiest product to use, but gosh does it do the trick.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 4 of 5 top reviewer on 11/25/2011 8:29:00 AM More reviews by amswtr

Age: 30-35 Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium Eyes: Blue

There are a lot of mixed reviews on this concealor. I really like it and it works for me. Mind you, I haven't been using concealor that long, a few years. Before this concealor, I was using a Ben Nye concealor wheel, which I liked but I only used 2 colors in it and it came with 6. When I first opened the LM secret camouflage, I was dissapointed. I bought the SC-1, the lightest but it looked too orange for me. I'm very pale with a lot of redness in my cheeks, chin, and nose. I tested it out and after a few tries I have had great success. This is what I do. I wash my face, apply lotion, then smashbox primer. While my face is still moist, I apply the lightest shade of concealor under my eyes, I pat it on, don't rub. This stuff is thick and it feels dry but it works. You need moist skin and a patting motion. The darker concealor, I applied it to my red areas, first patting and then slightly blending with my fingers. I don't use a brush at all with this stuff. I was shocked at how well it covered my redness. I was sure I would end up looking like an Oompa Loompa but it blended away all my redness. Then I used my foundation over it. I use a MAC stippling brush (187) to stipple on my foundation, I don't rub it in, I stipple. This gives me the best result. If you need a full coverage then it's worth checking out.

Is this review helpful? Yes No

rated 4 of 5 on 11/19/2011 10:30:00 PM More reviews by Blubird23

Age: 30-35 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Not Sure Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine Eyes: Blue

This is a good concealer with excellent coverage but it's not for everyone. I've bought this twice, the first time was years ago when my skin was going through a good phase and I was rarely breaking out. An SA at Nordstom talked me into getting this with my LM foudation. I didn't really need it then so I ended up throwing it out mostly unused when it got old. I think the key to this concealer, and the reason it gets such mixed reviews, is that you have to really need it. If you need very full coverage that stays in place, this is a lifesaver. If you dont have fairly serious skin issues to cover up (acne marks or other pigmentation, very dark circles), you wont like this. It is very heavy, dry and matte and there are many other options out there (smoother texture, nicer finish) for those that just want medium to light coverage. I decided to try this again a few months ago because I really needed a good concealer for hormonal acne. This time I used a different brush (wider than the LM one) and I have learned to blend it better so I am liking it more. It's great for covering blemishes, and the dryish texture can be hard to work with but is actally better for covering acne becase it stays in place. It comes with two colors to customize to your skin (I have the #2 shade) but I dont really mix them. I use the lighter part for under eyes because it's yellower and it works nicely as long as you moisturize the eye area very well first (I dont have dark circles so I dont need much.) The darker, pinker shade matches my skin pretty well so I just dot some on a zit with a brush and then lightly buff it with mineral foundation.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 4 of 5 top reviewer on 10/31/2011 9:55:00 AM More reviews by inneroracle

Age: 36-43 Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Brown, Straight, Fine Eyes: Brown

I don't really know how I feel about this product. I use the light color on its own to cover the dark circles under my eye, and I try to mix the 2 colors to cover the red acne scars on my face. It is a great concealer. I find it difficult to use though, and the texture feels a little dry when trying to blend it on the back of my hand. It really does work though, and I'd have to say it is the best concealer for coverage I've ever used. I probably just don't have the hang of blending it though. One lippie off for the fact that it isn't just one step to use it.

Is this review helpful? Yes No

rated 5 of 5 on 10/25/2011 4:49:00 PM More reviews by lolaborro

Age: 30-35 Skin: Oily, Fair, Not Sure Hair: Blond, Other, Other Eyes: Green

I absolutely love this product, its not oily so its perfect for concealing if your skin is oily because it doesn't rub off. It's not suitable for use around the eyes as it is to dry and pasty for that but works wonders everywhere else on the face.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

rated 1 of 5 top reviewer on 10/25/2011 8:20:00 AM More reviews by ceen

Age: 30-35 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Not Sure Hair: Black, Other, Other Eyes: Black

Little to no success was had with this product. The core of the trouble concerned the fact that you have to mix two colours together to get one. The inherent difficulty with this mixing action is, of course, the potential for variable shade results. Save yourself time, money and effort by finding your perfect shade in another line. You might like to start this search with the excellent Nars concealers given the broad shade range available there.

Is this review helpful? Yes No

rated 5 of 5 on 10/16/2011 6:24:00 AM More reviews by sleeping7beauty

Age: 19-24 Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure Hair: Other, Other, Other Eyes: Other

Ok so this product is the only makeup product I cant live without. It can be used only as a concealer but if you blend it with a moisturizer it turns into the best foundation in the world that is all natural and doesnt become greasy (of course if you have oily skin like me blend it with an oil free moisturizer). It should also be said that I have extremely sensitive skin and this is the only thing that I can actually put on my skin without irritating it or giving me break outs. It smells nothing which is good cause its not full of chemicals and perfume. (I for instance tried the HD makeup forever foundation that have gotten such great reviews and it was crap in comparison and didnt look natural in certain lights.) I use the lightest colour because Im from Norway and have pale skin but I think alot of people could use this colour cause I also use it in the summer when Im tan, if you want a more tan colour you can just put some bronzer on top:)
BTW I have never written a review before and the only reason why I do it with this product is that I know it could be a life saver for so many people!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No