Review: Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate 16h Wear Concealer

If you are a fan of watching beauty and makeup videos on Youtube, I’m sure you would have heard about Collection 2000’s concealers. These concealers have become famous on Youtube because they are not only ‘cheap’ but also darn effective at concealing (specifically, the under eye area). The problem is that Collection 2000 is a brand from the UK and you can only find these drug-store concealers in the UK and Ireland (I do believe). As I am someone who suffers from dark under-eye circles, I am always on the look out for a fabulous and effective concealer, so after watching countless videos on these very concealers, I was determined to find them and give them a go myself! I couldn’t find any online retailers that would ship the products overseas (to Australia), so I finally gave in and started searching Ebay for a trusted seller that would sell me the legit product. Low and behold I found a seller from Latvia who sells a lot of British drug-store beauty brands, called MrsFashionistaUK. There’s only three shades in the range and I snapped them all up.

Each concealer works out to be about $20 each when converted to Aus dollars and I think that’s a pretty standard price when you are talking about good drug store brands. The packaging isn’t flash – the product comes in a plastic tube with a doe foot applicator. The product stopper at the top of the tube doesn’t completely stop the product from leaking a little into the cap (if you have a look at the middle concealer in the top photo, you can see a little of the concealer peeping out from under the cap) however, it’s not terrible – I haven’t had it spill all over other products etc. I have also heard that when you are running low on the product, that the product stopper is removable and if you remove it, it will allow you to get the last drops of concealer out of the tube (good tip!). I do wish the print on the tube didn’t rub off so easily, but that’s a minor detail when you are talking about drug store branded products. So how do the colours compare and what is the coverage like on *pretty bad* under eye circles?

L to R: Fair 1, Cool Medium 2 & Warm Medium 3

Fair is very light and cool toned. I probably could get away with using just no. #1, however I don’t want to risk the panda eyes effect, so for a little more colour correcting power, I mix colours #1 and #2 together. I would call #2 cool toned, but it’s definitely quite a bit darker than #1. Because of the limited shade range, to get the perfect under eye colour you probably do have to mix two shades together, to balance out the depth of colour which will be best for your skin tone. No. #3 is most definitely warm toned and quite peachy.

The texture of the concealer is quite creamy and light in feel, but because this is a concealer which ‘sets’ it can be a little drying. You need to be quite light handed when applying the concealer, as the more you add, the more drying it becomes. Because it can dry out areas which have fine lines (accentuating them more), a hydrating eye cream is a must before application. It doesn’t turn patchy or cakey as long as your under eye area is hydrated and as long as you don’t apply a tonne of concealer under the eye, but I find that using a under eye concealer primer also helps the concealer stay smooth and more creamy (my choice is the Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer). Another technique I use when using this concealer is to only use it where the dark circles actually are – not all the way to the outer corner of the eye. I find applying concealer all around the line is usually overkill, and emphasises those little laugh lines.

The concealing power of these guys is pretty darn good! I get what the hype was about now. I gave the Balm’s Time Balm concealer a 7 out of 10, and I would give Collection 2000’s concealer an 8 out of 10. It’s on par with Laura Mercier’s Secret Concealer (when i started pairing it with Smashbox’s Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer, I don’t have issues with patchiness anymore etc and it’s easier to work with) which I would also give an 7-8 out of 10. Laura Mercier’s Secret Concealer is much thicker and creamier, so it’s more ‘work’ to get it looking right. For a $20 concealer, Lasting Perfection is on par coverage wise – and that’s pretty darn good!

My formula for camouflaging dark under eye circles, L to R: Kosmea Apple of My Eye Cream, Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Ultimate 16h Wear Concealer and Laura Mercier’s Secret Brightening Powder  #1.  

Despite the limited colours in this line, for $20 I think you are getting a super decent concealer to work with. I know I will be using my concealers very often. If you live in the UK or Ireland, you are very lucky to have these babies more widely available! I doubt that another drugstore concealer has the same high coverage power as this guy, but if you do perhaps know of some other fantastic under eye concealer I just have to try – let me know in the comments below!

Until next time beauties!

Beauty Bee~

Please follow and like us:

#KosmeaAppleofMyEyeCream #BritishDrugstoreBrands #budgetbeauty #Concealer #makeupreview #undereyeconcealer #SmashboxPhotoFinishHydratingUnderEyePrimer #Collection2000 #Collection2000LastingPerfectionUltimate16hWearConcealer #LauraMarcierSecretBrighteningPowder