Disclaimer: Please remember that I am commenting on how this product worked for me. I have a dry complexion with minor oiliness and I suffer with hormonal breakouts. Products will of course work differently for each person :) I am not being paid to do this review. This product was purchased with my own money.
Superdrug MUA PRO Base Conceal And Brighten Kit
Price: I purchased my concealer palette just after this line first came out and it was on offer. I believe it was around £2 when I purchased it (it was on sale and I had a student discount) but is normally around £3.50.
Shades: This comes in 3 shades. 'Porcelain', 'Natural' and 'Beige'. (If there are any other shades I have not seen them!) My palette is in 'Porcelain':
Packaging: Comes in a sleek compact with a small mirror attached to the inside of the lid.
What Is This Product and How Do I Use It?
This palette is combination of two concealer shades and one highlighting shade. You can apply using your fingers or a brush. The concealers can be used to cover dark circles, eye bags, spots and redness on the face. The highlighter can brighten any area of the face. A very multi-functioning palette, the lighter concealers also work very well as a subtle highlight mixed with foundation or alone. And the highlighter has enough tint to mimic a dewy creme blusher. You can also mix the products together to create different shades.
Swatches of the product below. Going from left to right in the palette:
And here I am wearing this concealer so you can kind of get an idea of how it looks on the skin (excuse the redness on my neck/chest, that was caused by - one of - my guinea pig's sharp little claws!). Here I have placed it underneath my eyes, on my temples, along the sides of the nose and cheek bone:
Formula?
The concealers and highlight in this palette are all creme products.
Coverage?
It is worth noting that all of the concealers and the highlight shade in this palette are buildable. You can use light layers for sheer coverage or further layers for fuller coverage.
How Does It Perform?
I was already a huge fan of Make Up Academy when Pro Base was released. MUA is Superdrug's own make up brand and Pro Base is an extension within that line of make up. (Sort of what the Studio line is to E.L.F) MUA has long been established for being extremely cheap but with great quality products. So I was quite excited when I saw this MUA Pro Base Concealer Palette.
I immediately decided to purchase it and was looking forward to trying it out. My expectations, I admit, were very low. I do not normally purchase many very cheap concealers. But I knew MUA were great and I was curious about this new line.
It's because I find it so difficult to find an accurate colour match with much cheaper brands and that they tend to be bad quality that I choose to avoid cheaper face make up for the most part. I am also forced to avoid them because many of them aggravate my breakouts. I usually purchase my concealers from 'middle end' drugstore brands like Collection or Fashionista. They are around the £5-£8 mark but they work extremely well for me.
So this, in all honesty, was one big pleasant surprise. The moment I tried this product I liked it so much. And from then on, I have pretty much used this palette on a daily basis. I am now utterly in love with it after having used it many months.
I don't often use concealer, I do not suffer with dark eye bags or very dark circles so unfortunately I am unable to comment on how well this works for those. I use concealer mainly to cover up the slight darkness under my eyes and as a highlighter for my face. I find it works wonderfully for those purposes for me personally.
I use the lighter shade in this palette underneath my eyes, on the temples, down the sides of my nose and on the cheek bones as a highlight. I apply using my fingers or a concealer/foundation brush depending on how I feel and which areas of the face I'm looking to highlight/cover. The lightest shade in my palette works perfectly for those purposes. I find the darker concealer shade in the palette useful for covering up spots or for underneath the eyes sometimes in light layers. Since it is slightly too dark for my skin tone I tend to mix it with the lighter shade and that creates a colour that's more workable for me.
The highlight is much like a sheer tinted creme blush. Very buildable and gives a pretty subtle glow to the face. I like to use this mixed with foundation because it gives the face a slightly reflective glow.
The formula of the concealers and highlight shade are all smooth, creamy and melt right into the skin. That is one of the main reasons I love this concealer palette so much. I hate concealers that take forever and a day to blend because it means excess 'tugging' on the skin (even when you blend gently, a product that doesn't blend easily is still going to create extra movement on the surface of the skin due to the need for extra blending.)
The finish this product leaves is so natural and fresh looking. I absolutely love it.
Lasting Power:
I can not comment on how I feel this will last on an oily complexion since the oiliness I suffer tends to be quite minor. I imagine that if you set this with powder it would last fairly okay on an oily complexion.
For me personally, this product lasted at least 5 hours before it started to wear away. If I wear this with a primer underneath and set it with powder, it tends to last a little longer. (Around 6 to 8 hours)
Repurchase?
I would definitely repurchase this product. I think it's a great little kit at a really good price.
