Tones and Undertones

Skintone is quite a straightforward thing to find out, so that's never been a problem. Especially for me, I just go ahead and buy the lightest/second lightest colour in any foundation/concealer range.

The undertones of the skin is a bit more tricky, and it took me some surfing on the web, and a few personal consultations with makeup counter sales associates to confirm that I slant towards cool undertones.

Apparently, there's this vein test, whereby the colours of the veins on the inside of your wrist can tell you what your undertone is.

• If the veins appear blue or purple: COOL
• If the veins appear green: WARM
• If you have difficulty differentiating between blue or green: NEUTRAL  

My veins most definitely appear blue on my left wrist, BUT appear blue/green on my right wrist. LOL SO WHAT AM I?? Anyway, I stick to using the NC range for MAC, and tend to choose more yellowy rather than pinkish-beige concealers for the fact that pink concealers tend to accentuate the redness of the very pimple I'm trying to hide.

Links:
Michelle Phan's Guide - broad overview
Paula's Choice Guide - comprehensive explanation and test
The Beauty Department's Guide -includes recommendations on what colours to choose in order to match skintone and undertone

Concealer options

While I am happy with the coverage my current go-to concealer, MAC Studio Finish in NC20, gives me, I feel that there is just A BETTER ONE OUT THERE FOR ME.

I definitely have to set it with powder, otherwise it kinda disintegrates and cakes up, especially if I had been desperate to conceal a giant pimple and piled it on. It's such a hassle to have to build it up, even though the process is already way faster than if I was still using the MAC Select Cover Up. 

The summer before, I went through a horrible phase whereby only my upper lip area got sunburned (I speculated that it was probably cus of the eczema medication I was using). The SCU did save me by helping me cover that up while still looking natural. I would say it has a light-medium coverage? And since it was liquid base, it blended better into my skin. 

Anyway, the SF is medium-full coverage, and cream base, so I've used it for my pimples and the scars they leave behind sometimes. But I'm just excited about trying other concealers!!

Options I'm considering are: (in USD, since I'll probably wait to get them in US Sephora IF I am actually getting one of them)

1. the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage ($33), an apparently hard cream that needs to be warmed up before you apply it with a brush/finger. The coverage is supposed to be really good, and since it's drier, it won't budge!

photo from Laura Mercier website

2. the Clé de Peau Concealer ($70). FREAKING EXPENSIVE but I have to admit it's damn bloody good. Reviews online have been crazy good, with many labelling it as the best ever, holy grail blah blah. But seriously..... $70 on a concealer....why can't I just NOT have pimples at all :( Ahem but it's supposed to last forever since it's super pigmented and you only need a teeny weeny bit at a time so...

photo from Clé de Peau website

3. The NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($29) was a previous contender as well, but I've since eliminated it *ding ding!*. My main concealer concern is my pimples and pimple scars, so this is really way too creamy to help me. It's supposed to work for under-eye concealing though, so I just wanted to note this down in case I ever need it (FREAKING HOPE NOT).

photo from NARS website