Sometimes I cannot tell if a product is new or not and I had a moment with this concealer in the store when I was pretty sure I already saw it. I went back and forth with it and since Essence is a very affordable brand and I was in a desperate need to fix my undereyes at work, I just took the risk.
The Essence Stay Natural+ Concealer is a concealer with light to medium coverage with moisturizing panthenol. It naturally covers imperfections and reduces dark circles. It's a cruelty-free and vegan product, it doesn't contain oils and it's supposed to be caring and moisturizing. I got it as Rossmann for about 70 Crowns and you get 1.5ml of product.
The concealer comes in 4 shades in total which is not great and they go pale to medium at most. I have the shade 30 Ashy Nude. I was drawn to this shade at the store because it looked like a truly neutral undertone. It's a beautiful shade and it matches me absolutelly great.
The concealer comes in a twist pen packaging. I don't really like these because the application is a little fiddly and the applicator gets all gross and dirty. It's also white...well, many packaging decisions that I don't personally enjoy were made but let's look at the product.
It's supposed to have light to medium coverage but at the same time cover imperfections and reduce dark circles. It's supposed to be a natural multitasking concealer. I am all about that. I actually really like natural looking concealers for every day when I'm not wearing a whole lot of makeup.
Compared to the other "natural" concealer I've selected this one is very neutral. It also seems to have medium coverage for sure.
Wear test
I went for quite a soft and simple look so I thought it might be a great time to test this concealer out. It is a medium coverage formula but it covered my undereye bags really well. My undereyes look flawless, maybe it's the concealer/powder combo but it looks stunning. It blended just fine under my eyes and on my T-zone where I usually highlight. I applied it under my eyes with my Zoeva Concealer Perfector brush which is currently my favorite concealer brush. On the larger areas of the face I went in with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.
The shade match is pretty awesome, I love the depth of the shade and the neutral undertone. I don't know why they call this shade ashy, it's perfectly fine and neutral. It blended really well with the tinted balm underneath and it sets well with powder too. The applicator isn't my favorite but it's quite quick to use, it just applies the product a little weirdly with the brush applicator. Overall, I like it a lot so far.
List of used products
e.l.f. Prep & Blur Stick
Maxfactor Miracle Prep 3 in 1 Beauty Protect Primer
Essence Hello, Good Stuff Tinted Beauty Cream, shade 10 Light
Essence Stay Natural+ Concealer, shade 30 Ashy Nude
Marc Jacobs Finish Line Perfecting Coconut Setting Powder, shade 34 Invisible
Rimmer Stay Matte Powder, shade 001 Transparent
NYX #NoFilter Finishing Powder, shade Porcelain
Catrice Brow Definer Brush Pen, shade 040 Ash Brown
XX Revolution Brow FiXX, shade Clear
Essence I <3 Colour Intensifying Eyeshadow Base
Catrice 5 in a Box Mini Eyeshadow Palette, shade 030 Warm Spice Look
Bell Cosmetics Long Wear Eye Pencil, shade 03
Maybelline Sky High Mascara, shade 01 Very Black
Revolution Bronzer Reloaded, shade Holiday Romance
Rival Loves Me Golden Melody Face Palette, shade 01 and 03
I Heart Revolution Green Tea Fixing Spray
Fenty Beauty Slip Shine Sheer Shiny Lipstick, shade 05 Glazed
Wear time 11 hours
I am very impressed with this concealer. I don't know about you but I always get sceptical about this type of concealers in a pen because they just don't tend to perform well. It's just all the bad past experiences but this concealer is really, really nice. I was walking while it heavily rained and I was sweating as I went to the post office to get my package. The concealer stayed put the whole day.
It probably looks the best under my eyes which is super rare for any concealer. It's looking very smooth, it didn't crease much and my undereye bags are still non-existent. I really like it there. The rest of the face is looking overall the same. The highlighter areas merged in with the foundation and everything is looking a little worn out now. But I cannot see any separation or any weird texture problems so I think that the concealer really made a great impression today.
Final thoughts
I love to find new favorites in the drugstore and I was pleasantly surprised with this concealer. Natural concealer is all you really need for a Zoom call and in this pandemic I don't really do full face glam anymore...so this concealer is just perfect for that. It's very affordable, I love this shade in particular, the formula is really nice and hydrating, especially under the eyes. It also plays well with powder.
The weartime of this concealer is also beyond my expectations and I love how natural it looks on the skin. It has very interesting texture, it's creamy and feels moisturizing but it's not very dewy or slippery. I really like that. I still don't know if this is a new product at all but at least I found a hidden gem in the concealer world which I needed. I think it would be suitable for anyone, the only downside is the shade range as usual.
Do you have any favorite drugstore concealers I might not know about? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!