The Times Magazine - UK (2020-11-07)

editor’s

pick

ith most under-eye concealers,

I am convinced that what you lose

in dark circles, you gain in drawing

attention to wrinkles. For me,

most will make you look great in

a photograph or even on a video call, but IRL,

especially in daylight, the product will settle

in the lines or drag the occipital skin down.

Sometimes, when the dark circles are that bad,

this is a small price to pay. But who among us

is up all night partying these days? Mostly, we

just want something subtle to cancel out the

continuous, medium-term corona-stress dark

shadows; some lightweight, effective daywear.

I’ve tried scores of concealers and it’s rare

to find one that meets this simple demand

• but I need to tell you about a newish one
  from a brand called NudeStix called Nudefix
  Cream Concealer (£24; cultbeauty.co.uk). It’s
  gone straight into the very small selection of
  concealers that I think are genuinely helpful
  for midlife and older skins. It’s already become
  my desert island complexion product. (Yes,
  I sometimes wear concealer when I am all
  alone. It is a type of self-care, I feel.)
  It has the texture of a watered-down gel
  that sits in place without drying, attaching
  itself to the fine skin under your eyes like a
  silk veil – so light it feels as though you have
  no make-up on at all, and yet your face is
  instantly less downtrodden-looking. It contains
  vitamins E and B5 to help moisture levels and
  fight the crepiness. If you want to go for full-
  power Instagram-filter coverage, you can layer

it. I am certain it is aimed at millennials, who

are more likely to take this full-slap approach,

but I think most of us just want to look a bit

less tired, don’t we? It absorbs oil and has

acne-attacking ingredients so works just as

well on spots as it does on eye bags. This

and a bit of mascara and I feel done. There’s

a pretty decent shade range (13 of them).

If you’re looking for a cheaper concealer,

the one to buy is L’Oréal True Match Eye

Cream in a Concealer (£9.99; boots.com),

which has SPF20 to stop your crows’ feet

getting worse and a shot of hyaluronic acid to

keep the skin hydrated. Truly excellent value.

Others in my small concealer-for-over-

forties hall of fame are not so cheap. Trish

McEvoy’s Instant Eye Lift (£40; libertylondon.

com) might be my all-time favourite if it came

in a broader range. It’s a transformative trick-

of-the light wand. There are two shades (I use

shade 2), which I’m not convinced is enough

for us all. Chanel’s Le Correcteur (£28; chanel.

com) is a light-reflective concealer that gives

the subtlest cover. With these light-play

products, you do need to know where to

paint them (broadly speaking, under, not

on top of, the dark circles). Sometimes you

just want to paint over your mistakes.

When I really do want more meaningful

cover, I always reach for YSL Touche Éclat

High Cover (£27; boots.com), which hides

absolutely everything without looking heavy. n

instagram.com/lesleyjthomas

My new desert island product

Our columnist has found the answer to pandemic dark circles

Now we’re not up partying,

we just want something subtle

to cancel out the continuous,

NICK HADDOW corona-stress dark shadows

The Times Magazine 49

Beauty

Lesley Thomas

Subtle

and light-

reflecting

Hydrating

to reduce

wrinkles

Conceals

puffiness

and bags Long-lasting

coverage

Comes in

12 shades

What Lesley loves Under-eye concealers

Trish McEvoy Instant

Eye Lift, £40

(libertylondon.com)

NudeStix Nudefix Cream

Concealer, £24

(cultbeauty.co.uk)

YSL Touche Éclat

High Cover, £27

(boots.com)

Glossier Stretch

Concealer, £15

(glossier.com)

Le Correcteur de

Chanel, £28

(chanel.com)

L’Oréal True Match

Eye Cream, £9.99

(boots.com)

W

Really effective

but not heavy