I received a beauty pack from Maybelline over a month ago, and one of the products that excited me (other than the lippies, of course. Who doesn’t love lippies? :P) to try immediately was the Instant Age Rewind Erase Dark Circles Treatment Concealers. I picked up the one in Brightener.

Description:
Specifically targeting the fragile eye area, Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer treats and conceals puffiness, dark circles and crows feet by combining a powerful antioxidant formula with the buffing effect delivered by the microfibre applicator. With 19 amino acids including 8 essential oils and a higher concentration of Vitamin C, Goji Berry and Haloxyl, a molecule with proven anti-inflammatory benefits, is successfully combined with a lightweight, blendable formula to instantly erase the years.

Man, that was a mouthful. I never understood why brands like to give such lengthy names to their products. How on earth are we going to remember what they are? My first impression was, hey a sponge concealer, since there’s a sponge under the plastic cap. From now on, I shall refer to it as the Sponge Concealer. I think it sounds better, and it’s easier to remember too 😛

The Sponge Concealer comes in 3 shades, but the one I’m reviewing today is the one in Brightener. As the name would suggest, it’s a brightener or an illuminator, so for this particular shade, its purpose is not to conceal blemishes, but to brighten and highlight the skin. It’s somewhat similar to what the YSL Touche Eclat does.

The Brightener is a pink-toned cream. Since I have warm-toned skin, I use only very little of this under my eyes. Too much will make me look like a raccoon. What I prefer using this for – to highlight the area just below my eyebrows. A few light spongings of the brightener just below the arch of my brows illuminates the area, making the eyes “open”.

Now, to use this, you have to twist the red part of the tube. I think I counted about 20 turns before the cream finally seeped into the sponge. The only thing I don’t like about the Sponge Concealer is the sponge. It’s quite a big sponge, and when it’s uncapped, you can imagine how much germs it attracts. It’s recommended that you wipe the sponge after every use, but I just think the whole idea is unhygienic. Since the sponge is quite big, you can’t do spot concealing unless you swipe the sponge on the back of your hand several times, and use a concealer brush).

Having said that, I think it’s a decent product from Maybelline. It’s not something I can share with anyone else (not that I share my makeup for hygiene purposes; I’m sure you know what I mean) due to the sponge. As a highlighter, I think it does a pretty good job.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealers come in Brightener, Light and Medium, and retails at AU$18.95.

What I like about it: For the Brightener, it does a decent job highlighting the area under the brows.

What I do not like about it: Sponge is too big for spot concealer, not a hygienic concept.