If there's one part of my face I've always struggled to cover with makeup it has to be my under-eye circles. For most of my teenage life I suffered from insomnia and I've only recently managed to fall asleep within an hour of putting my head on a pillow. Years of sleeplessness, alongside being a complete and utter night owl (I'm most productive at night!), has left me with some rather shocking under-eye circles that are not just dark but are rather sunken in appearance too. After trying so many different kinds of concealers, and even the YSL Touche Eclat many years ago, I've never managed to find a product that achieved that fresh, I've had 8 hours of sleep last night look. So, when bareMinerals' Stroke of Light* appeared on my doorstep I didn't have any high expectations for it. It had one mighty task ahead of it and my under eye circles were ready - after a series of 3 a.m. bedtimes they were never in a better - or shall I say worse - condition to put Stroke of Light to the test.
Personally, I've found Stroke of Light to work best over the top of my concealer as opposed to wearing it alone but ladies with lighter, less dramatic circles could easily use this alone to add a little bit of coverage and brightness! The Eye Brightener is available in four different shades - Luminous 1 to 4 - and I currently own the lightest shade. Luminous 1 is a very pink, creamy brightener and I find it tackles the purple/blue toned darkness of my under-eye circles amazingly. Just look at the photograph below, can you see how the almost bruised, sunkenness of the left eye has disappeared?
Left: Collecton 2000 concealer and Stroke of Light // Right: Collection 2000 concealer in Fair only.
(Sorry for the slightly blurry photograph - this was the best of a bad bunch. I need to work on photographing my own face, I tend to go cross-eyed when I put a camera right in front of my eyes! Not an attractive look! Haha!)
Most of the initial redness has been hidden by my Collection 2000 concealer (and we all know how amazing that is!) but even after I've applied concealer I always find that I still look quite tired. However, once I've applied Stroke of Light under my eyes my entire face appears to light up and I feel as though I've just gained 5 hours of sleep just by applying a light layer! The only thing I didn't quite manage to capture completely in my photograph is the product's ability to reflect light. Stroke of Light really manages to diffuse darkness without adding any undesired sparkle and it honestly looks even more effective in person.
The effectiveness of the product couldn't be much better in my opinion, but what about the application/longevity of the product I hear you ask? I use the doe foot applicator and dab a small amount on the inner corners of my eyes and a stroke across my under eye area. The product glides onto the skin and I use my finger to lightly blend it in. It has a very creamy, but sheer, texture and it feels almost silky when blended. This sheerness is perfect when applying Stroke of Light on top of concealer as it provides a little more coverage and a brightening effect without making the under eye area cakey and feel heavy. One thing I'm always cautious of is adding even more product under the eyes but Stroke of Light is almost weightless and pretty much unidentifiable on the skin. It just sinks into the skin and brightens the areas my concealer hasn't covered. Almost like magic! I usually set this very lightly with powder and voila! I look wide awake all day (even when I'm craving caffeine and trying not to fall asleep in lectures!) and after setting it lightly with powder I find it lasts at least 8 hours without any signs of creasing.
Stroke of Light also claims to, over time, reduce the appearance of fine lines under the eyes and so far I have seen a slight improvement! Even though the pesky lines may still be visible they have reduced a little (I used to have two prominent lines underneath each eye) so I can't wait to see what happens after using this product for a few months!
After speaking to one of the lovely make-up artists at bareMinerals I also discovered that you can use Stroke of Light as a highlighter - applying it across the cheeks, down the nose and above the cupids bow! It's such a handy product to have in your bag and it's something I don't think I'm going to be able to live without. I'll be running to the counter to repurchase this the second it runs out!
Have you tried Stroke of Light before? Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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