Battle of the Maybelline Concealers: Fit Me vs. Instant Age Rewind.

I'm sure I've mentioned a flooptillion times about my horrendous under eye bags by now, but in case you've missed it every time: I don't have overly bad skin, or acne, or a ton of redness.
What I do have.. is bags, big ol' Italian under eye bags; yadda yadda yadda so naturally, I firmly believe in a good concealer. On the other hand, I'm sure I've also mentioned a flooptillion and one times about how incredibly stingy frugal I am. You see my dilemma, YSL? An average Joe like myself simply cannot fathom spending upwards of $60 on a single tube of concealer, no matter how wonderful you may be.

Enter: the drugstore. My saviour.

When I look for a concealer, I look for a product that brightens my complexion, hides my dark under eyes and evens out my skin tone, all the while looking natural. The two drugstore concealers that I find myself reaching for time after time are both from Maybelline. I wear one or the other daily, but it had never occurred to me to compare the two.. They both have different strengths and different weaknesses, and I've seen that many debates and comparisons, I think it's time for my two cents on the matter.

Instant Age Rewind Eraser Concealer vs. Fit Me Concealer

I am currently sitting at my work desk (yes, in public!) wearing both concealers, one under each eye for the ultimate comparison. I apply my concealer right after my moisturiser each day and then apply my foundation. After which I'll apply another coat of concealer and set with powder.

Here are my findings:

Fit Me

I find Fit Me the easiest to apply of the two. It has a doe foot applicator and the formula is so creamy, it spreads and blends beautifully, leaving a dewier finish all the while feeling so soft on the skin.

Straight after application, I liked Fit Me more than Instant Age Rewind because it's a lot more brightening. I use the shade "fair" and it instantly lights up the area under my eyes, making me look more awake. As the day went on, however, I discovered that it fades away pretty quickly and by mid day, those purple tones were definitely more visible. It still did a great job of hiding those blemishes and red spots, however.

Because the formula is so creamy, it definitely does not accentuate my dry and sometimes flaky skin like so many other concealers have in the past, but it also means it's a little on the oily side. Because I apply concealer quite high up (between the nose and inner eye corners), I find that I'll have to wipe off a line that has settled into my eyelid crease right about lunch time. I've also found that due to the creaminess, on hotter days, it tends to slide off, and can emphasize lines around and under the eyes, even when set with powder.

PROS:

A bigger range of shades
Lighter shades for brightening & highlighting
Easy application
Great first off coverage
Blends wonderfully

CONS:
Can crease on top of eyelids
Purple-ness shows through after a few hours
Can look oily after time
 

Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles

Application is interesting with this one.. On one hand, I love that it's a wind-up, meaning you can basically get every last drop from the tube, but on the other, I wasn't a huge fan of the sponge nib applicator at first. Although I've gotten used to it now, it's still impossible to clean and is quite large, making it difficult to get the product into the smaller parts of the eye. Doable, but difficult.

 

 The formula of this concealer is hard to beat: Although Fit Me is a lot easier to blend, this is thick enough to cover the under eye area but also smooth enough to blend out nicely, filling in fine lines without settling into them or creasing, while still not accentuating my dry skin (which is pretty rare for me). It also boasts a formulation consisting of Goji Berries to decrease under eye puffiness, but in all honesty, I didn't notice a difference.
 

The colour range is limited, with only three shades. I use the lightest shade and although it matches the colour of my face perfectly, I like to buy a concealer that's a shade or two lighter than my face for brightening and highlighting purposes. The shade "Light" just does not do that. For that reason, first impressions lead to my preference of the Fit Me concealer in regards to colour. 

Come mid day, the eye that was used to test this one was definitely less purple-looking.. Noticeably so. I found that it lasted incredibly well throughout the whole day, definitely better than Fit Me did, all the while maintaining it's matte finish.


PROS:
Blends out nicely

Long lasting coverage
Hides purple-tones incredibly well
Doesn't settle in to fine lines

CONS:
Awkward applicator
Limited shade range
Not very brightening

After a full day of wearing both concealers, the winner is clear. For me, Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle concealer came out of top. I feel that Fit Me would be great for short-term use.. Say, if you were only going out to lunch, because after first application, it lightens wonderfully and has great fist-off coverage, but I think it works better as an under eye brightener more than a dark circle concealer. For an all-day concealer, I'd definitely opt for Instant Age Rewind (which is awkward because I've actually been choosing Fit Me for months now). I personally prefer a matte finish over a dewy look, and perhaps with continued use, I'll notice the effects of the Goji Berry..