Olay Total Effects Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush Review

It's Monday morning and I bet many of you woke up a little groggy this morning with dark circles under your eyes. Well, here's a new Olay product that might come in handy if your undereyes need a little help.

According to Olay, their Total Effects Line and Dark Circles Minimizing Brush features a smooth brush applicator that instantly provides tinted coverage and continues working to fight seven signs of aging for younger, brighter-looking eyes. It immediately reduces the appearance of dark circles, look of wrinkles and combined with massage, instantly reduces the look of puffiness. It hydrates for firmer skin appearance, visibly renews skin texture, evens skin tone and provides nourishing moisture.

An eye cream/concealer pen that you don't have to dip into with your finger to apply? Thumbs up! (Beauty products that you dip your fingers into get contaminated more readily than ones that you apply directly to your skin.) 


The pen has a long, flat brush on one end and the product is released through clicking the button at the other end of the pen. The product comes up into the center of the brush for application.


The Olay Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush retails for just over $20 CDN.

What did I think of it? Well, as a morning eye cream it is effective but likely more so with the application of it. The massaging effect of brushing the product into your skin does more to reduce any puffiness than the product itself. The appearance of fine lines is reduced and there is a moderate amount of concealing capabilities. For my dark circles, it's barely a drop in the bucket, however. I require much more concealer to even begin to cover-up my dark circles. However, this product doesn't affect the application of concealer on top so it's a good product for moisturizing, reducing puffiness and minimizing fine lines. For anyone with minor dark circles or dark circles only from poor sleep this may be an effective enough concealer. 

The application is easy, one or two clicks gives you plenty of product for both eyes and the brush works well to apply it. Any excess can be patted into the skin. 

Comparing it to YSL's Touche Eclat is misleading. While the concealer component does have brightening properties, it is very light and will only thoroughly conceal the most minor of dark circles.

One pet peeve of this pen (and of the other Olay pens I've tried) is storage. I prefer to have this standing vertically in my bathroom cabinet as I have a lot of beauty products sharing space. The pens have a small bump at the bottom which makes it difficult to stand these on end. The cap is also not flat so these often fall over and roll around or out of the cabinet. Storage is a bit of a bother with these.

Have you tried the Olay Line and Dark Circle Minimizing Brush? What are your thoughts?

Tell us!

C.

Anna Sui Eye Brightener Review and Swatches

Eye brighteners are one of those beauty products that you may or may not need, depending on your routine. It may be an unnecessary product if you use an eye primer, for example or use a base for your eyeshadow or do not have uneven skin tone on your eyes. It may be useful, however, if you do not use an eye primer or eyeshadow base or if you don't wear eyeshadow or wear a lot of eyeshadow.

With this in mind, read on for the Beauty Squared review of Anna Sui's Eye Brightener. This particular eye brightener is meant to act as a highlight or to conceal discolouration of the eyelids in preparation of eyeshadow application. It comes in one shade (01 Bright Beige) and comes in a tube with a doe foot applicator.

Directions for use, according to the back of the box are to apply to the eye area prior to eyeshadow application. This is how I tested it.

Tube decorated in typical Anna Sui design.

The tip of the wand is a rose.



Anna Sui Eye Brightener swatched on NW15-20 skin

This is a very light highlighter/concealer with the trademark Anna Sui rose fragrance (all of her beauty products have a rose scent). If you have very dark undereye circles this product won't do much. As an eyelid brightener, it works well, as you can see below. Because it has a slight shimmery quality, it works well as a highlighter as well. It's a very subtle highlighter though, and gives a natural glow. So if you want a very natural glow or don't wear a lot of makeup, this is a nice option. For someone who wears makeup or has darker skin than I do, I recommend you pass on it.

It doesn't work effectively as a primer to keep your eyeshadow from fading or creasing but it works to provide you with a "blank canvas" so to speak for keeping your eyeshadow colours true. Think about using a paintbrush and dab of blue paint on a piece of white paper as compared to an off-white or pink or light brown piece of paper. Using a fleshtone base underneath your eyeshadow helps your eyeshadows come across as truer. 

Left eye - with eye brightner, right eye - without

To sum up, this is a nice product but perhaps unnecessary to many makeup collections. If you already have an eye primer or a fleshtoned base colour for use under your makeup or if you have a highlighter that you like to use on your browbones, inner eyes, cheekbones, temples, etc. you can skip this.

C.