Face Eraser

 

Since I have yet to find an eye cream that will truly banish the dark circles under my eyes, and even my dermatologist doesn’t know of anything that REALLY works, I cover them. But sometimes, the magic of Touche Éclat is not enough. There is only so much light reflective properties can do for my dark circles, which are caused by a fascinating combination of heredity, insomnia, and maybe even allergies. Some days are worse than others, which is why I went looking for some extra help.

Luckily, I found it, because last week was bad. Every single day last week, and some mornings this week, I woke up like this:



I’ve stopped putting any kind of foundation or regular concealer under my eyes, because it seems to settle into my “fine lines” and look dry. Most days, Touche Éclat is enough, but for the times that it is not, I decided to try Benefit's Erase Paste, based on the great reviews I read.

At first, I tried putting it over my entire eye area. That was fine, as long as I used it sparingly. It’s a thick product, and if you apply a thick layer, it’s going to look thick, go fig. I also had to go back a few minutes later and blend again where it got into the lines, but after that, it was fine. Then I realized that using that much wasn’t really necessary. I just need extra help for the dark circles that are well under my eyeballs. What works best for me is to apply my Touche Éclat like I usually do (basically covering my entire eye socket) then apply a little Erase Paste just where I need it. Though if I’m both tired-lazy AND tired-looking (today, for example) I can use just the Erase Paste for the whole eye area.

The pot came with a little scoop, so you don’t have to stick your finger in, but I found that to be kind of a pain in the butt. I just use the top-side of my pinkie fingernail to flick a litte bit up and out, then I put it on the top of my hand and warm it up with my ring finger. And then, I PAT-PAT-PAT. And very gently smudge, but mostly pat, so the stuff stays where I want it. The trick is to warm it up and layer it. I seriously do not recommend using it without warming it up first, no matter how much of a hurry you’re in. After that, the blending will go quickly and easily.

It’s more moisturizing than regular concealer, which might be an issue if you have oily skin. If you have dry skin, it’s awesome. This stays in place, so I don’t feel like I need to powder it, and it’s not like my under eye area is going to get shiny.

It’s also pretty good for other shadows on your face, though I still prefer Touche Éclat for that, and it does a decent job covering blemishes, which Touche Éclat cannot do. The box comes with detailed instructions on how to use it to “erase” whatever particular skin issue you've got going on.

Erase Paste is available in 3 shades: Fair, Medium, and Deep. The one I got, Fair, is the color of Barbie’s skin, or the “Flesh” colored crayon, before they finally made that more P.C. Anyway, it’s THAT color. A warm light color to counteract the cool dark color. That’s how colors work, and that’s how Erase Paste works.

Sephora recently started selling a set that includes Erase Paste, The POREfessional (which I have tried and liked) and Girl Meets Pearl luminizer for $31. They also have a set called Confessions of a Concealaholic for $36 that looks like serious business and comes with brushes. Wow, they have a lot of kits. They have something called The Big 10 that has travel sizes of ten different products, including a slightly smaller Erase Paste for $32. Erase Paste alone goes for $26. I kind of wish I had waited to buy mine, but I can’t erase the past.