For Dry Eyes Only: Review of IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Full Coverage Anti-Aging Waterproof Concealer

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I have a wandering eye when it comes to makeup, and it usually doesn't do me much good. I have a totally reliable, nearly perfect under-eye concealer in the form of Sephora Gel Serum Concealer (reviewed here), and yet . . .

It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye [insert long name here] is one of those concealers that comes up whenever people ask for recommendations, alongside things like Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. So I was tempted. I should have known better, since it claims to be waterproof. Things can usually be waterproof or oil-proof, but not both (which makes perfect sense). I do have pretty watery eyes, so a waterproof concealer isn't a bad idea in theory, but my skin also tends to get oilier and oilier as the day goes on. It's almost always more important for my makeup to be able to withstand my oily skin than to resist water.  This concealer just doesn't hold up for me, unfortunately.

It has some great qualities that I'm sure contribute to its popularity. For one thing, it's incredibly pigmented, so that you only need a tiny bit of the thick product to cover the entire under-eye area. For me, this is all it takes for one eye:

It also blends easily and covers well enough, initially. The packaging, a simple squeeze tube with a very narrow dispenser is great--it will limit the amount of air and bacteria that can get in, but also makes it easy to squeeze out the last few specks. Bye Bye Under Eye only comes in six shades. I chose the lightest, called Light (Very Fair). In makeup lingo, "light" and "very fair" are usually two different things, but sure. Here is a swatch compared to a bunch of other concealers to help you decode that label:

From left to right: (1) IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye in Light; (2) Sephora Gel Serum Concealer in Fondant; (3) Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly; (4) Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in Sx02; (5) Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in CIA (discontinued); and (6) Hard Candy Glamoflauge Concealer in Ultra Light.

It Cosmetics Light is closest to Nars Chantilly. I found it to be a good match for my skin tone, fortunately, since the shade options were limited. It's probably a closer match than Sephora Fondant, in fact, though the extra warmth of Fondant means it actually does a better job of canceling out my dark circles. The consistency and pigmentation of Bye Bye Undereye is most similar to the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer, but the IT doesn't have that strong floral/powdery fragrance. (By the way, Hard Candy Ultra Light is the lightest concealer I have ever found, so if you have trouble finding something pale enough for you, it's worth a shot.)

On the downside, I found that Bye Bye Under Eye creased really badly on me and highlighted fine lines and flakiness that I didn't even know were there. I tried various application methods with no improvement. The photo below was taken immediately after application, patted on with my finger over well-moisturized but not primed skin. I'm not wearing any other makeup besides eyebrow pencil. (I forgot to take a before photo, but you can see the bare state of my dark circles here or here.)

The coverage is good, but the texture isn't ideal, and it's creased a whole lot. Not a huge deal, maybe, because most concealers crease right after I apply them, and I can usually blend a little more after a few minutes to soften the creasing.

Here it is with the rest of my makeup applied, after a little more light blending with a sponge, and setting with No.7 loose powder (reviewed here).

The texture is worse, and instead of the creases smoothing out, the concealer has basically just lifted out of them. It has also already faded quite a bit just in the amount of time it took me to apply the rest of my makeup. Sigh. (As I said, I tried a few different application/blending/setting methods with the same results.)

Besides the lack of a smooth surface, the other big problem, which I mentioned above, is that the oil in my skin just devours this stuff. By the end of the day, there's very little left, except what was caught by those lines and flakes. Lovely.

The photo above was taken after about eight hours on not a particularly hot or sweaty day. My skin is what you might euphemistically describe as dewy. Even so, my mascara (Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes) and my eyebrow pencil (Essence Eyebrow Designer Pencil) have stuck around just fine. My dark circles are on major display, though.

To be fair, this is what happens to most concealers on my face. One of the things that impressed me so much about the Sephora Gel Serum (please never discontinue it, please, please, please) was that it was still there at the end of the day. So this problem doesn't necessarily make this concealer worse than all other concealers, just worst than my fave.

Clearly a lot of people out there like this stuff. My guess is that those people do not have oily skin. If you have drier skin and teary eyes, maybe this is great. (Though I would still be concerned that it would highlight flaky skin, to be honest.) But if your skin type is similar to mine, I certainly wouldn't recommend this product. I've already bought another tube of my trusty Sephora concealer, which costs $14 versus IT Cosmetics' $24--though note that the IT tube contains twice as much product, so if you like it and can get through it all before it starts to dry up, it's actually a better value.

If this concealer is your holy grail, I think it would be really helpful for people reading this review if you would comment and let me know what type of skin you have and what you look for in a concealer.

Anyway, lesson learned.

Maybe.

Probably not.