I've been on a bit of a finishing-things-off mission recently and the purchase of some more (yes, even more) plastic storage boxes in B&Q a couple of weeks ago spurred me into sorting and tidying some of my colossal stash. It's actually kind of shameful how much makeup I own, but splitting it out into containers for base, eyes and lips threw up some old favourites I'd forgotten about and also reminded me about some things that really need a second trial.
I generally only use concealer on the dark part of the eye, in by the nose, and on any blemishes I might have. So because it mostly gets used on a drier part of my face, my criteria for concealer are the following: it must be moisturising, it must give good coverage and it must not crack or slide during the day.
I finished my personal number one concealer a while ago - Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer - and have been trialling a few other since. The cosmetics cleanup revealed Benefit's Erase Paste as well as an old Barbara Daly for Tesco concealer (which is probably waaaay past its sell-by date) so I decided to pitch them against each other for a VS post.
When Erase Paste launched a year or so ago I remember thinking, "another Benefit gimmick, no doubt," and I threw it to one side. But actually, when I bothered my arse to try it, I discovered it's quite a nice little product. Shade-wise, in the pot it looks too orange for me, but on it's absolutely fine. It blends well with my skin and is quite pink-toned, which I like. By contrast, the Barbara Daly product is thicker, with more pigmentation and coverage, but gives a greyer-toned finish, so not quite as flattering.
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Ok, lets address the elephant in the corner: price. Erase Paste is €28, Barbara Daly for Tesco is a squinchy €5.07. Needless to say, it wins this round hands-down. But it's worth pointing out the weights of each: with the Tesco concealer you get 1.6g; with Benefit, you get a rather larger 4.4g of product.
Packaging-wise, Barbara Daly wins for accessibility - you can easily get product onto your pinky which you can't with Erase Paste - the pot is awkward and ideally you'll need a brush. Benefit, of course, scoops the pretty prize - this pink pot is very cute.
So how do they shape up against each other? Both are nicely moisturising and both are good products, no doubt about it; each comes in three shades. Benefit wins for packaging, quantity and pink tones, Barbara Daly wins for sheer affordability, coverage and ease of use.
This one, ladies, is a draw.
