mac mineralize concealer vs. maybelline pure cover mineral concealer

 I've been putting this post off for over a month now, all the photos have been ready and waiting, every time I open up the folder "blog" on my laptop I can see them shouting "Me! Me! Pick me!" but I ignore them.

The reason? Well, I'm lazy and this post will be slightly longer than usual and I'm not that experienced at reviewing concealers and what if people say "Oooh she's not that experienced at reviewing concealers, I shouldn't trust her review"...

The real reason? None. So off I go...

At first this post was just going to be a plain review of the MAC concealer, but since the concealer I had been using previously was also a mineral concealer I wanted to compare them and pit them against each other in the ultimate SHOWDOWN! (Don't get excited, it's not going to be that dramatic.)

Obviously since MAC is high-end, the packaging is going to be a lot more pleasing to the eye. Maybelline hasn't done too bad though, the design is still pretty sleek. Both contain 5ml. The main difference is that while MAC has a brush applicator, Maybelline favours a doe-foot one - this difference personally doesn't affect me at all as my preferred way to apply concealer is to dab it on the back of my hand and blend it into my skin with a fluffy eyeshadow brush.

The one gripe I have with the packaging is that you can't get the very last of the product out of the tube, also you can't see when you're running low.

The colour I have of the MAC concealer (on the left) is NW15, I was colour-matched to such a light shade because I mainly use it under my eyes. The shade of the Maybelline concealer is 03 Sand, and the shade works well both under my eyes and on blemishes.

No Makeup

Mac Mineralize Concealer Freshly Applied

Mac Mineralize Concealer After 8 Hours

The MAC Mineralize Concealer is described on the MAC website as having "medium coverage with a natural luminous finish." It definitely looks very natural, and if you build the concealer up it will give you medium coverage. I tried this over a spot, and although it didn't completely cover up the redness, it certainly made it less noticeable. The concealer has really good staying power, you can see from the photos that my eye looks more or less the same after 8 hours as it does from when it was freshly applied.
I find that if I don't wear this over foundation it sometimes lets some of the colour of my under-eye through, which results in the area looking slightly greyish-purple under bright light.

No Makeup

Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer Freshly Applied

Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer After 8 Hours

The Maybelline concealer offers slightly more coverage than the MAC one, and I also use it on any redness or spots I might have. It's staying power isn't as impressive as MAC's, as you can see there is a considerable difference between the photos showing it freshly applied and after 8 hours.

So who won? Well it depends on what you're looking for. If you want something very natural that lasts a long time and you'll mainly use for under-eyes, I'd recommend the MAC Mineralize Concealer.
But if you're looking for something that can be used both on blemishes and on dark circles however isn't full coverage and doesn't cost the earth, the Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer should do the trick.

Buy: Mac Mineralize Concealer, £16
Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer, £3.49

What's your favourite concealer?