How a new Sarah Creal formula designed to to brighten and neutralize discoloration under the eyes convinced one Vogue writer to try color corrector for mature skin.
Sarah Creal has been a product developer since she was 23. Now in her mid-50s, the eponymous beauty brand founder just launched Face Flex Correct Instant Under Eye Brightener, which caters to “babes 40-plus,” she tells Vogue over video chat.
When formulating the color corrector for mature skin, “I was so happy to have a challenge. And I was challenged,” Creal says. Her mission not-quite-impossible was to design a product with a truly light, second-skin feel. She wanted it to have just enough stretch to cover the under-eye area, and ingredients that tend to the needs of mature eyes, including thinning skin, crepiness, and the gray cast that starts to form under the eyes as blood vessels become more visible, owing to that thinning skin. Why a color corrector, when Creal already offers a thoughtfully made concealer? “If you find color corrector confusing and aren’t sure if you need it, let me help you out,” she says. Here’s her rule of thumb: “When you’re applying your concealer and you’re still looking gray, so you keep adding more, that is not the answer,” she says. “The answer is that you need a color corrector.” Ahead, learn more about Creal’s brightening new formula—including how to apply it, what sets it apart, and whether the product is worth a $58 investment. Sarah Creal Face Flex Correct Why We Love It: Formulated specifically for women 40 and above, Creal’s creamy formula is packed with ingredients that cater to mature skin. It has hyaluronic acid to plump and hydrate, caffeine to address puffiness, aloe leaf extract to calm and soothe the delicate skin around the eyes, and green tea to brighten it. The color corrector comes in five shades that cater to fair to deep skin tones, and—with its film-forming technology—it’s designed for long-lasting, crease-free wear. The formula has a second-skin finish and offers medium coverage, and it works as a sidekick to concealer when the latter can’t tackle discoloration alone. Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, caffeine, green tea, aloe leaf extract Shades: 5 Best For: Hydrating, minimizing dark circles, calming and soothing Size: 0.30 fl oz About the Sarah Creal Face Flex Correct “I always tell my team: When you’re formulating products for someone who’s 20-something, you’re basically formulating for a rubber mat,” Creal says. “That skin is bouncy, it’s smooth, it’s uniform; it can handle the weight of powders, waxes, and solids.” Aging skin? That’s a different story. Creal likens the texture of mature skin to tissue paper, noting that products made with such weighty ingredients only serve to highlight unevenness and texture issues. As such, Creal designed her color corrector to have a light-as-air-touch—what she describes as “a second-skin feel.” Available in five shades ranging from light pink-peach to rich terracotta peach, the creamy product has film-forming capabilities that help it flex without creasing. It offers medium coverage and has a hyper-targeted focus. Designed explicitly to brighten and neutralize discoloration under the eyes, the formula purposely has less stretch than Creal’s Face Flex Concealer and Complexion Enhancer. It also has a fast dry-down time of 30 seconds. “That way, you’re not moving it all over your face, and you can quickly move on to the second step,” says Creal, who favors a streamlined day-to-day routine. How to Apply the Sarah Creal Face Flex Correct Before applying, prep with an eye cream like the caffeine-infused Firm Offer. Let the skincare set for about five minutes, then prepare to dot the CC cream into the inner corners of each eye. “This is what I call the little kidney area,” Creal says, indicating the C-shaped spaces between the eyes and the nose. After placing one dot of color corrector toward the middle of the space and another one right above it, she picks up her complexion brush. “Take the graduated side of your brush, put that on the inside of each kidney area, and swoop it around so the shorter side is touching your skin,” Creal instructs. And mind that you keep those swoops contained: “Stick to the inner corners, where you have darkness,” Creal says, demonstrating by brushing her color corrector over the small area. “Otherwise, you’re going to end up brightening everything around the eye and get that raccoon look.” After color corrector comes concealer, and Creal blends hers in with the Dual Contour Brush. Because the color corrector is already in place under her eyes, she says, “You’ll need less concealer here than you usually would. But make sure you get plenty of concealer around your nose—that’s where women who are 40+ have a lot of discoloration.” She adds a touch of concealer to her eyelids to even out discoloration there, and then shares her final steps. “If you do nothing else, use a little bronzer or blush,” she says, noting that her go-to for a hint of color is the Just Like Paradise cream bronzer. “Add a little brow, a little lip, whatever you like, and you’re done!” My Experience With the Sarah Creal Face Flex Correct While mirroring Creal’s CC cream application process on my side of the Zoom, I asked her if I should dab on some eye cream or moisturizer throughout the day. ”Absolutely not,” she said. “Do all your skin prep before.” I committed to trying it Creal’s way, applying the color corrector, the concealer, and the rest of Creal’s suggested steps—and then just leaving it. By 5 p.m., my skin still looked even and bright, with no caking in sight. It also felt dewy to the touch, likely owing to the skincare-grade ingredients in the color corrector and concealer. Is the Sarah Creal Face Flex Correct worth it? At $58, the color corrector falls under the umbrella of “luxury pricing,” Creal freely admits. She notes that the price point reflects premium ingredients like caffeine, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, and lactobacillus ferment. “All of these are really good for the skin and fire up collagen and elastin production,” she says. “Also, the formula has unbelievable creaminess with coverage. And, because I made it so concentrated, you only need a teeny amount.” In my experience, Creal’s claims check out. Despite the enduring wintry weather in Chicago, my complexion stayed hydrated and glowy—dare I say, luminous?— all day. The results stacked up with a promise Creal made before we duetted our CC cream application over Zoom. “You’ll look awake,” she’d said. “You’ll look ready to go and fresh.” And by the end of the workday, I still did.
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