The Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil is marketed as both an Eyeshadow Primer as well as a Color Corrector concealer. I’ve tried it both ways and am ready to review it now. But what has really been the reason for people to be picking it up is its precision in brow defining; its ability to clean up the edges of eyebrows, perfect for those like me who hardly, no, never groom eyebrows and yet would appear like I did.

Personally, I need it for concealing my eye bags but not in the way you think. Not just of the fact that I’m no longer at an age to apply concealer ‘triangles’ under the eyes like those younger gurus do, but also my dark circles, while existing, and as ironically as this may sound, become negligible because of how severe my puffy under eye bags are, so much so that they (eye bags) loom over them (dark circles). So one might think (at times myself included) those dark shadows (when in fact they are my dark circles) are just a result from overcast by the puffy bags popping out and canopying over them. So while I spare no effort in concealing my dark circles, I work doubly hard to do the same for my eye bags. You have no idea the amount of effort I’ve gone though in tackling my eye bags all these years.

How To Remove Eye Bags Visually with Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil Color Corrector Concealer

So I change up my concealer routine every now and then – you’ve seen my video on how to get my warm and cool under eye tones matched in order to conceal my eye bags in a manner they could be visibly reduced. By the time I got my hands on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil, I’ve come up with an updated concealer makeup routine using it for the under eye areas – but this time, I tried mastering the art of optical illusion to visually ‘remove’ my eye bags. Watch it in action if you’re interested.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil Base 1 Review

Packaging

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil comes with a clear cap encapsulating the crayon tip. Measuring 8cm in length and 1cm in diameter, you can expect that much of a concealer product in this one stick. And no, it doesn’t come with the sharpener. You can get it at USD$6.00 a piece though.

Shades

This eye primer cum color-correcting concealer comes in 3 shades: Base 1, 2 & 3 – 1 being the fairest. I usually do not fall under the lightest shade category, especially not with concealers since the lighter shades bounces off more light from my puffy under eyes, making them even puffier; as such most of my concealers that I use to target at my under eyes are of medium shades. But since the shade range for the ABH Pro Pencil is so limited, and Base 2 happens to be more peachier than I’d have liked it (peachy color correctors tend to make my warm toned under eye areas even more obvious – watch this video to see how I mix correctors to fix this ), I went for Base 1 which is light no doubt, but it has more of a neutral tone.

Consistency

The texture is on the drier side as you can see. But the formula isn’t rigid to the extent of not being able to be blended properly. With the warmth of your finger or a concealer brush you can still get the job done quite effortlessly.

For Spot Concealing/ Color Correcting

The coverage is good enough for concealing blemishes, acne scars, age spots, as well as correcting redness around my nose area and the warm undertone of my eye bags.

For Eyebrow Defining

I apologize for the poor lighting but I hope you get the picture. In the ‘before’ photo, I did my eyebrow makeup with my Bobbi Brown Perfectly Define Long Wear Brow Pencil alone. In the ‘after’ photo, I then used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil to go over the bottom and top boundaries to define my eyebrows. Notice how the eyebrow becomes ‘sharper’ and appears to be more groomed on the right and makes my eye perkier.

It may appear that I’ve darkened my eyebrow makeup in the second photo because of the contrast in shades now (and perhaps also due to the focus shifting of my camera or the way natural lighting changes around me at that instant) but I promise I didn’t. Because this concealer is in pencil form, the pointy tip with which it makes contact with the skin is almost always constant which explains why it can do such a precise job of outlining as opposed to potted or tube ones. Do note that it doesn’t fill up or blur pores, neither does it provide coverage such that it can obscure your unruly brow hairs.

As an Eyeshadow Primer

The ABH Pro Pencil primes matte eyeshadows well and doesn’t distort the shade much, but you don’t want to prime your shimmer or satin eyeshadows with it. As you can see from the photo above, I’m using the Chanel Ombre Premier eyeshadow cream in Memory in the picture above and you can see how the Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil eyeshadow primer dulls down brilliance the shade otherwise has. The same goes for powdered shimmer shadows. The ABH Pro Pencil otherwise holds up eye makeup pretty well, although I’d say not for as long lasting as my Artdeco Eyeshadow Base.

Verdict:

The Key to How To Get Rid of Eye Bags Visually!

What makes it work largely has to do with its formula, that has an unyielding hold over your skin (no matter how oily it is) which is why it can also be a primer for eyeshadows, yet is soft enough for you to blend seamlessly so you don’t leave streaks.

These two reasons alone make it the perfect candidate for the camouflage trick I’ve always wanted to try on my eye bags. Because not even the best concealer with the best coverage in the world could make my eye bags disappear, I’d began to realize it’s not only a game of color tones but also light and shadows. It’s hard to explain here in words, so if you hadn’t watched my trick in action I suggest you scroll up and watch the video from the beginning of this post, and then you can understand how I can achieve the results below (Left: BEFORE, Right: AFTER).

I’ve explained how I’ve managed to ‘remove’ or at least, reduce the appearance of my puffy eye bags in the video by including the Anastasia Beverly Hills Pro Pencil as the last step of my updated concealer makeup routine. Watch it and you’ll know why the ABH Pro Pencil is a need for eye bags sufferers like me.