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Part eye serum, part optical brightener, this clever little product has become my shortcut to looking more awake.
Some people can leave the house without a scrap of make-up on and still look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But me? I am not one of those people. I’ve always had dark under-eyes: my eye sockets are naturally quite deep, and the skin around my eyes is thin, which means the shadows underneath are particularly noticeable. If I go completely make-up-free (or don’t have any fake tan on), there’s a 99.9% chance someone will ask if I’m feeling OK or tell me I look tired. Or better still… ‘drawn’.
So, for me, under-eye concealer has always been a non-negotiable part of my make-up routine. Even on days when I’m wearing little more than brow gel and mascara, I’ll usually dab something underneath my eyes to make the area look a little brighter.
Recently, however, I’ve discovered a product that isn’t technically a concealer but does a surprisingly good job of making my under-eyes look fresher: Delilah’s Wake Up Radiant Eye Perfector.
If you’re already familiar with Delilah, you may know it. Wake Up Radiant is one of the brand’s hero products and has picked up its fair share of beauty awards over the years. Somehow, though, it had passed me by until recently.
How does it work?
The easiest way to describe Wake Up Radiant is somewhere between an eye serum and a concealer primer. It doesn’t provide the sort of pigment or coverage you’d expect from a traditional concealer. Instead, it uses soft-focus optical brightening to make the under-eye area appear smoother, brighter and more luminous. Which, on my dark under-eyes, the difference is noticeable.
The texture is much closer to skincare than make-up: a lightweight gel-serum that feels fresh and hydrating rather than thick or chalky. Glycerin and sodium hyaluronate help draw moisture into the skin, which is particularly useful underneath the eyes where heavier concealers can have a habit of making everything look dry.
Once applied, it leaves behind a subtle dewy finish that catches the light without looking sparkly or obviously highlighted. It won’t completely disguise very dark circles – and that’s not really what it’s designed to do – but on days when I don’t want to wear make-up, it helps to nourish the skin and brighten the area to help me look more awake.
Where I’ve found it particularly useful is as the first step in my usual under-eye make-up. I’ll sweep a small amount underneath each eye, let it settle and then apply concealer over the top. The combination works brilliantly: the Eye Perfector provides hydration and luminosity underneath, while my concealer does the actual concealing.
It also means I can get away with using less concealer than I normally would. Rather than trying to cover the entire under-eye area with an opaque layer of product, I can concentrate it on the darkest points and let the brightening formula underneath do the rest. The overall result looks fresher and more skin-like.
My dark circles aren’t going anywhere – they’re largely down to the structure of my face and the thinness of my skin rather than how many hours I slept the night before. What Wake Up Radiant does is make them look less obvious without requiring a full face of make-up.
Images: Stylist; courtesy of brand
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