Smashbox photo finish Hydrating Under Eye primer ($29), available now online and at counters
Sometimes when I hold this tube in my hand, I feel the need to pinch myself.

Se on tosi? I wonder, giddy with excitement, or is it a makeup mirage?

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Perhaps that’s being overdramatic (what, me overdramatic??), but seriously, dude, it feels like I’ve been searching for this little pink tube FOREVER.

Or, you know, like two months.

It’s just that every single time I’ve looked for it at Ulta or Sephora, it’s never been in stock. The shelf where neat little boxes of photo finish Hydrating Under Eye primer should have been, has always been as empty as a ghost town.

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Kissat ja meikkipaita?

42 dollaria

Osta nyt

[Cue tumbleweeds rolling by]

I know I could’ve tried to order it online, but tracking it down in a store actually became a weird personal mission of mine. I wanted the instant gratification…even if it took me a year to get.

LOL!

I’ve also been wondering, though…who are these ladies (or gents) that are hoarding this sh*t so hard that I can’t ever find a tube? Is the love for this under-eye primer so intense that people have literally cleared it off every makeup store shelf within a 20-mile radius?

Well, last week my luck turned. miracle of all makeup miracles, I finally found one lonely box when I went to Sephora, and I grabbed that last box with a quickness usually reserved for chocolate, doughnuts, and chocolate doughnuts.

I’ve been a user now for about a week, and my, oh my — I’m on the fast-track to becoming one of those ladies who are probably responsible for this stuff never being in stock. I already want to get a backup.

Smashbox photo finish Hydrating Under Eye primer hoarding is a legit thing!

So, what is this stuff, and why is it (almost) better than a bag of Baked Cheetos?

Basically, it’s a brightening, moisturizing under-eye primer that you apply before concealer. Anything you layer on top of it — concealer, powder, whatever — ends up looking smoother, more natural and more like real skin.

And I think the difference when I use it is night and day, especially when you see it in person. Whenever I take the time to apply this first, I think my concealer looks much less obvious.

I also still get the full coverage that I like, but without my under-eye area looking cakey like cake batter (which happens sometimes with opaque concealers).

I follow a multi-step process, but it works for me, so I don’t mind the extra work.

First, I prep my under-eye area with a bit of photo finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer, and then I mix equal parts of NARS Radiant Concealer in Ginger and Maybelline fit Me Concealer in 25 Medium.

Next, I pat and blend the smallest amount under my eyes, and set it all by patting a bit of Trish McEvoy’s liner Refiner on top with my fingers, before lightly dusting setting powder on top of that.

When I do this, my concealer lasts all day long, doesn’t settle into my fine lines, and most importantly, the results look like real skin.

I love this to bits! — although I do have a minor beef with the packaging…

The slanted applicator thingamajig does absolutely nothing for my soul. You squeeze the tube and, inevitably, too much product squirts out.

Super annoying.

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A doe-foot, or perhaps a thin, fine-tipped applicator (like the kind that comes with MAC fast response Eye Cream) would probably be better, but that’s me being extra picky.

Hinta: 29 dollaria
AVAILABILITY: available now online and at Smashbox counters
MAKEUP and beauty blog RATING: A (an A+ if it had a doe-foot applicator)

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Karen