When it comes to makeup my aesthetic is cute, everyday glam. To put it succinctly: I’ll wear eyelashes for a games night via Zoom. And ever since I started experimenting with makeup at the age of 18, I’ve known the importance of choosing the right concealer: Nobody wants a dry under-eye from a product that creases too quickly. I have a few demands: I’m looking for something creamy and easy to blend, affordable and with a yellow undertone. I’ve also recently found out that I have seborrheic dermatitis (a form of eczema). This means I want the concealer I use to be full coverage to cover up the rashes but creamy so it won’t make my skin drier than it already is.
The first concealer I used was Mac Pro LongWear Concealer. My sister who is five years older than me swore by this, so I followed suit. This product was my staple for a few years — I liked the colour and the full coverage — but I found the product hard to blend as it was extremely drying. The liquid went on smooth, but after a few minutes it wouldn’t move. Next, I used Nars, Fenty, and ELF — creamy, smooth, and cheap respectively. But nothing seemed to give me that perfect finish.
As a Black woman, beauty influencers are my go-to. So when my favourites recommend me something, I listen. When watching a Jackie Aina video in November, I noticed that Jackie said she loved how high coverage the Too Faced concealer was, and that it gave her face a beautiful finish. Soon after that, I saw Uche Natori using the concealer on Instagram. Even some of my closest girlfriends recommended the concealer to me. But even though the Too Faced concealer kept following me, I said no. I already had several concealers left in my makeup bag and couldn’t convince myself to buy another one.
In the end, my sister bought it for me in “Maple” for Christmas. (We share most of our makeup, so this act may not have been as generous as it appears.) Come New Year’s Eve, I applied the concealer for the first time. I was immediately impressed. As soon as the concealer touched my face I felt how creamy it was. I applied it to my chin, under-eye area, and right above my lips with the applicator brush, then let it sit for five minutes (another tip I picked up from Jackie) before dabbing it in with a beauty blender. I adored the shiny finish — think glowy rather than glittery. Unlike the Mac Pro LongWear Concealer, it was a dream to blend. It was more full coverage than ELF but had the glide of the Nars concealer. And lastly — most importantly — it doesn’t irritate any rashes I may have.
As the bottle is so large (15ml), I haven’t bought another one just yet, though I’m eyeing up another shade, Chestnut, and I’m considering keeping Maple for concealing, and the Chestnut for highlighting. Whenever I’ve posted a selfie wearing it, I’ve received compliments — and recently, when I tweeted my love for the concealer, my mentions were filled with tons of women who felt the same way. The other day, just to be certain, I returned to the Fenty concealer. Where previously I thought it was creamy, now it seemed drying. Now that I’ve found my true love in the Too Faced concealer, I won’t stray away again.
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