Last month, Kylie Jenner stunned the makeup world when she dropped 30 shades of concealer — including a variety of deep shades not easily found elsewhere.
Some applauded Jenner for her dedication to inclusivity, while others perceived the move as an empty marketing ploy. The reviews surrounding both the concealer's shade range AND its quality have been severely mixed thus far, so we decided we'd do our own test.
Two Revelist staffers on opposite sides of the skin tone spectrum gave their faces the Kylie treatment, and the result was… well, you'll see.
We wore Kylie Jenner's concealer ($20, Kylie Cosmetics) for a full day to document how it wears.
The brand has a pretty strict no-return policy, so we each selected two shades based on photos on the brand's product page and multiple arm swatches posted on its Instagram — and that was harder than it should've been.
For starters, arm swatch photos across the brand's Instagram were lit inconsistently, making it difficult to determine each shade's true lightness and undertone. For instance, the shade Stone appeared more white or yellow in select shots, but looked pink in others.
Second, every single deep shade available had red undertones. We knew off the bat that was going to be an issue.
The formula is described by Kylie Cosmetics as all-inclusive, lightweight, buildable, and medium coverage.
That's a lot of adjectives… but are they all accurate?
I have normal, fair skin with pink undertones.
My closest shade match was Stone.
Stone is described by Kylie Cosmetics as a fair shade with peach and pink undertones.
Meanwhile, Marquaysa has combination, deep skin with neutral undertones.
Marquaysa's truest match was Gingerbread.
Gingerbread is "reddened chocolate with red undertones for deep skin tones," according to Kylie Cosmetics.
At the first application just after 9 am, I was actually pretty impressed by how well this stuff blended — and how well Stone matched my undertones.
I was utterly shocked that I didn't instantly despise it. For starters, Stone isn’t too white or too yellow for my pink undertones — I struggle with yellow-tinted concealers far too often.
Here's a video showing how the concealer goes on, but to get the full effect of the wear, keep scrolling for close-up review photos.
After easily blending out two layers of the concealer under my eyes and on my rosy patches — all set with translucent powder — it was so far, so good.
The website classifies this concealer as medium, buildable coverage, and that description hits the nail right on the head.
Stone easily covered all my red patches enough for every day wear, but I wouldn't settle for under-eye coverage this light for a night out or a photoshoot such as this one.
Marquaysa, on the other hand, was instantly let down because Gingerbread, the shade closest to her skin tone, was VERY red.
"I had to blend to death," she said.
It wasn't until she set with translucent powder that Marquaysa felt her concealer even remotely matched her skin tone.
"That’s too much work when I already have a great concealer match that doesn’t come with the DIY requirements."
And combined with her everyday foundation, Gingerbread's coverage wasn't all that noticeable.
Marquaysa is a tried and true Kat Von D Beauty Lock-It Concealer user — and she's very used to its creamy, full coverage. This was definitely an adjustment.
At our first checkpoint at 1 pm, I still felt pretty damn good about this concealer, despite slight creasing.
The creasing here isn't too bad, but it's surely more severe than NARS and Kat Von D, my holy grails. That being said, the coverage held up nicely — with no oxidation — after almost four hours.
Marquaysa's fears about the concealer's red undertones were only amplified by the afternoon.
"It didn’t crease too much on me, but it felt like it was oxidizing redder throughout the day," she said. "I didn’t love that at ALL."
Between 1 and 3 pm, it happened: I could physically feel the creases underneath my eyes, which were becoming a little irritated.
Someone also pointed out at this time that my concealer had gone from peachy to sallow sitting underneath our office lights all day — and they were right.
Marquaysa was feeling the exact same way about Gingerbread at 3 pm.
"My face was as shiny as a red apple at this point, and I was feeling a bit itchy. This could have been caused by the concealer working together with the setting powder, but my face just felt a uncomfortable."
By 5 pm, I was honestly ready to take this concealer off.
At this point, I had to admit that the discomfort I was feeling under my eyes was because of the concealer. After I took it off, my sensitive skin felt immediate relief.
Stone creased and faded *just* enough that I felt I'd look better bare. Long story short, I went from 100 to zero real fast.
Though Marquaysa didn't have many creases, she couldn't get over the massive redness deal breaker.
"The concealer STILL wasn't crazy creased, but it didn't feel the best on my face. I blame Kylie Jenner personally for how reddish brown my face looked."
Final verdict? Kylie's isn't the worst concealer we've ever used — but we can live without it. That especially goes for Marquaysa, who couldn't even find a true shade match.
"I would have had a better time with a color that matches my undertone better," Marquaysa said. She admits laying off the setting powder could have prevented some of the irritation she felt.
"I’m good with my Kat Von D and L.A. Girl concealers," she said. "I don’t really need Kylie’s."
And I have to agree with her.
TL;DR? Not bad. Just plain overpriced.
Considering Kylie Cosmetics' parent brand Seed Beauty manufactures ColourPop's eerily similar concealer for the price of $6, I can't find a single reason to spend $20 on this one — especially given that I get this same level of coverage from a tiny dollop of my regular foundation.
