I’m finally doing another makeup tournament, and the one y’all requested the most was concealer. I started with 16 concealers I’ve been testing, some for years and some much more recently. To get down to 16, I took out any cream or stick concealers, and then fought with myself until I narrowed down to 16. As always, I’m happy to do follow ups with anything I didn’t include here or anything that’s launched since that you’re super curious about! Important reference for concealers – I have dry 35+ year old skin that has fine lines. If you have oily skin, you might love the ones that lose specifically because they don’t work as well on my dry skin.
The way I put this bracket together was that I had everyone in my Substack chat vote for their favorites, and the concealers that got the most votes were paired against the ones that got the least (or none). For the actual tests, I wore one concealer on each side of my face, both under my eyes, to spot conceal, and as foundation on different days. I kept the rest of my makeup the same. I also switched sides for each match just in case. I’ve been posting (way too) close up pictures in my Substack chat and having everyone vote on which side looks better without telling them what they’re looking at.
In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own and I bought all these products myself. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.
And finally, introducing the concealer bracket:
Round 1, Match 1: Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer in Oat 3 vs. Kulfi Main Match Concealer in Mitai Soul – Hourglass was the concealer with the most votes, but Kulfi is one of my personal favorites, so I was super excited to see what happened with this first match up.
Shade wise, Hourglass Oat 3 is one of the very few lighter concealer shades I’ve found that’s actually labeled olive which I was super excited about, but I did get the mini because I bought so many concealers for this. On the Kulfi side, I actually have two shades of the Kulfi concealer because I do really love the formula, but Mitai Soul is the same depth as Oat 3 so I decided to have them go head to head. Hourglass is every so slightly more yellow/olive while Kulfi Mitai Soul is peachier on me but they both still definitely work.
By itself, Hourglass had great coverage and looked really nice, but in comparison to the Kulfi, it just didn’t look as good. The Kulfi also stretched way more, so if you’re someone looking to use a concealer as foundation, it works way better for that. The Hourglass also looked and felt a little drier and less skinlike than the Kulfi.
Every time I showed this pairing in my Substack chat, Kulfi won unanimously. They said it looked smoother and less textured, especially around my nose. I also made my husband vote in person without telling him which was which, as is tradition, and he picked Kulfi every time too. The Hourlgass didn’t look bad by any means (and like all concealers in this tournament, if it’s your favorite, keep on using it!), but the Kulfi definitely looked better and will be moving on!
Round 1, Match 2: Natasha Denona Hy-Glam Brightening & Hydrating Crease Proof Serum Concealer in Y2 vs. ciele conceal & PROTECT SPF 50+ in 04N – Natasha Denona was another one that got a ton of votes from my chat and faced off against one of my personal favorites, the Ciele conceal and protect. Shade wise, Natasha Denona Y2 is lighter, brighter, and more yellow on me. Ciele 04N is a little deeper and peachier in the arm swatches, but looks closer to my actual skin tone (on my face, not my arm) than the Natasha Denona once they dry down.
Similar to what happened in the first match, the first time I wore them side by side, Ciele just looked better. My chat was actually super surprised, and I ended up testing these two together so many times just in case. I switched sides, used different skincare and primers, whatever I could think of.
Every single time the Ciele side looked much smoother and less textured. Natasha Denona looked a little heavier and drier, and the Ciele sat much better on my skin and stayed looking really nice throughout the day. Despite how much my chat loves the Natasha Denona concealer, they picked the Ciele every time I shared this match up.
I still like the Natasha Denona concealer, and if I were wearing it by itself I don’t think I would say there was anything wrong with it. But I tested these so many times and got the same result every time, so I’m confident that Ciele moves on!
Next up is Vieve vs. Haus Labs and Estee Lauder vs About Face!
Makeup and Skincare Reviews 