REVIEW: Colourpop No Filter Concealer

The internet damn near broke when Colourpop announced they were releasing concealers. Colourpop has released a wide range of cheap makeup (some more successful than others), and now they were stepping in to the complexion product ring. Personally, I've yet to find a concealer that truly wows me, so I wasn't too interested in trying out the No Filter Concealer until I caught sight of their shade range. Yes, there's still a drop off in the variety of shades and undertones at the darker end of the spectrum, but at least there is a darker end of the spectrum. As soon as I snagged a great coupon, I bought both the lightest warm shade (Fair 5) and the darkest shade available (Rich 75).

The Colourpop No Filter Concealer retails for $6 a tube. I feel the need to point out that, yet again, Colourpop has created a product that is cheap per unit, but at 4 grams, each unit is a bit smaller than the standard 6-ish grams I've come to expect from a liquid concealer. Still, it's definitely a drugstore-priced product.

The concealer arrives in a sturdy plastic container with a white lid that scratches easily and a flattened doefoot applicator. I don't detect any fragrance, so yay!

I actually swatched both Fair 5 and Rich 75 against a range of products for my Glossier Wowder review, so I'm going to reuse those swatches. Please notice how these No Filter Concealer swatches are darker than you'd think from looking at the tubes; that's because this concealer turns 1-2 shades darker as it dries down on the skin. This is really important to consider when you're trying to get your perfect shade match.

From left to right: NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia; Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint in Sand; Colourpop No Filter Concealer in Fair 5; Glossier Wowder in Light/Medium; Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation in 001; Deciem The Ordinary Coverage Foundation in 1.0N; Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer in Light Warm.

 From left to right: Milk Makeup Sunshine Skin Tint in Deep; Colourpop No Filter Concealer in Rich 75; Glossier Wowder in Rich; Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation in 302 and 303; Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer in Dark Golden.

Again, there's some color changing as the concealer dries down and limited undertones at the darker end of the shade range, but overall, we're definitely covering the very fair to the very dark here. I'm totally impressed with the shade range.

On the day I photographed the Colourpop No Filter Concealer, I was testing it on top of my favorite foundation, MAC Face & Body. The picture on the left is my face with a thin layer of Face and Body; it definitely evens out my skin, but you can still see my undereye circles, the dark pigmentation from a healing blemish on my chin, and a bit of redness from a patch of hives between my brows. Concealer to the rescue!

I was initially a bit miffed by how light the concealer looked against my skin, but then I remembered that it darkens up within ten minutes, and it certainly did after I took these photographs. The Colourpop concealer has a smooth, thin texture and a weightless feel that worked wonderfully on my undereyes by softening up the darkness. On my blemishes, however, this product was less successful. I had to reapply the concealer to my chin three times to get any texture because it would pull up as soon as I tried to blend it out. It's almost like this concealer has a hard time sticking to foundation. In the end, I got medium coverage on my undereyes, light coverage on my redness.

I thought the concealer might soften up after it sat on my skin for a while, but while the color darkened and became a better match for my skin, the texture just got worse. Look above my eyebrow on the right side of this picture, and at my chin on the left side. See how weirdly dry and makeup-y those parts of my face look? That's the Colourpop concealer. It also drifted in to the fine lines under my eyes very quickly, as you can see in this picture, but that's fairly normal for me. I tapped it out with my finger and it looked fine.

Sadly, the concealer on my blemishes didn't fair so well. By the three hour mark, my forehead looked like a scaly mess. The Colourpop No Filter Concealer hadn't just faded, it'd taken the foundation underneath with it. I tried to reapply the concealer because I'm a glutton for punishment, but nope, it once again wouldn't stick to my skin properly.

I thought it might be an issue with MAC Face & Body, so I tested the concealer with other base products. I had better luck with this concealer sticking to bare skin on a no foundation day, but over other foundations? I had the same problem. And no matter how I applied it, the staying power of this foundation was pretty much garbage.

I had such high hopes for this concealer because of the low price, inclusive shade range, and lightweight texture. Unfortunately, I was totally let down by its staying power, coverage, and appearance on the skin, especially over foundation. You get props for the feel and the shades, Colourpop, but my praise stops there.

RATING: 2 out of 5

This concealer is available at Colourpop.com. This is an affiliate link that will give you $5 off of your first order and will give me $5 in Colourpop credit.