The under-eye area is such a tricky one, especially as we age. There are several issues specific to that area that many of us try to address, but a big one is darkness. Color correctors and concealers are the most common products used to camouflage under-eye darkness. Unfortunately, those products can be heavy and sometimes make the area look more aged than it should. I personally prefer to use a lightweight color corrector, but a lightweight concealer that I’ve also been enjoying is the e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer.

The most popular concealers from e.l.f. are the original e.l.f. 16 HR Camo Concealer and the more recent e.l.f. Hydrating Camo Concealer. Both of these concealers provide medium to full coverage with claims that they are long wearing. E.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer is the newest concealer from e.l.f. and it’s meant to work as a brightener rather than a traditional concealer (like the others I mentioned) that provides coverage.

I don’t use e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer every day, but it is nice to have on hand for days that I’ve got all my makeup on and want a little extra brightness under my eyes or on other parts of my face. This concealer has been in my collection for quite some time now so I’ve had plenty of time to test it. Read on for my full product review which will include information on the shade range, packaging, ease of application, hydration, staying power, and price.

e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer product claims directly from ElfCosmetics.com

Luminosity is a click away! Create a brightened, flawless complexion with a flick of a pen. Use this buildable, brightening concealer to highlight all over your face. This luxurious but lightweight formula brightens and highlights your key features. Infused with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C, this formula works to conceal uneven skin tones.

Disclosure: IntegriBeauty includes affiliate links within product review posts. I receive commissions for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. IntegriBeauty is independently owned and all products discussed within IntegriBeauty product review posts are thoroughly tested and given honest reviews.

Other product details

• Price: $5.00
• Net weight: 0.07 oz. | 2.3 ml
• Made in China
• Cruelty-free
• Vegan
• Shelf life: 6 months
• 18 shades
• Where to buy: ElfCosmetics.com 
  • ElfCosmetics.com ships within the USA and internationally to the following locations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudia Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and UAE
• Overall rating: 8.4/10
  • Inclusivity: 8/10
  • Packaging/ease of application: 8/10
  • Hydration: 10/10
  • Staying power: 7/10
  • Price: 9/10

Please note that I am not a makeup artist. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, as a regular person that loves makeup.

Inclusivity

When e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer first launched, I believe it was only available in 12 shades. Fortunately, six additional shades have been added for a current total of 18 shades. If this was a medium to full coverage concealer or foundation, I’d say the range still needs to be expanded further. However, as I stated previously, this concealer is meant to provide very little coverage and instead brighten or highlight.

The 18 shades of e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer range from fair to rich. I reviewed each shade and they are distributed as follows:

• Fair: 2 (1 cool; 1 warm)
• Light: 3 (1 cool; 1 neutral; 1 warm)
• Medium: 4 (3 warm; 1 neutral)
• Tan: 3 (1 warm; 2 neutral warm)
• Deep: 3 (2 warm; 1 neutral)
• Rich: 3 (1 warm neutral; 1 cool; 1 neutral)

I’m very happy to see that e.l.f. included shades for every “category” of skin tone. I have fair skin and purchased the lightest shade which is Fair 10 C. It is a very light shade. It would probably work well enough for even the lightest (very fair) skin tones. 

When considering the shades in this range, it’s important to note that they aren’t meant to exactly match skin tones, they’re meant to be a bit lighter in order to brighten skin. If this was a traditional concealer, Fair 10 C would be too light for me, but since it’s meant to simply brighten, it works! 

Looking at each of the individual shades and their undertones, I admit that I’m a bit confused. Starting with the fair shades, I’m not sure why there isn’t a neutral option. I have fair neutral skin, so I would’ve preferred this concealer in a fair neutral shade rather than fair cool. I went for fair cool because I thought the pink undertone would be more brightening than the golden undertone of the fair warm shade.

Next, I noticed that there isn’t a medium cool shade, but there are three medium warm shades. Those with medium cool skin tones would probably have the best luck with the medium neutral shade. There are odd things about the tan, deep, and rich shade ranges as well.

There are two tan shades that are described as “neutral warm.” I’m not sure what that means! I wonder if those shades are actually just neutral, as there is also one tan shade with a warm undertone. There are again no tan cool shades, so those that have tan skin with a cool undertone would probably need to use one of the tan neutral warm shades.

The deep shade range is also missing a cool option. Lastly, the rich shade range looks pretty good. However, the first rich shade has a “warm neutral” undertone, and again I don’t know what that means! If you can explain that to me, I’d appreciate it if you would comment below. 🙂 Other than that funny little oddity, the rich shades (and also the light shades) seem to make the most sense.

I realize that I did a lot of nitpicking in this section. Despite being confused about some of the choices of shades, I think this is a good range. As I said before, I’m able to use a shade that doesn’t really match my undertone and it looks fine, so most others in the same boat will likely have the same experience.

Packaging/ease of application

E.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer isn’t packaged like most concealers which usually have a doe foot applicator. Instead, this concealer comes in a click-pen. When you click the button on the end, concealer flows through to a brush applicator. 

I don’t care for the click-pen aspect of the packaging. First of all, when you open this concealer to use it for the first time, you have to click several times before any product actually comes out. You have to be careful because if you click too many times, much more product than you need will come out. It’s a bit more consistent once the flow has started, as I now reliably get the correct amount of product from two clicks of the button.

I only have one other complaint about the packaging. Since the packaging is opaque plastic, you can’t see when the product is getting low. With this type of concealer, I think it’s wise to purchase a backup for when you unexpectedly run out.

Now for a couple of good things about the e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer packaging! I really like that the color of the packaging matches the shade of the concealer inside. I only have the one shade, but I think the color of the plastic is a very close match to the actual concealer. This would be helpful to those that want more than one shade (i.e. makeup artists or those that wish to have some shades meant for contouring).

The brush applicator is also very nice. It’s quite small to allow for precise application anywhere on the face. I primarily use it to brighten my under-eyes, but I’ve also used it to highlight the bridge of my nose and my chin. 

The instructions from e.l.f. state that fingertips or a concealer brush can be used for blending. I’ve found that a brush works best for smooth, even blending. The lightweight texture of this concealer makes it extremely easy to blend. Sometimes I struggle with blending out other concealers, but this one is always a breeze.

Hydration

E.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer contains sodium hyaluronate (the sodium form of hyaluronic acid), a humectant, which helps to keep the skin hydrated. It’s unfortunately pretty far down the list of ingredients, but that’s not surprising to me since this is a makeup product rather than skincare. I’m still happy to see this ingredient listed!

Since I primarily use concealer under my eyes, it’s important to me that every concealer I use provides at least some hydration. I don’t have extra dry under-eyes, but a lot of concealers make them look dry after just a couple of hours. Hydrating concealers are my best bet for maintaining the appearance of smooth youthful under-eyes.

I feel that the level of hydration provided by e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer is on par with e.l.f. Hydrating Camo Concealer. It feels very hydrating when first applied, and I think that helps with blendability too. Once it is fully blended, it doesn’t feel quite as hydrating but there is definitely still some added hydration that lingers. 

Staying power

The staying power of e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer largely depends on how it is applied and set. First of all, it’s important not to apply more than necessary. The more concealer is applied, the more likely it is to settle into fine lines and look cakey (this seems to be true of all concealers). Next, I know that some people like to let their concealer sit for a minute or two before blending; I advise against that with this one. I’ve found that if I don’t blend this concealer right away, it settles into my fine lines more than it normally would.

Once this concealer is fully blended, it needs to be set with powder. I like to use my e.l.f. Halo Glow Setting Powder which is a lightweight loose powder. If I forget to set this concealer with powder, it will very quickly settle into my fine lines. While I feel that powder is necessary with this concealer, it’s best not to use too much because powder can cause that area to look dry. I pick up just enough on my brush to lightly set under each eye.

As long as I follow all of those “rules” for applying this concealer under my eyes, it stays in place well and looks good almost all day. On certain days, however, I’ve noticed that it appears to have worn away a bit by the end of the day. That is unusual and I’m not sure of the cause.

So far I’ve only addressed the staying power of this concealer when it is applied under my eyes. It’s not very often that I use it on other parts of my face, but when I do I feel that the staying power is good. I powder my whole face (and usually use setting spray too), so that certainly helps.

Price

E.l.f. has long been known for its affordable prices and they came through BIG with the e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer. That’s because I’ve heard from multiple sources that this humble e.l.f. concealer is a dupe for YSL Touche Éclat All-Over Brightening Concealer Pen which is $38.00 (YSL is not cruelty-free, by the way)!! Granted, YSL’s concealer pen contains 0.1 oz. of concealer versus 0.07 oz. in e.l.f.’s dupe, but e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer is only $5.00! That’s a steal!

Comparing e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer to other brightening concealers at the drugstore, it remains a good bargain. The only reason I deducted one point from this category is that on a per ounce basis, it’s not as good of a value as the more popular e.l.f. Camo concealers. They are $6.00 for 0.2 oz. of product, whereas this one is $5.00 for 0.07 oz., a very small amount. I’m not sure why they didn’t just make the click-pen a bit larger to hold more concealer.

Overall, I think e.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer is an excellent product and value. It’s definitely worth $5.00 if you’ve been considering trying it!

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E.l.f. Flawless Brightening Concealer is a really handy little product to have around. I’m glad I decided to try it! While there are some minor improvements that I would appreciate (mainly different packaging) seeing, I think e.l.f. did a really nice job on this concealer. 

I hope you can see the brightening effect from this concealer on my skin in these photos. My whole face looks brighter in the second photo and that was unintentional, I think I must’ve been standing at a different angle for that photo. Despite that little hiccup, I think you can still see that my face appears much more highlighted overall in that second photo. In the first photo, the difference appears subtle, but in person I could really see a difference between the eye with concealer and the one without.

E.l.f.’s product description includes a few primary claims. First, they state that the concealer is buildable and brightening to highlight anywhere on the face. I agree completely! Next, they say it is lightweight. Again, I agree 100%. In fact, this is probably the most lightweight concealer I’ve ever used. Lastly, the description states that the formula conceals uneven skin tones. This is where I’m hesitant because the formula and coverage are very light. It covers some unevenness, but for any intense discoloration a medium to full coverage concealer or foundation is more appropriate.

I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a brightening concealer. It is very effective for that purpose. I also don’t think you can beat the price!

Do you enjoy using concealer to brighten your complexion? If you think you might enjoy this one from e.l.f., let me know in the comments!

Lauren

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