Product review
Fake it till you conceal it
Concealers are like chameleons: They adapt to your surroundings and skin shade, and spotting good ones can be tricky. Benefit Cosmetics’ latest FakeUp Hydrating Crease-Control Concealer is the most innovative one we’ve found in a long time… a true miracle worker.
Finding a good concealer can truly be tricky: We’ve tried so many in the past, with lukewarm success. And when Benefit Cosmetics’ latest FakeUp landed on our desk, we were super curious because of its hydrating component.
FakeUp is not your typical concealer. First of all, it’s pretty (it might well be the Christina Hendricks of concealers because it’s so sassy). Second of all, the concealer color is surrounded by a translucent stick. When I first opened the pretty cap, I was intrigued by the way it looked.
It promises crease control, the ability to hide dark circles and diffusing of fine lines for silky smooth coverage. The hydrating ring, which is one of the coolest skin innovations I have seen, contains vitamin E and apple seed extract. It provides immediate moisturization to the delicate under eye area — which, as we all know, immediately displays signs of stress and fatigue when it lacks hydration. There’s also the concealing core (much like the core of an apple), which hides dark circles and helps keep skin smooth. It also diffuses light.
FakeUp comes in three ideal shades: Light, Medium and Deep and promises to keep your skin hydrated for six hours, which is a long stretch of time.
How it measured up
FakeUp was so easy to use underneath the eyes: The coverage was quick and immediate, and the results were instantly visible. In a consumer study, 100 percent of panelists said that the concealer hydrated their skin, and it certainly did mine. It had an extremely silky feeling (almost silicone-like silky) and went smoothly under the eye area without feeling waxy or sticky. If you’ve been using liquid concealer in the past and wanted a no-mess, no-fuss option, this is definitely the way to go.
It’s considered a lightweight formula, and it hid my dark circles well enough. But if you want more coverage, nothing is stopping you from using this as a primer concealer followed by a concealer you know and love that offers full coverage.
The coverage lasted a long time — at least three hours, at which point I was impressed enough. And I really like the fact that unlike most other concealer sticks, you really didn’t have to blend the concealer in with your fingers… the stick did it for you.
All in all, this is a brilliant concealer and one that every beauty junkie should buy. I find it hard to compare it to other brands because it is so unique. Benefit has given us other concealers, like Boi-ing and the brilliant Erase Paste, which is one of a kind. Erase Paste removes all imperfections; for me, it’s the concealer you need to have if you’ve had the worst kind of hangover. But FakeUp is not full coverage like Erase Paste. It’s a light coverage, and it’s one of the best for what it promises. Also, the other Benefit concealers don’t really have a hydrating component. For $29, FakeUp is completely worth it.
Now that’s makeup you can benefit from.
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