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We Tried Fenty Beauty's Pro Filt'r Concealer in 9 Shades — Here's Our Verdict

The newest Fenty Beauty drop may just rebrand the phrase "50 shades."

January 16, 2019

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Concealer on Allure editors

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In September 2017, Fenty Beauty debuted with the beauty drop heard around the world, but you knew that. It didn’t matter if you were a makeup lover or not, everyone’s eyes were on this launch, which became colloquially known to some as the "Fenty 40". It took 40 shades of foundation in a celebrity makeup brand to shake the beauty industry into prioritizing inclusivity. It’s certainly not the first celebrity makeup line or the first high-profile release, but Fenty Beauty has something that no other collection had: Rihanna.

The Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Foundation is still a mainstay in many people's beauty looks (even making red carpet appearances on Daniel Kaluuya), the Match Stix are a multi-tasking makeup bag hero product, the Killawatt Highlighters are still glowing us all up, and we still can’t get enough of the Gloss Bomb. God, that Gloss Bomb. There was, however, one thing that until recently, Fenty Beauty didn’t have: a concealer. Yes, the matte Match Stix are great concealer sticks to sculpt and highlight the face, and I especially like them to spot conceal, but they just wouldn’t cut it for the under-eye or for those in need of a more long-wearing and full-coverage, creamy formula. You could almost do your whole face in Fenty but if you were looking for a creamy concealer, you would have to reach for something else.

Now, we can keep it all in the family with the release of the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Concealer. Available in 50 shades, each corresponding with a shade of the Fenty Foundation, the concealer promises creamy and long-wearing full-coverage in a lightweight, crease-proof formula. Fifty shades of concealer is a lot by anyone's standards, but a large shade range just for the sake of having a ton of shades doesn't do anyone any good if the shades themselves aren't useable, as we've seen with some other recent launches. There is a lot to take into account when creating a range like this, and a couple of poorly thought-out choices about formula, shade, or especially undertone can ruin an entire collection.

The original Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Foundation release boasted 40 shades (now 50, with the addition of 10 new shades along with the concealer launch) and by and large, the shades seemed to land well with almost everyone, so I had hope for the concealer. Each of the 50 concealers was made to correspond with its matching foundation number, give or take toggling up and down the numbers for those who prefer to use a brighter shade of concealer than their foundation. For example, I'm a 190 in the Fenty foundation, so I should be a 190 in the concealer. I was a little skeptical, but the concealer and foundation are a perfect match, and in terms of shade, the concealer looks great on my skin if I'm pairing it with a foundation, or simply wearing it by itself. You can, of course, choose a lighter shade if you prefer a brighter under-eye, or a darker shade if you like to contour with concealer, but your Fenty foundation shade will give you a spot-on baseline shade to start with when choosing what Fenty concealer shade is right for you.

Let me give you a quick before-and-after and then we'll talk about application and wear.

Before:

There are a few spots on the left side of my forehead that are the remnants of some blemishes I had last week, and you can see the darkness and discoloration under my eyes. I mean, my skin looks fine, I know that...but it could look better.

After:

I know, who is she? So, that's me with the concealer, and not a whole lot of it, really. I did a few small dots on each side of both eyes, a bit down my nose, and two dots in the middle of my forehead. I didn't color correct under the concealer, which I usually do, but as you can see, it doesn't need any extra help covering up darkness and discoloration, and evening tone.

The formula is lightweight and medium-bodied, and it blends nicely without too much effort on your part. It's not one of those concealers that you have to work and work to break up, move around, and blend out. It definitely works with you in that respect. The coverage is great. I'd call it a medium-full. I've definitely used more full-coverage concealers, but you don't have one of those "oh shit" moments once you start blending and realize the concealer is more heavy duty than you expected. The first couple of times I wore it, I layered it up a bit more, and it builds nicely without ever getting cakey. This time around, I was happy with the coverage I got with one layer of the concealer and decided just to let it ride.

The finish is something I'd call a luminous matte. It's not a concealer that's so matte that it cuts shine completely, which I always find to look a little unnatural, but it's not glowy either. It bounces light around in a way that brightens skin while giving it a skin-like finish. It pairs nicely with the Fenty Pro Filt'r Foundation, which is matte, or a glowy foundation, too. I paired with the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation, which is medium-coverage and luminous, and they worked beautifully together. [Editor's note: Two Allure staffers agreed that the concealer wears and blends more evenly on top of foundation, as opposed to on top of bare skin.]

So, about those crease-proof claims: It depends on who you talk to. By and large, I've heard that this stays crease-proof on most skin types but not all. Keep in mind that, if your undereye area has bags, folds, or creases (like mine), then you're fighting an uphill battle with keeping your concealer creaseless since your skin itself has creases. On my skin, the concealer did not crease but I did notice that on the dry down, it did tend to subtly accentuate some texture and fine lines — lines on my face that generally, with other concealers or with no makeup at all, are not there (not a deal breaker, but something I noticed). This, of course, could be battled with a beauty oil or face mist, a different choice of setting spray, or powder, but not everyone wants to have to use another product to make one product work.

Fenty Beauty's concealer, for me, gets a solid eight out of 10. It's a beautiful addition to the Fenty fam and, while maybe not completely groundbreaking as a product or formula, it was the missing piece in a brand that was already so strong. I think it's worth noting that this feels like a concealer all its own, too. There aren't any others that come to mind that feel just like it. I heard a lot of speculation that this would be just like the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, but this formula is completely unique.

Now, about those shades. A handful of Allure editors swiped on their shades to show you what it looks like on a range of different skin tones: