Read ALL about my review process including how I take swatches, photos, and more here.
Shortly after black Up was made available online at Sephora (get deets on where you can get it in-store here), I bought a couple of things that sparked my interest. I’ve reviewed and swatched a ton of black Up already and you can check those posts out here.
ANYWAY, so when it comes to concealer palettes, I’m pretty much for the concept because many of us can use more than one concealer shade in one look (a lighter color under the eyes, something your skin tone to cover dark spots on say your chin or forehead, etc) plus many of us can benefit from mixing colors together to get that right shade. But when things start adding color correctors—I start feeling like “whyyyy?”
So back in the day when I did makeup, I was all over the color corrector. It helped me transform faces covered in dark spots. (OK—I can see already this review may not be as quick as I thought…lol. I tried). Or they helped cancel out redness or sallowness. But then as I tried more brands and different formulas, I found that the foundation I used could do the trick and only in certain situations where there’s severe discoloration would I need correctors.
On my own face I only use concealer when I’m doing a look that’s only concealer-where-I-need-it and powder because when I do full makeup looks, my Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation can cover up everything including dark spots (I may dab a little more foundation in areas where I might need it more).
I’m not saying color correctors are bad or anything like that—just saying most people probably won’t need them.
For women with darker skin tones, typically color correctors are either orange or honey in color—that helps to cancel out darkness—anything from darkness under the eyes to dark spots. For people with severe discoloration, color correctors might come in handy but I feel like most people may not need them. They’d be great for makeup artists since they work on so many different people with varying needs. But I’d be willing to bet that most of you reading this post probably don’t need a color corrector.
The black Up Concealer Palette contains four shades of varying tones one of which is a corrector color that you can use on its own or mix with the other shades to warm them up if you need to. I picked up shade 01 (light), 02 (medium), and 03 (dark).
(The white particles on the concealers are little beads of I’m guessing condensation—my camera picked them up and made them look WAY bigger than they really are. I tried to take some of them out in Photoshop but it started to take forever and let’s be real—I don’t have all day…lol. But don’t worry—they’re not going to harm you and once you start using the product they go away)
It’s a great product—the concealers are creamy and blend with each other easily (you can blend them on either a palette or the back of your hand) and they perform really well. I had no creasing nor fading the whole day I tested them. They’re also super versatile—use them to cover discoloration or even highlight/contour. But not everyone is going to need something like this. If you can’t see your self using at least two of the shades regularly (or at some point during the year—say mixing shades when you tan), you might as well buy a single concealer OR a set where you’ll likely use a majority of the shades.
The color selection is amazing—but this is a luxury brand dedicated to great makeup for women of color. They’re not trying to half-step.
Bottom line: These are great performing concealer palettes—great quality, great shade selection, and it’s very versatile. BUT make sure you’ll actually get good usage out of it. If you find yourself not needing to mix shades often or if your foundation covers your discoloration on its own, you won’t need this.
Price and where to buy: $30.50 at Sephora (plus 4% cash back when you use eBates)
These look like they’ll make a great addition to my kit. I’ll have to check them out soon. Thanks for swatching!