$2 Nicka K HD Concealer Review + Swatches on Dark Skin

So before we even get into this Nicka K HD Concealer post please note that while these concealers go in numerical order, the shades don’t go in order from light to dark. I’m also missing the first four shades which may not actually be the lightest shades these come in. There also seems to be a discrepancy in how at least two of the shades are numbered and labeled—on the concealers I have “Fallow” is listed as NCL010 but on the Nicka K site “Fallow” is NCL003 and NCL010 is Coffee. CONFUSING.

But anyway, I made it my mission to get as many of these Nicka K HD Concealers as possible to swatch because I’m always on the lookout for good products at varying price ranges to show you guys. Plus I know all too well the plight of finding makeup at the drugstore when you have dark skin all too well (I wrote a post that helps you navigate it here). In most cases, if you have dark skin your best bet for finding “drugstore” makeup is at the beauty supply store. Beauty supply store makeup much like drugstore makeup from back in the day has stepped their game UP. I remember finding “no-name” liners and not-so-great-but-hey-it’s-only-$1 lip colors from the beauty supply store back in the 90s and 00s when I was a teen and into my early 20s. Nowadays the beauty supply store carries testers, are super organized, and carry the full line-up of some of your favorite affordable brands that carry good quality makeup that can rival some of the department store stuff. Like for instance, anytime I go into a beauty supply store if they carry NYX Cosmetics they carry almost everything NYX makes including the darker foundation shades you won’t find inside ULTA stores. Best yet, most makeup at the beauty supply store is priced under $5 (even some foundations!) and includes items that are very pigmented and complement darker skin tones beautifully. There are of course a few caveats—I’m not sure that all of the brands are cruelty-free if that’s important to you and of course not every neighborhood even has a nearby beauty supply store—but if you’re watching your beauty coins and have darker skin, the beauty supply store is your drugstore when it comes to makeup. A lot of the products found at the BSS are also sold on the individual brand’s websites as well as some “online beauty supply stores” but also check Amazon. I swear you can find almost anything on Amazon and sometimes it’s sold directly from the brand AND cheaper on Amazon.

So let’s get into this Nicka K HD Concealer.

Shade descriptions:

NOTE: These are my own descriptions of the colors—there weren’t any official color descriptions on the brand’s site so I had to come up with my own.

NCL005 Sepia is a light brown with peachy undertones

NCL006 Light Brown is a salmon color with peachy undertones (this could be a good shade to cancel out bluish discoloration in lighter skin tones)

NCL007 Coyote is a beige with yellow undertones

NCL008 Copper is a tan with warm undertones

NCL009 Lion is a light brown with neutral undertones

NCL010 Fallow (this is labeled as such in the tube I bought but NCL010 on the Nicka K site is labeled as Coffee *shrugs*) is a light brown with reddish undertones

NCL011 Chocolate is a light milk chocolate color with pinky undertones

NCL012 Dark Brown is a medium milk chocolate color with pinky undertones

NCL013 Dark Chocolate is a chocolate color with golden undertones (looks like most chocolate candy bar colors)

NCL014 Red Clay is a terracotta brown color with strong red undertones. This could also work as an “orange” corrector option for those about my skin tone and darker.

A NOTE ON COLOR CORRECTING SHADES:
Keep in mind that with color correcting, not all skin tones can use the same correcting shade—this is made evident in this post where I compared two different “orange” correctors. Because color correctors are increasing in popularity in the online beauty community, it’s as if “orange corrector” is a term like “nude” where it depends on the skin tone of the person it’s being used on. (This is where things can get unnecessarily confusing…lol) Keep in mind that the basic idea behind this is that something with a warmer undertone will cancel out darkness (darkness that has more of a blue, purple, brown, or black color) BUT what you use to cancel that out depends on your skin tone. In very fair skin this can look like a light salmon color, in “medium” skin it can look yellow-ish, in tan skip it can look light orange, and then the deeper you go the darker the “orange” can look and in even deeper skin tones it can look almost red-orange.

Read more about correcting discoloration from Eve Pearl via this vintage TSABD post.

Just like with “banana” powder. Because the “banana” shade in Ben Nye powder became popular because of Kim K, the term “banana powder” has seemingly come to mean “highlight setting powder” which can be confusing to those not seasoned when it comes to makeup because the actual “banana” shade doesn’t work on everyone. There are highlight setting powders that come in an array of colors. Even Ben Nye makes more than just the “banana” shade and offers more options that work better for women of color. I bought a few and wrote a post about them here. Also see Because We’re Not All Banana: a Few Highlight Setting Powder Options for Dark Skin.

Also like I’ve said before, NOT EVERYONE NEEDS COLOR CORRECTING.

OK back to the Nicka K HD Concealer shade descriptions…lol.

NCL015 Dark Cappuccino is a milk chocolate color with strong olive undertones

NCL016 Brazilian Coffee is a deep chocolate color with neutral undertones

When it comes to concealers, what shade you use depends on your skin tone, in some cases your undertones, the color of what you’re concealing, and where you’re concealing. And of course depending on your needs, the concealer formula also plays a huge part. So for instance, some people may need a fuller coverage and/or creamier textured concealer for under the eye area, but then not need something as heavy to cover some discoloration on the chin. Got it? Good.

Nicka K HD Concealer is heavier than a liquid concealer but isn’t as thick as a cream. They provide light to medium coverage and can be buildable. The texture makes it easy to blend these as well as mix colors together if you needed to. I’m loving that there are two shades with strong red undertones (Red Clay) and strong olive undertones (Dark Cappuccino) because you could mix them into other shades if needed (i.e. if your undertones tend to get redder as you tan like mine do, adding the Red Clay could help adjust your shade almost similar to the NYX Pro Foundation Mixers—the difference being the NYX Pro Foundation Mixers are pretty much just “mixers” and weren’t created to provide coverage).

The shades that work best for my coloring (see which foundation shades I wear here) are NCL010 Fallow (remember the weird labeling issue I mentioned at the beginning of this post) for highlighting (though I prefer to highlight my face with cream products that have more of a golden tone than this one has), NCL013 Dark Chocolate to cover dark spots on my chin, NCL016 Brazilian Coffee for contouring (though I prefer to contour with powders), and NCL014 for anytime I need to “warm” my skin but I honestly wouldn’t use it that often on its own. It can be too red for me depending on how tan or not my skin is BUT it could work as a “color corrector” for me if I needed to do that extra step.

You could also use these as foundation if you manipulate your application and thin them out (after all they were created to be concealers). I’d say these have a natural-satin, skin-like finish but of course that can also be manipulated by application (i.e. different setting powders, adding in other products, etc.)

They wore well on me—after nearly eight hours of wear there was no creasing under my eyes (that can vary on everyone depending on your under-eye situation and application–if you’re looking for a bullet-proof under eye concealer, check out the Laura Mercier High Coverage Concealer for Under-Eye) and no fading on my chin which is a feat because some concealers seem to fade on my chin pretty quickly. Even close to eight hours of wear it still looked amazing.

Application-wise it’s cool and yet a drawback to have the little brush on the end of these. I wouldn’t suggest using it to blend out your concealer because it can get messy. I prefer to use a beautyblender or a brush appropriate for whatever area I’m using the concealer on.

Bottom line: Nicka K HD Concealer is a pretty good deal if you love creamy liquid concealers with light to medium buildable coverage and a natural finish. I’d say these are also pretty good for a starting makeup artist kit if you’re not yet able to get into some of the makeup artist brands. Wear is great. Even with such a vast shade range, they could include more undertones. I didn’t see a ton with golden undertones (unless the first four numbered shades that I don’t have are golden) and it would have been great to have more options in golden undertones.

If you prefer a cream or need fuller coverage, these are likely a pass. I’d love to see the brand do a line of creamy concealers like the Bobbi Brown ones.

Price and where to buy: I got these for $1.99 each at one beauty supply store and then $2.99 each at another (note that sometimes products are priced higher at Black-owned beauty supply stores because of very stiff competition among suppliers) and then $4.99 each on the Nicka K website. More than likely you’ll find these at most beauty supply stores depending on the demographics of where you live. You can also Google around for online beauty supply stores (and make sure you also Google for store reviews) and also look on Amazon if you want to buy these online.