M.A.C. Waterweight Concealer Feels Like Nothing at All

Concealers are a complexion weapon that can easily be like the best wingman you've ever had or the back-stabbing frenemy character from one of those early-aughts teen films where for some reason it was a common trope to pit girls against one another for no other reason than to create arbitrary friction. I'm just saying — when the concealer is good, it's the wind beneath your wings, and when it's bad it is a personal attack.

But when concealer is birthed from a foundation parent, and that parent is actually a very good foundation, you can bet that apple won't fall far from the tree. M.A.C.'s Waterweight Foundation has been one of my favorites for toeing the line between a tinted moisturizer and a sheer buildable coverage foundation (plus that SPF 30!). Basically anything so sheer and flexible that you can't fuck up — that's the complexion makeup I want.

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So this baby Waterweight Concealer is essentially like the foundation but concentrated. It's just as watery (seriously, it's a very drippy liquid consistency) but with a pigment that's surprisingly dense, in terms of coverage. I was expecting a sheer veil when I plopped a dot on the back of my hand and dipped my finger in, tapping under my eyes, but what I got was an opaque fingerprint on my face! Cue frantic tapping and blending with my ring finger only to realize I had overdone it and my under-eye area looked rather pale.

OK, re-do.

I wiped off that application with a makeup wipe, remoisturized, and tried again — this time with a much lighter hand. Voila — there's the sheer-yet-buildable coverage I was looking for. I'm was impressed with how much coverage you can get out of this thing. I prefer things on the lighter side, but you can keep patting on to make it full-coverage if that's more your thing.

Hannah Choi/Allure

Yes, it's a liquid and liquids are wet, but this stuff dries down to what I'd call a... satin finish? Not quite dewy but not completely matte either. Also, to note, I'm wearing shade NC25, yet my shade in the Waterweight Foundation is NC30... so go figure. I'm told that not all M.A.C. complexion products necessarily conform to their shade system, and that could be for any number of reasons (finish, density, etc) including that I've had that foundation for several months and this is a new concealer. We all know how this stuff can oxidize, warping tone or shade after prolonged air and sunlight contact.

Anyway, I loved how it wore, keeping itself invisible-feeling and fairly stay-put — to wit, comfortable! You can probably think of them like the Spanx of concealers... just, you know, in terms of concealing, not constricting.

There are 16 shades, from NC15 to NW50, if you speak M.A.C. and these will be $23. You can find that at select M.A.C. stores, on maccosmetics.com and at ulta.com.

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