Makeup By Mario Finally Launched Concealer, Here’s What We Think

May 11, 2024

By Talia Gutierrez

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In a room filled with beauty editors, you could hear a pin drop as celebrity makeup artist and brand founder Mario Dedivanovic shared application methods for his newest launch, the Makeup By Mario SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer. As someone who prefers a blemish touch-up with concealer rather than applying an entire base of foundation on a typical day, I couldn’t be more ecstatic hearing the news that the king of base was dropping a range of 22 concealer shades, in his Best of Beauty-winning makeup line.

What makes this launch stand out from the array of celebrity beauty brands cranking out products left and right these days, is Dedivanovic’s intention and involvement not only with the formulation but also with us, the editors. After sharing tips, like waiting 10 seconds or so before blending in the concealer with either your finger pad or his corresponding F5 concealer brush (which we’ll get into later), Dedivanovic sat in the middle of a table full of industry colleagues and myself answering every last one of our questions — with a smile on his face. The rapid-fire questions began with the formulation process, why he thought to create a self-setting product, and his decision not to synchronize the concealer’s shade numbers with his SurrealSkin Foundation.

Lucky enough to receive all 22 shades after the event, I swirled the clear cosmetic bag around, looking for my perfect summertime shade match and an additional shade for a bright undereye. As mentioned, Dedivanovic made the decision to not match foundation and concealer shades up, knowing many people tend to use a lighter concealer shade to brighten and lift. To my surprise, I drew a perfect shade match on my first try, using shade 340 to conceal my dark spots and redness along my laugh lines. For brightening, I used shade 220 to give my undereyes a lifting effect.

Speaking of lifting, "awakening" isn't in the product name for nothing. As part of Makeup By Mario’s Lift & Lock Technology, Dedivanovic infused his SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer with caffeine to promote blood circulation and temporarily tighten and de-puff the skin. Additionally, cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos points to the concealer’s inclusion of skincare ingredients like saccharide isomerate, which can aid in a smoother complexion. “It is a high molecular weight, sugar-based biopolymer that is claimed to support collagen and elastin production,” she shares.

On the second end, “lock” is named after the formula's self-setting properties and is the most anticipated trait if you ask me, claiming this concealer is not only long-wearing but also crease-proof. To create a formula that is budge-proof, the concealer is formulated with trimethylsiloxysilicate, which Dobos explains as a “film-former that creates a comfortable but durable film that’s wash-off and transfer resistance so the pigments don’t budge.”

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Now onto the application. The first thing I noticed after unscrewing the concealer’s cap was how skinny and thin the slanted doe-foot at the end of the wand was. It’s something I appreciated since it meant less of an overflow of product on the applicator, allowing for precision when spot-concealing and highlighting. The formula is also made with squalene and vitamin E, two key ingredients that make for an easy glide when swiping the concealer across my skin. Right away, I noticed medium coverage on top of my cystic acne marks, as I let the thin layer of product warm up on my skin.

I always set my under eyes and forehead with a loose setting powder, my current favorite being One/Size Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder, to minimize the shine. So it honestly took everything in my power to forego setting the left side of my face, to see what this concealer really could do. I had to give the people what they wanted, right?

After finishing my makeup, I compared both undereyes up close and personal. The only immediate difference I saw was a slight sheen that my left undereye gave off. Later that same day, I touched up my blush, added a wing, and admired my concealer before heading out to dinner. I’ll let the photo below do the talking here.

My normal skin type did dry out a bit with the undereye that I applied loose settle powder with my beauty blender with. While it was subtle, I took it as a sign to forego the additional step in my makeup routine. Sharing my experience with Dobos, she wasn’t surprised all all, reminding me that the self-setting formula is doing it (setting the makeup), and doing it well.

Makeup By Mario SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer is available right now for $29, along with its corresponding F5 Concealer Brush for $24 on sephora.com. Snag your shade before it’s sold out — you know it’s going to.

Still debating? Watch my first-impression Instagram reel applying the SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer.

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