It's been four years since the launch of The Ordinary's incredibly successful Serum Foundation [1], and multiple sell-outs and a whole lot of hype later, the brand is back hoping to make the same mark in the industry with another complexion product: The Ordinary Concealer.

The disruptive beauty brand, owned by Deciem, is known for its high-performance skin care at an extremely affordable price tag, and it aims to do the same when it comes to makeup. The Ordinary Concealer claims to have a "high-spreadability pigment suspension system with very high coverage and a real skin finish", which essentially means it is full coverage, easy to use and spread (many thick, full-coverage concealers are difficult to spread), contains enough pigment to counteract dark circles and blemishes, and does all of this without looking cake-y or heavy. So, does it live up to its claims? See what three POPSUGAR editors thought about the formula, shade range, and packaging, ahead.

The Ordinary Concealer Formula

As mentioned above, the formula is thick since it's full coverage.The finish is matte but it definitely has a skin-like effect and doesn't look cake-y (provided you've got a correct shade match, that is). It promises not to settle into fine lines, however, since the formula is both full coverage and matte, there's no avoiding the fact that it's going to crease at some point. Having said that, it creases far less than most medium-to-high coverage concealers I've tried (plus, I found that it didn't crease more as the day went on). It sets immediately after application and stays put without needing a setting powder over the top.

For me, the concealer was a little too dry to be used under my eyes. I get a lot of redness and irritation around my eyes, (which is exactly what I want to cover), but it means that I have a few requirements when looking for a concealer: It has to be dewy, lightweight, and non-irritating. For this reason, I tend to use both a colour corrector and an extremely thin concealer over the top. I did, however have great success by mixing The Ordinary's Concealer with a bit of moisturiser before applying it, as it added enough hydration to counteract the dryness.

Although the concealer wasn't a total winner for my under eyes, it worked an absolute treat for blemishes when I dabbed it on using my By Joy Adenuga multi-tasking complexion brush [2]. All in all, I think the concealer absolutely achieved what it set out to do. The high-coverage formula is buildable and blendable, all for under £5 (which is no easy feat I might add). Unfortunately, it just wasn't quite right for me and my dry, rosacea-prone skin.

"It did a great job at masking some of the redness of my tiny hormonal breakouts on my forehead without looking cake-y, and helped to even out my skin tone where some acne scars are fading on my jawline," said POPSUGAR assistant editor Kara Kia. POPSUGAR assistant editor Navi Ahluwalia echoed this when it comes to consistency; she liked that the formula wasn't too thick but enough so that it gave good coverage.

The Ordinary Concealer Shades

The Concealer is launching with 36 shades, 21 of which are paired with the existing foundation shades. The concealer shades were formulated to be slightly lighter than the foundation, "as market research showed this is what consumers wanted when choosing concealers, especially under the eye area," the brand said.

The good news is that the shade range has been extended beyond the ones available with the Serum Foundation. That being said, it can be confusing to find the right one for you, especially without shops open to go and test the shades in person. The Ordinary has tried to make it as easy as possible, however. The shades are divided into four categories: 1 (for light tones), 2 (for medium tones), 3 (for dark tones), and 4 (for deep dark tones). Each of these four categories is then classified with a second digit from 0 to 4 to indicate depth within each category. Finally, a letter is added at the end of each shade number to indicate the shade undertone: P (pink) and R (red), N (neutral), and Y (yellow).

"The shades are surprisingly good for my skin tone," said Kia. "I'm very used to being in between shades with a medium skin tone that has very prominent golden and yellow undertones. I used shade 2.1Y and 3.0Y which I found blended really nicely and will suit my skin as it transitions between lighter and darker tones in the winter and summer months. In the photos, I mixed the two shades slightly — using the darker shade on my forehead, and the lighter shade on jawline," she added.

You're probably wondering how the shades match up in real life, which you can check out on all three editors, ahead.

The Ordinary Concealer Packaging

The Ordinary Concealer comes packaged in a tube (the size of a small lip gloss) with a thin nozzle applicator that allows for easy and precise application. The pigment can be squeezed directly onto the area you want to conceal, or onto the back of your hand to then apply with a brush or blending sponge (you might struggle with application using your fingers because of its thick formula). I personally love the nozzle as it help to reduce wasting unnecessary product. Plus, it's more hygienic than a doefoot applicator and it doesn't get all messy as a tube and doefoot applicator can.

Whilst Kara agreed that the small tube was a great size to fit inside a makeup bag. Navi, on the other hand, wasn't sold. "I think an applicator would've been nicer than a tube with a nozzle," she said.

The Ordinary Concealer Let Downs

If you're a fan of full-coverage concealer, then you'll likely be mightily impressed with this concealer. However, if you're not sure what kind of concealer formula you like, then you should consider your skin type before diving into ordering The Ordinary's concealer to get the best results. If your skin is on the dryer side skin, or you have mature skin, you may want to wait until you can test out a sample in store, whenever it's safe to do so.

Although the shade chart has been organised to make it as easy as possible for customers to find their correct shade, I have to admit that I did find it a bit overwhelming. I can imagine that if I wasn't a huge beauty enthusiast, I might be put off by the shade chart without the ease of going into a store and asking for help.

The Ordinary Concealer Overall Editor Thoughts

Overall, The Ordinary Concealer was successful in what it set out to provide beauty enthusiasts: an affordable, high-performance, full coverage concealer that's super easy to use and available in a lot of shades. It divided POPSUGAR editors on packaging, which is all down to personal preference, but apart from that we all felt unanimously that it lived up to its claims and our expectations.

Kara Wearing The Ordinary Concealer Shades 2.1Y and 3.0Y

Navi Wearing The Ordinary Concealer Shade 2.1Y

Tori Wearing The Ordinary Concealer Shade 1.1P

The Ordinary Concealer [3] (£5)