Robert Welsh has worked through more than 20 concealers on his channel, and his record tells a clear story. Most of them earned his approval, a couple landed in the middle, and a handful he skipped. His verdict on the Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection Concealer stands out as a category favourite he keeps coming back to.
What does Robert Welsh recommend in concealer?
What Robert consistently praises is blendability. A concealer that melts in without effort sits high on his list. He singles out the Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer for exactly that, saying it 'blended so well' and 'just melted in.' He gives the Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Gel Concealer similarly high marks, calling it a '100% keep' and noting how well it sits on textured skin. Full coverage without the cakey look matters to him too. He describes the Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection Concealer as one of his absolute favourites for that reason, and adds that the price is fair for what it delivers. Budget options are not automatically out either. He found the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer gave him more coverage and a better glow than the higher-end option he compared it to, saying 'drugstore's winning by a long shot.'
In his words
"It sits really nicely on top of texture on my face, especially around my nose. On my skin it's beautiful and [...] really, really nice. It's [...] very very easy to blend, and it just has this really beautiful finish. It claims to be 12-hour wearing, [...] but to be honest with you, I think I can kind of see it lasting longer. It's not overly creamy and not overly liquidy. [...] This is a 100% keep, and I might even get a shade a few shades darker for my actual face as well."
"This is the Hourglass concealer, I love this concealer. It's so creamy and beautiful and it has just stayed a staple in my makeup routine. [...] The other thing I love about this concealer is that it blends so well. You can actually just see how it's kind of just melted in."
"The concealer is one of my absolute favorite concealers for when I want something full coverage that I know is going to look, not cakey on the skin in any way, but still give me that really, really good coverage. A little bit goes a long way. I probably had that concealer a year. It really is one of my go to products. I do think the price for the quality of product is fair. It's definitely a higher end brand, and the quality performs really, really well."
"Lancôme does some beautiful products. Their concealer, serum concealer, beautiful."
"I use some of the YSL Touche Éclat. I'm doing all the classic brands today just because I don't want to put concealer on top of a powder just because I don't want that texture."
"I'm getting more coverage from the Maybelline one. It [...] looks really, really nice. [...] It has a kind of glow to it when I move my head, whereas the other side is not majorly different, to be honest with you. But if I wanted something that was gonna give me more of a glow, [...] this is what I would expect. So far, drugstore's winning by a long shot actually."
How many concealers has Robert Welsh reviewed?
Robert Welsh has reviewed 21 concealers, for an approval rate of 67%. 14 approved, 2 mixed, and 5 skipped.
What has Robert Welsh skipped in concealer?
The concealers Robert skipped mostly had one thing in common: something in the formula or shade range that made them harder to work with than they should be. The Westman Atelier Vital Skincare Brightening Concealer dried down too fast under the eyes, leaving him struggling to blend a product that had already set. That kind of formula, he explained, ends up looking textured and cakey rather than seamless. The Yummy Skin Lift and Flex Concealer for Eyes and Face had a similar problem from a different angle. It felt dry straight away, and fixing that would mean layering on extra moisture underneath, which then risks making the concealer slip. He skipped the About Face Illusionist Skin Focused Concealers for a different reason entirely. The shade range looked inclusive at first glance, but something was off with the actual shades and they just were not quite right across the range. The Too Faced Born This Way Concealer he found ran too light, which he said causes ashiness and greyness rather than brightening.
"It's too light. Because you put something too light on top of something too dark, it's going to turn gray. So now we have a grayness around the eye and the grayness around the lip. What I would do in this situation is use the color corrector also, but just get a concealer that is your skin tone or even a tiny bit of foundation. And then that lightening concealer. Tap a tiny bit here and a tiny bit here. Not over the whole face because you're going to get ashy."
"I'm not impressed with the shade range. There needs to be lighter, and we do need some darker ones here. [...] Something's off with the shade range. These five shades, I'm gonna group them together. Something's off. I can't quite put my finger on it, but [...] these aren't correct. I don't know how else to describe it. [...] From first glance it looks inclusive to everyone, but as I'm looking through the shades and thinking about people and humans, this doesn't, this isn't quite right."
"When it comes to using it under the eyes, it feels like it's set already. There's no playtime. You can see my fingernails going red where I'm really pushing down to get that formula to blend. That's not what I want to be doing under my eyes. I don't want to be pushing and trying to move this product around. And I also don't want it to just sit on top of my under eyes looking textured and cakey and claggy. It almost dries down instantly."
"But if I was going to make this work I would have to use even more hydration under my eyes than what I would usually use. But if I was to use any more hydration the concealer isn't going to sit very well. You need to hydrate under your eyes to make sure you don't get creases, [...] there's enough moisture there to hold onto the product, but not too much that the product starts to slip around. But it just immediately feels dry."
What should you take from Robert Welsh's picks?
Robert Welsh's record on concealers is genuinely useful for anyone trying to narrow down a shortlist. He values easy blending, a finish that looks like skin rather than product, and shade ranges that actually hold up. Anyone after a full-coverage option he trusts at the higher end has a clear starting point in his reviews. His willingness to call out drugstore options as strong contenders means the list is worth reading at every price point.
Watch Robert Welsh say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Pat McGrath Labs Sublime Perfection ConcealerNamed a winnerWatch at 4:09
- Too Faced Born This Way ConcealerSkipped itWatch at 18:13
- About Face Illusionist Skin Focused ConcealersSkipped itWatch at 19:47
- Westman Atelier Vital Skincare Brightening ConcealerSkipped itWatch at 4:54
- Yummy Skin Lift and Flex Concealer for Eyes and FaceSkipped itWatch at 9:59
- NARS Radiant Creamy ConcealerSkipped itWatch at 5:18
- Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Gel ConcealerRated itWatch at 11:03
- Hourglass Vanish Airbrush ConcealerRated itWatch at 5:12
- Lancôme Teint Idôle Ultra Wear All Over ConcealerRated itWatch at 3:51
- YSL Touche Éclat ConcealerRated itWatch at 16:23
- Maybelline Fit Me ConcealerRated itWatch at 6:59
- Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk ConcealerRated itWatch at 6:37
- Lisa Eldridge Pinpoint Concealer Micro Correcting PencilRated itWatch at 19:35
- IT Cosmetics Do It All Radiant ConcealerRated itWatch at 4:22
- Huda Beauty Faux Filter Color CorrectorRated itWatch at 3:05
- NYX Bare With Me Concealer SerumRated itWatch at 12:07
- Rare Beauty Concealer in 100WRated itWatch at 13:21
- Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment ConcealerRated itWatch at 2:43
- Tarte Shape Tape ConcealerRated itWatch at 14:11
About this expert
See everything Robert Welsh has reviewed
Expert rankings
Related guides
This guide reflects what Robert Welsh said across his videos about 21 products in concealer, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products he approved. It is general information, not medical advice.