After six years, e.l.f. is finally launching a new concealer: the Soft Glam Satin Concealer, which is officially on sale today. In true e.l.f. fashion, it comes in at just $5 (cheers to a recession-friendly price tag) and offers an impressive 36-shade range. Designed to deliver a satin finish with medium coverage, it’s available wherever you shop for your beauty products, from Ulta and Amazon to your local drugstore.
Cosmo's beauty team got our hands on the Soft Glam Satin Concealer weeks before its official release. With access to nearly every makeup product on the market, we're not an easy group to impress. We also have a mix of different skin types and textures (acne, under-eye bags, you name it), so we really put the formula to the major test, amid the NYC freezing temps, might I add.
Ahead, our honest reviews of e.l.f.'s new Soft Glam Satin Concealer, according to seasoned beauty editors.
About the e.l.f Soft Glam Satin Concealer:
- Shades: 36
- Price: $5
- Finish: Natural
- Coverage: Medium
Our Reviews:
Lauren Balsamo, beauty director
The red marks around my chin and cheeks from old breakouts are the bane of my existence, so I’m always testing out new concealers to cover them up. The catch? I hate the feeling of heavy makeup, but because my skin is oily, lightweight formulas tend to disappear from my skin by midday, leaving me with few good options. e.l.f.’s new concealer is one of those good options though. It’s ultra-pigmented and long-wearing—just a few dots seamlessly cover discoloration and redness for all-day wear, but it’s still easily blendable, so there’s no cakiness or amplifying uneven texture on acne-prone skin.
While the formula did also fully cover my bluish dark circles, it was a tad too drying for my delicate under-eye skin, so I’ll stick to lighter options like YSL's Touche Eclat and Make’s Skin Mimetic Concealer for that. But as a fuller-coverage concealer for acne marks, breakouts, and discoloration? This is great—especially when it costs less than my morning latte.
Jasmine Hyman, assistant beauty editor
Considering my two biggest insecurities are my chin acne and purple under-eye circles, I take concealer very seriously. Plus, I have super dry skin, so I need a formula that’s hydrating, full coverage, and doesn't get cakey. I'm honestly not the biggest fan of e.l.f.'s wildly popular Camo Concealer since it was way too drying for me, so I was curious to try out this new one.
To my surprise, the e.l.f. Soft Glam Satin Concealer completely covered my under-eye bags without any color corrector or foundation. I wore it for weeks straight through my freezing and windy NYC commutes and long work days, and it still looked smooth by the time I got home 8+ hours later. While it did a solid job of masking my redness, it didn’t fully hide my chin acne, but layered with my favorite hydrating tinted moisturizer from Make Up For Ever, I got a really nice finish (as pictured above). At an unbeatable $5, I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for a buildable, versatile concealer, especially if you’re focused on under-eye coverage.
Beth Gillette, beauty editor
Concealer is my desert island product forever. I have acne, hyperpigmentation, under-eye bags, and (recently!) dark circles—and I'd much rather add a bunch of concealer dots all over 'em than cake on a heavy foundation. All of this made me a great but skeptical candidate to test this affordable concealer from e.l.f. I've used their concealers in the past, and they were okay, but not for my skin type and needs. But annoyingly, every concealer I love is around $40, so I was excited to try this affordable one.
Upon first swipe, this concealer is very pigmented. It's got a true medium coverage that definitely got rid of the darkness around my eyes and majorly brightened when I used a slightly lighter shade. It doesn't cling to any dryness, either—a huge feat for a product I wanna use around my eyes. On acne, it makes a spot look a bit less prominent, and is buildable to help mostly get rid of it. Covering up major redness, or worse, dark-purple acne scars, is hard and something even my expensive concealers don't always do well, so I don't entirely knock this formula for needing a little more oomph to truly make it all disappear. But it does so while blending in with practically every foundation I've tested it with—matte, dewy, and natural finishes in a range of coverage levels. A $5 e.l.f. concealer blending perfectly on top of my $70 foundation? Not on my bingo card.
Julee Wilson, beauty editor-at-large
This concealer gives me legit coverage, but somehow skips the dry, creasy under-eye nonsense entirely. It blurs, it smooths, and it plays really nicely with any foundation I use with it. No stubborn pilling or patchiness. And on my low-effort days I just tap it on solo, add mascara and gloss, and suddenly I look pulled together. It’s hydrating, skin-like, and wildly affordable. Consider me super impressed!
The Final Verdict:
A $5 concealer is pretty hard to come by, especially one that actually earns a spot in our makeup routine. But e.l.f.’s Soft Glam Satin Concealer covered our dark circles with ease, blended seamlessly into the skin, and layered nicely with every foundation and complexion product we tried. The finish delivers smooth and solid coverage, and while it didn’t fully hide all of our acne spots or hyperpigmentation on its own, it’s a seriously impressive formula for the price. With a little extra layering with foundation or a tinted moisturizer, it more than gets the job done.
Why Trust Cosmopolitan?
Jasmine Hyman is the assistant beauty editor at Cosmopolitan who covers all the biggest beauty launches. For this story, team Cosmo's seasoned beauty editors tried the e.l.f. Soft Glam Satin Concealer for several weeks ahead of the launch to give our full and honest review. We judged the formula based on coverage, shade range, staying power, and price.
Jasmine Hyman is the Assistant Beauty Editor at Cosmopolitan, where she writes about the latest beauty trends and must-have products. Her most prized beauty possessions are a meticulous skincare routine and salon blowouts. You’ll also likely find her in bed reading a good book or endlessly scrolling TikTok (spoiler: it’s usually the latter) while listening to Harry Styles’ entire discography on repeat. Follow her on Insta to be inundated with pictures of her meals.
