Beauty

This Magical New Concealer Erases Dark Circles, Adds Radiance, and Color-Corrects All in One

February 27, 2024

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5 minute read

Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market’s most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are truly worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, completely uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.

The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors’ honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we’ll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors quite literally can’t shut up about. This time around, I’m highlighting Caliray’s Hideaway Under Eye Color Corrector Concealer ($28).

(Image credit: @shawnasimonee)

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not usually one for concealer. Sometimes I like using it on my under-eye area if I’m doing a full face and as an eye shadow primer because it works really well for that purpose, but most days, I skip it. However, Caliray’s new under-eye color corrector and concealer might change my mind about using concealer daily. Its long-lasting, serum-like formula feels so light and hydrating on the skin that it honestly just feels like an extra layer of skincare. It’s breathable and gives you a subtle glow without being too sparkly.

Caliray

Hideaway Brightening + Hydrating Under Eye Color Corrector Concealer

If this sounds like your jam, you’re going to want to keep reading. I’ve used and loved many of Caliray’s products previously, including its mascara, lip gloss, primer, and delicious-smelling skin tint. So you can imagine my excitement when the brand dropped this new face product that’s designed to not only conceal but also color-correct to fully erase those pesky dark circles.

(Image credit: @shawnasimonee)

One of the first things I noticed about this concealer was that it was super easy to apply and blend. I’ve noticed that some matte concealers dry extremely fast, so you have to work quickly, but this formula has more of a creamy and buttery texture that melts into the skin and is easy to spread and work with. I don’t usually have too much of an issue with dark circles, so I’m probably not the best person to speak to that aspect of the formula, but I do think it conceals any blemishes nicely while still being totally breathable.

I know that radiant concealer formulas aren’t for everyone, but this one may be for you even if you aren’t into a shimmery finish. This doesn’t have any sparkle to it whatsoever; it just gives the skin a really subtle glow that makes you look like you’ve just spent an hour or two in the sun. You can thank the functionalized pearls in the formula for this because they’re specifically designed to add warmth and radiance without creating too much of a glitter effect.

I found that this also lasted all day without creasing or smudging. My under-eye area usually gets dry if I don’t spritz my face with Evian facial spray throughout the day, but I didn’t really need to do that with this concealer. I also recognize that there aren’t a ton of shades of this one, but they are flexible and fit a variety of skin tones. I got the shade Glowy Rays, and it matched my skin tone perfectly.

(Image credit: @shawnasimonee)

Like I mentioned above, this formula feels more like a skincare product than a makeup product. It’s packed with skin-loving ingredients like peptides and three types of hyaluronic acid to provide smooth, lightweight hydration. The color-correcting pigments in this formula also help neutralize redness and conceal the look of any aggressive dark circles you might be dealing with. My favorite ingredient of the bunch is the addition of functionalized creamy pearls. These particular pearls help add a touch of radiance to the formula without giving it too much of a shimmer. I’m not usually into setting powders, but I’d imagine using this formula might even eliminate the need for one since it blurs and corrects so well.

Caliray founder Wende Zomnir shared a few thoughts on the new concealer and why she wanted to create this formula. “I love the lifted, bright look that concealer gives under the eye, but I didn’t like how heavy it looked for everyday wear or that it creased and settled into my fine lines,” she shares. “I wanted to create a product that gave that same radiant look and disguised dark circles, but without actually seeing the makeup! I also wanted to make it hydrating and nourishing for the delicate skin under the eye. It needed to be easy, quick, and give instant results because who is not busy? Basically, the idea behind this product is if the color corrector, illuminator, and concealer had a three-way. And I wanted it to be undetectable on both no-makeup days and for full-glam moments.”

Zomnir dreams up makeup for people who don’t like to wear a lot of it. One of my favorite things about Caliray products is that they’re simple, easy to use, and designed to complement your natural features. This concealer is no different and, like I said above, feels like a second layer of skincare. Zomnir says, “The formula relies on color-correcting and illuminating pigments, so I call it ‘concealed concealer.’ We aren’t doing any heavy concealing—we are camouflaging—so the pigment load is light, plus the serum texture easily absorbs into the skin.”

As a bonus, Zomnir also shared a must-know hack for using Hideaway. “I love using two shades of Hideway for an extra-lifted look. I use a bit of Dawn (our palest pink shade) on the outer corner of my eye for an instant eye-lift! I also use it at the inner corner of my eye and on the tip of my nose to get a cute highlight effect without the frostiness of traditional highlighters. I’ve got a light olive complexion, and our lightest cool shade works for me. These shades are so blendable, and you can use this hack regardless of your skin tone. To find the Hideaway that works for you as a lifting shade, just pick one of the cooler shades (Dawn, Cool Sunrise, or Daybreak) that is lighter than your skin tone. It will blend invisibly but magically create a little lift.”