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We tried TikTok's viral white concealer hack to minimize our dark under-eye circles — it sort of works, but one of us won't use it again

Gabi Stevenson and Charise Frazier try the viral white concealer TikTok hack.
Insider's reporters Gabi Stevenson and Charise Frazier try the viral white concealer TikTok hack.Gabi Stevenson/Charise Frazier/Insider
  • One of this year's most viral beauty hacks involves putting white concealer under the eye.

  • TikTokers with varying skin tones have used the trick to minimize the appearance of dark circles.

  • Two Insider reporters tried white concealer to see how it would work on their different skin tones.

Using white concealer under the eyes has become one of the year's most viral beauty hacks on TikTok.

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According to Allure, Thiri, a New York-based creator, posted multiple videos using the technique to brighten the under-eye area in December 2021 after being inspired by a video from TikToker Halen Rodriguez. At the time of writing, Thiri's most popular white-concealer hack video (above) has 3.8 million views and over 630,000 likes.

TikTok users with varying skin tones have shared their takes on the hack on the platform, and the #whiteconcealer hashtag has 2.9 million views on the platform at the time of writing. While not everyone is a fan of the strong highlight the product adds or the extra layer of makeup on the delicate under-eye area, many have been surprised by how much they liked their final results.

Insider's Gabi Stevenson and Charise Frazier tested the white-concealer hack to see if it would minimize their dark under-eye circles on different skin tones.

Insider's reporters tried the viral white concealer beauty hack.
Insider's Gabi Stevenson (left) and Charise Frazier (right).Gabi Stevenson/Charise Frazier/Insider

Gabi has dark circles with a blue-purple hue, and she was nervous that the white concealer was only going to make them look gray.

She typically wears natural makeup, but if she's going out for a special occasion she color-corrects her dark circles with a peach-toned concealer before finishing her face. She was most curious to see if the white concealer would give her a better result.

Charise was excited to try the hack and always looks for ways to cover the dark eye circles she inherited.

That said, she was also a little nervous as the beauty industry doesn't always offer comparable solutions for women with darker skin tones. For this hack, she decided to go for a natural look with minimal makeup.

Gabi and Charise tried the L.A. Girl HD Pro Concealer in "Highlighter" — one of the most popular white concealers on TikTok.

Insider's reporters tried the viral white concealer beauty hack.
Gabi (left) and Charise (right) used one of the most popular products on TikTok.Gabi Stevenson/Charise Frazier/Insider

Gabi picked up the product from Ulta for $4.99, while Charise purchased it on Amazon for $8.70.

The concealer has a pearl-like finish, which differs from some of the other white concealer options on TikTok. L.A. Girl has another white corrector in the shade "Flat White" for $4.99, and E.L.F.'s Camo Concealer in "White" goes for $7 at Ulta.

It's worth noting that Charise and Gabi found it difficult to track down the concealer, which was out of stock at most beauty supply retailers where they lived.

Gabi blended her concealer with a damp beauty sponge from the brand Dose of Colors, while Charise used a beauty sponge from Kiss New York.

Gabi applied the concealer with its brush tip in strategic spots.

Gabi applying the white concealer to her under eyes
First, Gabi applied the concealer with the brush tip it came with.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

Gabi applied the concealer to the inner corner of her eye where her under-eye circles are the darkest, then on the outer corner where she wanted the brightness to give her eyes a lift.

Because the concealer had a sheen, she was happy that she could highlight her cheekbones at the same time she blended the concealer on the outer corner of her eye.

She tapped what was leftover of the concealer in the middle of her under-eye area, where her dark circles aren't so pronounced.

Charise also applied the concealer using the brush tip with small strokes.

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The concealer had a creamy, silky texture.Charise Frazier/Insider

Charise is a fan of L.A. Girl concealers so she was hoping that the lighter shade wouldn't backfire (or appear too bright) against her skin tone.

Charise applied the concealer near the corner of each eye before extending it to near the bridge of her nose. She also brushed it under each eye near the top of her cheekbones.

Even though Gabi has a light skin tone, she was nervous that the concealer would leave a cast under her makeup.

White concealer on Gabi
Gabi, pictured wearing the white concealer before she blended it into her skin.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

Gabi was worried that the white would leave a cast under her usual concealer or that it would cause creasing because of the extra product. She was also unsure how the shine would react with her powder when she finished her full face of makeup.

Charise tried to strategically place the concealer so that it would add a highlight to her under-eye area.

White concealer on Charise
Charise placed the white concealer in a U-shape under her eyes.Charise Frazier/Insider

Charise's dark circles are most pronounced in the middle of her under-eye area, so she wanted to make sure the concealer was spread across there as much as possible.

At this point, fear started setting in a bit as Charise was worried that blending the concealer would fail. She kept her makeup wipes handy in case she needed to start over, but continued on with the process.

Once Gabi blended the concealer, the bright white started to disappear — but the shine got stronger.

Gabi blending out her white concealer
Once Gabi started to blend, it became clear how much shiny the concealer was.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

The blending process didn't do much to quell Gabi's fears. The white color didn't make her under-eyes look brighter, but more gray-like than she predicted.

She pressed on, determined to finish her face before judging the concealer.

After a few strokes of blending, Charise was ready to wipe it all off and start over.

Charise begins to blend the concealer
This part of the process took longer than Charise expected.Charise Frazier/Insider

Charise began the blotting process and found that the white concealer was not blending well with her skin. There was a ghastly tint on the surface of her skin that she felt made her look like an extra on "The Walking Dead."

At this point, Charise was convinced that these types of hacks probably don't fare that well on people with darker complexions.

However, after blending each side for about two minutes, the ghastly tint seemed to subside and she could see the light. Literally.

Gabi was surprised that she could still see the white color after she finished blending.

Gabi surprised by how her white concealer looked under my eyes
The concealer definitely left a white cast, but it was mostly just shine.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

Before she started applying the rest of her makeup, Gabi stopped to look in the mirror and found the lustrous finish bounced light from the under-eye area, making it look less hollow. Still, Gabi felt a lot like a vampire in "Twilight."

Now that the concealer was fully blended, Charise ran into another issue.

Charise with the concealer fully blended
Charise was surprised to find that she had blended it to the point where the concealer was barely visible.Charise Frazier/Insider

After blending to her heart's content, Charise checked the mirror and found that she looked like she had not applied any concealer at all, so she added another small dab to try and accentuate her under-eye area.

She noticed that there was a bit of illumination which was probably caused by the bits of glitter mixed into the concealer.

Gabi's final look turned out better than she expected, but it took a little extra work to get there.

Gabi's final makeup look using the white concealer
The final look turned out better than Gabi expected, with a few flaws.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

Although Gabi was happy with the way her final results looked in natural light, her getting-ready process didn't go as smoothly as it normally does.

Applying translucent, loose powder on top of the concealer looked nice at first and took away some of the shine without making her under-eye area look darker. But when Gabi looked at her makeup in dim light, she noticed some dryness on the outer corner of her eye. The creasing in the small lines around her eye was also way more prominent than usual.

Charise's final look came out similarly to her everyday makeup routine.

Charise's completed makeup look.
Charise found that the concealer worked similarly to another L.A. Girl concealers in a darker shade.Charise Frazier/Insider

After filling in her eyebrows and applying a light shade of powder, mascara, and lip gloss, Charise was surprised to see that her final look wasn't too different from the result she gets from her usual concealer.

Being a fan of L.A. Girl, Charise regularly uses the shade "Pure Beige" under her eyes, which has a chestnut tint. She also often uses Makeup Forever's Ultra HD Self-Setting Concealer in shade 53, which is a the color of milk chocolate, for darker areas on her cheeks and upper lip.

The white concealer blended out well into her skin, but still left a slight tint that brought more attention to her dark circles, in her opinion.

Gabi would use this white concealer again, but she'd try to use it more sparingly.

Side-by-side of Insider reporter Gabi Stevenson's face before and after makeup
A side-by-side of Gabi's bare face next to her full makeup look.Gabi Stevenson/Insider

Gabi plans to keep this product in her makeup drawer for days when she's feeling extra tired or going out for an event.

In future, she would only use it in the inner corner of her eye and maybe even under her brow bone and on top of her cheekbones to give her a little extra glimmer.

Charise was pleased with the final result, but the white concealer hack definitely won't be a go-to.

Charise's bare makeup face next to full makeup face
A side-by-side of Charise's bare face next to her full makeup look.Charise Frazier/Insider

In the end, Charise was pleased with the result, however, the white-concealer hack isn't one she'll be adding to her daily beauty routine.

Read the original article on Insider