This $5 drugstore concealer is saving my face from the worst pimple of my life

One morning last week, I woke up with the worst pimple I have ever seen in my life—on my own face or anyone else’s. It’s smack in the middle of my right cheek, one of those deep, cystic suckers that’s the size of a silver dollar, swollen to all hell, and a shade of deep crimson that makes it look like it could burst open at any moment. Oh, and it hurts. A lot.

To say that I have tried everything over the last six days would be a serious understatement. From the lethal combo of benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and tea tree oil, to the far less traditional method of rubbing it with ice and a clove of garlic (thanks, Instagram followers), to even having a dermatologist inject it with cortisone, I can say with full confidence that I have exhausted every single method of pimple extraction that my knowledge as a beauty editor, the Internet, and my actual doctor has to offer. Without doing the devil’s work of popping it, that is.

Soooo all I can really do now is wait it out and hope that eventually it gets better (and if that doesn’t happen, it may be time for cortisone shot number two). While I’ve tried to embrace my latest facial accessory and let it breathe as much as possible, there have been a few instances—like on a night out, and going into a big meeting—where I’ve had to bite the bullet and cover this bad boy up with some concealer.

Enter E.L.F. 16 Hour Camo Concealer ($5), which has been truly saving my life (or, should I say, my confidence) while I’ve been dealing with this pimple. A single coat of the stuff covers the blemish seamlessly, which frankly is no easy feat considering it is bright red and inflamed AF. When I wore it out on a Saturday night, I was nervous about it sweating off or fading from my face, but after 5 straight hours (and multiple stressed-out mirror checks), I was shocked to discover that it hadn’t budged. And at only $5, that’s seriously the real deal. While it’s A+ for acne, I will admit that it’s not quite as miracle-working when it comes to filling other concealer-duties, like hiding under-eye circles. It can be a little drying, but with a zit of this caliber that’s frankly exactly what I need.

And though it isn’t exactly going to solve my situation, it has helped make it more bearable. And it looks a whole lot less swollen in my Instagram photos.

This is how Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist covers acne scars, and why—in “weird but true” news—your toothpaste may be causing your zits.