6 Little Known Tips For Applying Flawless Concealer

What would we do without concealer? There are a lot of things that can help you achieve an even skin tone, from a proper skincare routine to great makeup brushes. But you can’t underestimate the power of a great concealer.

Concealer is one of the trickiest things to apply on your face. If not done correctly, you can easily make rookie mistakes. So, just to make sure you will look as good with concealer as without, here are 6 things you might not know about using concealer, that you could be doing wrong!

#1 Use more than one shade

A lot of us just grab a generic light shade and whack it on wherever we think we need it, shadows and spots beware! But, when applying concealer, always keep in mind to use different shades on different parts of your face.

The concealer you use under you eyes should always be a shade lighter than the shade you use for you skin tone to even it out and work with the darkness under your eyes. Just use one shade lighter and never go too light. You don’t want the concealer to be too obvious. For blemishes, choose a concealer that has the same pigment as your skin tone so they’ll simply disappear.

#2 Prepare your skin

Prepping your skin before applying concealer is very important, but not many people do it. Of course, we know the importance of preparing our skin before we apply makeup, but hands up who actually does it? Always use a good moisturizer first. I personally love this one from MAC, which feels great on your skin and forms the perfect base.

If you don’t prep your skin and you have some dry areas or fine lines, chances are that concealer is going to make your dry areas look worse or sit in between those lines and not blend fully.

#3 Use more than one type of concealer

Okay so you might need different shades (see above) but you also need different consistencies. Liquid concealers like this luxurious one from Delilah, are always better for under eyes and on shadows, but matte concealers and solid concealers (in pots) work wonders for the rest of your face like this one from Benefit. Solid concealers are more likely to stick to dry areas and create creases where you don’t want them! If you’ve been noticing your concealer creasing, you might be using the wrong type.

#4 Blend

I love to blend face products, it feels more effective in a way, you can use a brush or a beauty blender to mix your concealer with your foundation. And, if you don’t want to combine prepping your skin with applying concealer, just add a little bit of moisturizer to your concealer dot and mix it together.

#5 Pad and dot

Don’t smear or spread it around on your face, but always pad and dot. Pad the concealer around the area needed. If you smear it, you will only remove the product and when you pad and dot you will exactly cover the specific area.

#6 Make it stay

Of course, you want to make your concealer last all day, one of the biggest problems is concealer that ‘clings’ to areas or just disappears throughout the day. Use a finely milled powder to make it stay all day. Bobbi Brown has an amazing one which I would highly recommend. It doesn’t give you that dull powder look, but finishes it off really naturally, a look which we all love.

Photography: Regine Manoy for CGD