My cousin K recently asked: “What is the concealer secret? E.g. what is
the best color for your skin? Undereyes? Blemishes? Can I use the same for all
of these? What is that weird green s*&%? Is that for everyone?”
I know a lot of people have the same question- thanks for the asking cuz!
Skin
First off, a foundation should cover all of the pigment
imperfections you may naturally have in your skin: sun spots, age spots, birth marks or
pregnancy staining. If your foundation is not doing a good job at that and you
find that you need to conceal everywhere on your face (not including under eye
and blemishes) it may be in your best interest to invest in a more full
coverage foundation. Sometimes you find your spots still show
through and it's time to look into a concealer to work in conjunction
with foundation. This sort of concealer
should actually match your skin, and foundation, perfectly- most brands market foundation and concealer together so you shouldn't have a problem finding a match.
Application: For hyperpigmentation
areas- spot apply in the area of darkness then blend out with either your
fingers or whatever method you used to apply foundation. For blemishes- dab a
small amount of concealer onto a small
brush (lip brushes work great for spot concealing of blemishes!) and then dab
exactly where you have the blemish. Blend in with your finger by gently tapping. Make sure to cover all around the sides of
the blemish if it is raised!
Now I am going to point your attention to this sneaky little
tool
to use as a reference for the following topics:
Under Eyes
Concealer for under the eyes is one of the easiest ways to
completely change your look and immediately brighten your face. If you have severe dark circles under your
eyes, I recommend a corrector. This is a very pigmented type of concealer in
the shade ranges of pink or orange that can cancel out the color under your
eyes.
Application: I recommend applying corrector
in a very sheer layer with a synthetic dome shaped eye brush but only in the area where you have the actual darkness, not the whole under eye area.
Dark blue under the eyes? Go for the neutralizer on the left.
Sallow green under the eyes? Try the brightener on the right.
image from: musingsofamuse.com
The next layer should be the actual concealer you would use
for your skin. It is your personal
preference if you would like this concealer to be lighter or match your
skin. Going just a shade lighter can add
more brightness to your undereye area (check the Kim K pic below). It is extremely important that you
blend this in well! No obvious concealer allowed around these parts!!
Application: I usually tap a small
amount in with my ring finger under my
eye.
Now if you really want to get fancy with the under eye
concealer you can also use a brightening powder to help conceal under that
area. This is a completely additional
step, but since you need to set all of those cream products with a powder
anyways you can go the extra mile and set it with a brightening powder such as
this bad boy from Laura Mercier (I don’t recommend this if you’re going to be
photographed- the slight sparkles definitely show up in pictures):
Or this yellow toned Ben Nye Banana Powder coveted by Kim Kardashian (this is
an excellen option for people with more medium to dark skin):
Notice the triangle of brightness under Kim's eyes?? Achieve that with your own concealer by going a shade lighter than what you'd normally use and apply in a triangle going down the side of your nose and up to each side of your eye as below.
Green Concealer
As you’ll notice on the color wheel, green is opposite of
red. Green concealer is great for people
with redness in their cheeks. I’m not
talking about when you get mildly flushed when you’re hot, I’m talking about you get
flaming red when you’re warm. Big
difference. This is a condition that only some people experience and I would
not recommend green concealer for everyone; however, if you have an area on your face that is plagued with inflamed
blemishes, dab on some green concealer under foundation to help
cancel out the redness caused by inflammation.
Appication: This should be applied under foundation rubbed in with fingers (as you would a primer) to generally cancel
out redness in the skin.
*Important Tips*
-It is very important to make all the layers of products under the eye very sheer so you do not end up with a build up of product
that could crease.
-Under the eye, after application of all liquid products (but
before powder) gently roll a q-tip to collect any product that
may sit on the surface and cause creasing. Do not wipe!
-NO CONCEALER ON EYELIDS: that is
the quickest way to get creased eye shadow for sure!! (Veins or redness on
eyelids? Try a tinted eyeshadow primer instead such as Primer Potion in Sin by
Urban Decay).
-Don’t forget the makeup dogma:
Primer à
Liquidà
Powder (i.e. ALWAYS SET A LIQUID OR CREAM PRODUCT WITH A POWDER)
Concealer is the secret ingredient in every girl’s makeup
bag- I hope this post makes you more confident in concealer shopping!
I want to know:
What is your go to concealer? Have you experimented with correctors? What is your favorite way to apply
concealers?
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