Makeup Basics-How To Choose Right Concealer

Hi Everyone,

After a 101 article on How to choose right foundation, here is another 101 on choosing the right concealer. As you know base is what makes the makeup last long and intact so you must also know how to choose the right products to set a good base. You can always seek the help of over the counter sale assistant but to know if he/she is selling the right product you should at least have the basic knowledge of what you want and what will suit you.

To start with let me give you a brief introduction of concealer “In the literally sense – conceal is to hide something, in the makeup world we use this term to hide flaws, imperfection, redness, acne scars. Anything irregular on your face should be dealt with a concealer”

Foundation vs Concealer

Just as foundation is to even out the skin tone and to make a clean slate, the concealer is to make the slate even cleaner. Your foundation should match your skin tone but a concealer should be a shade or 2 lighter than your actual skin tone.

Usage of a concealer

Primarily there are two types of concealers – one for under eyes and one for scars/red spots. If you have multiple problem areas with huge variation in discoloration then you will likely need to use at least two concealers. The under eye concealer should be a shade or two lighter than your skin tone but the scar/spot concealer should be of the same shade as your skin tone. You want to hide the scars so you should go for a same shade (as skin tone) concealer, if you use a different shade concealer you may end up making the problem areas more prominent rather obscure. So, basically a concealer can be used to:

1) Cover up under the eye dark circles, blue/green veins.
2) Cover up pimples, acne scars, red spots, etc.
3) Cover up pigmentation around nose or mouth.

When to apply the concealer

Ideally you should apply the concealer after you are done with foundation. But this depends on where you’re using the concealer.

1) For under-eye circles, apply concealer first, then foundation.
2) For blemishes, red spots, pigmentation and pimple coverage, apply foundation first or the concealer will be rubbed away in the foundation application.

Choosing the right concealer

The basic properties that you should look for in a concealer are: smooth texture, long-wear finish and no creasing or settling in fine lines. Apart from this color play a great differentiator while choosing the concealer. Usually, yellow-based concealer flatters all skin types and if it does not fit well on your skin tone you will likely need a pink-based concealer. Orange concealers suit best on dark or black skin, they conceal the problem areas and simultaneously brighten them up.

As far as type is concerned, liquid concealer is the most useful concealer as it provides buildable coverage and works for all skin types. It is easy to apply, easy to blend and easy to mingle with foundation. You can apply it either with a flat brush or using ring or index finger. The key is to blend it well with the base, without leaving any harsh boundaries. If you need high coverage, you should likely go for cream concealer. These concealers have thick texture so they can easily build coverage. The key here is to blend it well, because if you do not do a good blending job ‘creamy concealer’ can give you a cakey look and may also settle in fine lines. Powder concealers are easy to apply but do not provide high coverage. They can definitely build coverage but not to an extent to cover huge discoloration. If not applied on moisturized skin, they can also settle in fine lines. They should ideally be applied locally on scars and not on under eye areas.

So, now you know how to choose the right concealer. If you need to know anything else please drop a comment in the comment section.

Image Courtesy: google

You may also like reading these related topics

Makeup Basics-How To Choose Right Foundation
Basic Makeup Brushes For Beginners