What are facial concealers and how to use them?

A tool that hides dark circles, blemishes and freckles on your face and instantly makes it brighter and fresher is called a concealer. It comes in different textures and several shades depending on what you want to hide. The relief of the face and its color, and hence the whole make-up, depend on its correct choice.

Concealer is translated from English as "hide". This is a tonal tool that allows you to mask certain skin imperfections, such as:

1. Acne, inflammation, post-acne, allergic reactions.
2. Bruises and circles under the eyes, capillaries.
3. Age spots, moles and freckles.
4. Blackheads, pores and uneven tone.

Depending on the texture and consistency, concealers are divided into several types.

1. Liquid. Suitable for full coverage of the face, especially for the area around the eyes, as it creates a light refreshing glow. However, liquid concealer should not be too heavy, otherwise it can accentuate wrinkles and flaking. Suitable even for the eye area and dry skin.
2. Concealer stick suitable for hiding post-acne, freckles, age spots and scars. It is applied and blended more difficult than liquid, so it is applied pointwise and under foundation / powder. Suitable for problem skin.
3. Concealer pencil. In fact, the same as the stick. It also cannot be used for the skin around the eyes and thin sensitive skin.
4. Creamy. Typically used for contouring or sculpting as it blends very easily and looks natural. Often available in the form of palettes with different colors or in the form of a pencil with a sponge instead of a stylus.
5. Dry concealer, which is similar to contouring powder or blush.

Although concealers are most common in skin tones, there are also colored options. Using and picking them up is a little more difficult, you need to use the color scheme, but more on that later.

1. Green (mint) concealer hides redness, inflammation, allergies, post-acne, acne and all red spots. It can also hide the capillary network. It works by dispersing red pigment, creating a smoky effect and making redness less noticeable. However, the green color is very noticeable on healthy areas of the skin, so you need to shade it very carefully. Be sure to use foundation on top. Ideal for problem skin with acne. The most convenient option is to purchase a green-tinted powder concealer to even out reddened skin without excessive layering.
2. Yellow. Conceals purple and blue color spots such as circles under the eyes, bruises, veins. Perhaps it will help to hide the tattoo for a while.
3. Orange (apricot) performs a similar function - hides bruises and circles under the eyes. It is very important that the shade is not a bright carrot color, as this one is difficult to blend and does not suit every skin tone.
4. Blue is able to even out the tone if it has age spots, freckles, circles under the eyes of warm shades, and the skin in general has a yellowish undertone.
5. As for lilac, then it hides freckles, brown spots, also evens out the yellowish skin tone and acts specifically against yellow shades.
6. Pink removes the gray tone of the skin, so it is ideal for aging dull skin. In addition, it copes with masking greenish veins, bruises, circles under the eyes. However, pink should also be used with caution, since when it gets into blue areas (veins or blue bruises under the eyes), it gives a purple tint.
7. White serves as a highlighter and is used together with a dark brown that replaces a bronzer.

The concealer appeared on the market not so long ago, but many famous brands have already begun to produce such palettes of various shades.

Yes, at Catrice there is a palette of colored concealers "allround", which includes five colors - green, pink, light beige, beige and brown. With this set, you can even out skin tone, make a slight correction, hide redness, acne and circles under the eyes. A very versatile palette.

The company also presents "Liquid Camouflage - High Coverage Concealer" – liquid concealer ideal for bruising under the eyes, presented in two shades and cream "camouflage" in three fairly light colors. The price of each is about 300 rubles, and the palette costs about 400.

Mac is considered almost a pioneer in the field of concealers. This company has several palettes - cream "Mac Professional Color Concealer", consisting of three skin tones and having an additional large enough mirror in the set, and Mac Pro Studio Conceal and Correct Palette, ideal for contouring (has four skin tones, including a fairly dark and light, and a flesh with a pinkish undertone to mask bruises under the eyes). It costs about 2000 rubles, but the shades are well pigmented and last for a long time.

From single concealers, one can distinguish "Mineralize Concealer" for 1800 rubles, liquid "Select Cover Up" for 1500. Moisturizing concealer deserves special respect "Select Moisturecover" with SPF 35, "Studio Finish" with SPF 35 and "Studio Sculpt Concealer" designed specifically for sculpting, but also suitable for hiding bruises under the eyes. They cost about 1600 rubles, but justify their price.

Concealer from Max Factor "MasterTouch Under-Eye Concealer" costs about 400 rubles and will help you hide both dark circles under the eyes and skin imperfections. It comes in the form of a bottle with a sponge and in three shades with different undertones.

At Stellary in the assortment there is a creamy concealer that will suit even "snow whites" because of its light tone. It comes in several colors, looks like a pencil with a sponge, and costs only 400 rubles.

Popular "Perfect Look" by Divage. Produced in the format of the same pencil with a sponge, it is easy to blend and is suitable for masking bruises, as well as veins and slight redness.

Nyx - a fairly well-known company, and many people also know its concealers.The assortment of the company shines with variety, and it is here that you can find those shades that are not very common with other brands. For example, "Concealer Stick" is a green/blue/flesh concealer in stick form, "Above and Beyond Full Coverage» - cream and "HD Photogenic" - liquid concealers of all colors from the palette, equipped with a brush with a sponge for application, and the consistency is thick and dense. The cost of each is within 500 rubles.

Of the body concealers of this brand, you can select a palette "Conceal.Correct.Contour", already by the name of which you can understand that it is universal. Includes six tones, one of which is olive-white with a green undertone, which can also mask redness on fair skin, the other is pink for bruising, and the remaining four are beige shades, including dark brown for contouring. They have a matte finish, medium coverage, creamy texture, and high staying power.

Another interesting instance Pencil «Covered Concealer». Due to its texture, it can emphasize peeling, so it is not suitable for the skin around the eyes, but it can hide minor imperfections and moles. Contains castor oil, jojoba oil, carnauba and candelilla wax, vitamin E.

Maybelline - Another company that has taken a great interest in the production of concealers. They have an illuminating concealer pencil. "Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer", containing reflective particles. It is due to their view that it becomes the most fresh. It costs only 400 rubles, and is available in the format of a bottle with a brush.

In addition, the company has cream concealers "Dream Brightening" and "Better Skin". The latter is very popular, as it not only masks imperfections and bruises under the eyes well, but is also sold in a large enough format for a concealer - 11 ml. It is economical, budget-friendly (300 rubles), does its job perfectly, and if anything, you can resort to the foundation of the same name.

But "Dream Mousse" It has a thick creamy texture, which is why it looks like, really more like a mousse. It guarantees dense coverage without the effect of a mask, is invisible on the skin and evens out its tone.

"Instant Anti-Age Effect" Sold in the form of a bottle with a sponge. It does not clog into wrinkles and does not emphasize peeling, hides inflammation, pores and bruises under the eyes, and blends well.

Every girl should have at least two concealers in her makeup bag - a colored one to hide imperfections and a flesh one to even out the tone.

Colors are selected based on skin problems. Green - to mask red spots, pink to give the face a more lively look, orange and yellow - against circles under the eyes and bruises, and blue and lilac - against age spots and freckles.

Also pay attention to the type of concealer. Liquid is suitable for oily skin only in case of spot application and under foundation or powder, pencil and stick are universal, and creamy textures are ideal for dry and normal skin.

If you want to do facial contouring, you need to choose one light shade and one dark shade. Cream textures are best applied and shaded. Liquid ones are the most difficult to work with, and dry ones are not always persistent.

In order for concealers to give maximum results, they must be applied correctly. The first step is to prepare the skin. Use a facial scrub or peel, wash your face with your usual cleanser, apply toner and make-up base/primer/moisturizer/mattifying cream. Now get on with the concealers. Colors are applied before flesh.

This is a purely individual moment, but makeup artists recommend applying foundation just before concealer. This way you can see what flaws they did not overlap and deal with them, and then correct with a highlighter and bronzer. But shading the concealer in this case will be quite difficult, so this option is not recommended for beginners. Focus primarily on your own feelings.

Concealer of any texture, except for powder, is applied pointwise to problem areas. In the case of bruises under the eyes, you need to apply it in the form of an inverted triangle. You can use a brush for this, or you can use your fingers, applying with driving movements, but the layer must be thin. Remember that face makeup with concealer must be applied step by step: first moisturizer, then foundation, then concealer. The last two steps can be reversed.

As such, there are no instructions for applying concealer by zone.

As a rule, acne and post-acne are located on the cheeks and cheekbones, so a green tint is applied there.

Freckles and age spots can be located anywhere, from the cheeks to the neck.

Yellow and orange shades are applied under the eyes and on the temples, on the wings of the nose, in general, on the places where the veins are located.

White and light beige are applied to the tip of the nose, cheekbones, corner of the eyes, the hollow on the upper lip, and brown to the wings of the nose, chin, cheekbones and face contour.

It is best to use a synthetic flat rounded brush, but in the case of problematic skin, the concealer is driven in with fingertips. For blending, you can use a sponge egg or a beauty blender - this is a universal option.

Sculpting or contouring is a very popular technique in which concealers are often used.

The whole essence of the technique lies in the contrast of dark and flesh colors, due to which certain areas become narrower, while others become wide. A dark shade is applied to those places that need to be narrowed, and a light shade is applied to enlarge them. The method is similar to the phased application of highlighter and bronzer.

In order to narrow the face, you need to apply a dark brown shade on the cheekbones and shade it well. This method works on wide faces, round and rectangular.

But in order to make the contour of the face less round, the same tone is applied to the cheeks in the form of crescents almost like blush.

To expand a narrow face, a dark color is applied to the cheeks in the form of elongated ovals.

To visually get rid of the square jaw, you need to apply a thin layer of a dark shade on the transition of the cheekbones to the chin and their upper part.

Light shades are applied to places that need to either highlight or create a contrast with dark ones. This is the forehead, cheeks, the area under the eyebrows, the center of the chin.

You can use light and brown tones separately from each other. This will create a more natural and natural look.

In order to visually reduce the nose, you need to apply a dark skin tone on the wings of the nose.

A concealer stick or concealer stick is applied pointwise to the problem area and carefully shaded, stretched around the entire perimeter.

To smooth out skin tone or remove bruising under the eyes, you can use a body corrector. Unlike concealer, it is applied dotted and shaded with driving movements.

You can use the corrector from adolescence, when there is a need to hide youthful acne and circles under the eyes from lack of sleep.

concealer Catrice "Liquid Camouflage - High Coverage Concealer" has generally positive reviews and a rating of 4.3. It is creamy, applied with an applicator, but it is better to distribute or drive it in with your fingers or a brush. Suitable for use under the eyes, as it does not dry sensitive skin, it is applied to moles, pimples and minor imperfections.

Of the minuses - a small number of shades - only 010 and 020, the first of which is perfect for "snow whites". It is waterproof, will withstand a little rain and will last all day on the skin. You can't see it in the photo or in real life. The smell is perfumed, floral, quickly disappears. Due to its consistency, it does not fall into wrinkles and does not emphasize peeling, does not roll.

"Conceal.Correct.Contour" by Nyx Called almost the perfect concealer for contouring because of the wide variety of shades.It is universal, suitable for any skin type and tone, just because of the six skin tones presented. It is produced in three versions, among which there is something to choose for both a dark-skinned girl and a fair-skinned girl. Using the suggested colors, you can hide circles under the eyes, freckles, age spots, and also do contouring, as dark shades are perfect instead of a bronzer, and light shades are a highlighter. Please note that after removing the top layer of each shade, the color under it will turn out to be slightly less saturated, more natural. Easy to blend and apply. But based on the density, these concealers are not suitable for everyone for the skin around the eyes - they mask well, but can clog into folds, creating a visibility effect.

The packaging is worth special attention - it is a cute medium-sized book with a transparent cover, it may not fit in a cosmetic bag, but it will not take up much space near the mirror either. Her rating is 4.5.

Another concealer from Nyx - HD Photogenic”, which has a rating of 4.3. It is layered, so the coating can be both medium and high density, looks natural, does not clog into pores, wrinkles or peeling (if a moisturizer is applied under it), and also has caring and nourishing properties. The texture is creamy and is best applied with fingers, although the applicator itself is quite convenient. It may not last all day in its original form, but it will go unnoticed.

Of the huge advantages - a large palette of shades. There are about five skin tones to choose from - from the lightest, almost white to brown, orange, yellow, blue and green.Thus, with the right choice of product, you can hide not only bruises under the eyes, but also freckles, redness, acne and post-acne, age spots and capillaries / veins. It is very easy to make up with such a concealer, it is a little stewed and distributed.

Concealer from Maybelline Better Skin has a rating of 4.1. This is a long-lasting beige concealer designed for the area around the eyes and general tone alignment. Its texture is plastic, medium liquid, the coating is loose, which is why it is easily extinguished. Immediately minus - even the lightest shade of concealer is dark, and since the area under the eyes needs to be lightened, it will not work for snow-whites and girls without a tan. It can help to cover the veins, it will not hide the redness, for this you need a green concealer or foundation with a large coverage. It does not dry the skin under the eyes, and according to some girls, it even moisturizes it. Does not roll, does not get into wrinkles and peeling. Quietly can withstand half the working day.

How to use face concealer, see the following video