The general rule of thumb is that you should always opt for a shade lighter than foundation when choosing your concealer colour. Doing so helps to mask darker discolouration, but be careful not to over-correct! Knowing how to pick the right concealer is essential to ensuring that your look does not appear ghostly.
HOW TO PICK A CONCEALER SHADE. The rule of thumb for picking your concealer shade is based on your foundation shade. Beauty experts advise that everyone should have two shades of concealer in their arsenal, one lighter and one darker since daily sun exposure means your skin tone shifts slightly all the time.
"Always go a shade lighter than your foundation." The lighter tone will cancel out dark discoloration, but be careful not to go too fair. Concealers that are more than one shade lighter than your skin tone can leave you with a ghostly shadow.
To hide imperfections and blemishes, concealer should match your skin tone and undertone, seamlessly blending into the skin. To reduce the appearance of dark circles, though, apply a concealer that is 1 shade lighter than your skin tone.
So, do you use concealer before or after foundation? The proper way to apply the two products is to first smooth on a foundation and then apply your concealer. Foundation will create that even canvas we talked about earlier, and then concealer can be used to spot correct any outstanding areas that need extra coverage.
The general rule of thumb is that you should always opt for a shade lighter than foundation when choosing your concealer colour. Doing so helps to mask darker discolouration, but be careful not to over-correct! Knowing how to pick the right concealer is essential to ensuring that your look does not appear ghostly.
Concealer works just as well when you want some all over coverage. It whisks away the bad and leaves you with skin that's glowing, fresh and “un-made up”. And there's more than one way to wear it. Concealer is super-versatile, and can do everything from covering up blemishes to carving out killer cheekbones.
“You can't have a concealer that's too light,” she said, adding that women should choose concealer that's one to two shades lighter than the color of their foundation. “One to two shades … the right color blends itself. It makes a big difference."
Both foundation and concealer products are essential to your makeup routine if you want to achieve a flawless-looking finish. Some already have these products in their makeup bag but are still not satisfied with their makeup looks.
When it comes to choosing the best colour of concealer, you should look for one that is “the same shade as your skin tone to cover anything on the face, and then go one or two shades lighter on the under-eye area,” says Urichuk.
While concealer for the general areas of your face should match your skin tone, under-eye concealer should be one or two shades lighter than your natural coloring. Using a lighter concealer for your eye area helps cover up under-eye circles and creates a brightening effect.
Flip over your arm and take a look at the inside of your wrist. If your veins appear to have a blue or deep purple tint, you likely have cool skin undertones. If they look more greenish, you likely have warm or olive undertones. If you can't tell one way or the other, you may have neutral undertones.
When it comes to covering up blemishes, you should always apply your concealer over your foundation. If you start with concealer, there's a greater chance it will crease and the pimple will start to peek through. Apply the foundation as a base, then spot conceal and dab where needed for additional coverage.
Mix It With A Concealer
This trick to darken light foundation is probably a no-brainer. Blending the right shade of concealer with your face foundation can simply breathe new life into your existing one. Invest in a concealer that is a tone darker to your skin tone and mix it little by little with your foundation.
Don't rub the concealer into your skin; doing so could cause smearing or produce a cakey effect. Hack: Wait 5 minutes for your concealer to set before blending it with the rest of your makeup. This helps achieve smooth, even coverage.
Use concealer at the very end.
Just like you wait to apply concealer after your eyeshadow, you'll want to make it the last step when applying tinted moisturizer, too. According to Restrepo, this will help your concealer stay put.
As a general rule, apply concealer just before your eye makeup (eye shadow, mascara, etc.) and once your liquid foundation or BB cream has been well absorbed by your skin. Because concealer requires targeted applications, diluting it with your foundation will reduce its power.
If your foundations are too yellow on you, you need to add pink to make it cooler. Add a small amount of your foundation on the back of your hand.
If you're specifically looking to cover dark circles, you should instead choose color correctors in shades of red, pink, orange, or yellow, as these will help balance out the blue hue of under-eye circles.
To “bake your makeup” means to let your concealer sit on your face for 10 to 20 minutes before blending it, so that your own body heat enables the makeup to melt into your skin and cause it to change color and texture. This allows for the concealer to be blended more easily for a flawless coverage.
Unfortunately, it carries a couple downsides. There are clogged pores if you're not priming correctly underneath and the looming threat of it transferring to your clothes or worse—someone else's. Also, it can just feel heavy when using day after day.