Sunday 28 October 2012

Beauty Beginner series: What is Concealer?

This week, I thought I'd look at the question 'what is concealer?' We touched on this slightly in the 'what is foundation?' post, but I thought I would go into a bit more detail.


Concealer is more concentrated form of foundation. It has a lot more coverage than your typical foundation, and is used to cover any blemishes, dark circles, hyperpigmentation or any else you may want covering (although, if you have serious skin problems, such as birthmarks, scars and vitiligo, a heavy camouflage makeup may be required). The difference between foundation and concealer is, foundation is mainly used all over the face and neck, to create a even skin tone, whereas concealer is used only on small areas where extra coverage is needed (e.g acne and dark circles).

Although a lot of people do use it with foundation, concealer can be worn by itself if that is all that is needed.

Generally, concealers do not come in as great a colour range as foundation, usually having only 3-4 shades (light to darkest). It is best that you choose the shade that is 1-2 shades lighter than your skin tone, but don't go too light, as you'll look like a raccoon! The general rule for choosing colours, is to pick a yellow based concealer, as this will counteract any dark marks, and redness.

Just like foundations, concealers come in 3 main forms. The most well known is the liquid concealer and the stick concealer.

  • A stick concealer looks very similar to a lipstick. This type of concealer is good for covering scars and blemishes, but they tend not to blend very well. This is not recommended for under the eye and sensitive skin, due to the blending restrictions.
  • A liquid foundation is good for covering large areas of the skin. It works well for covering acne, dark circles and blemishes. They cover well, but not as well as a stick concealer, but blend a lot easier.
  • The last form of concealer is a powder concealer. This is probably the easiest to blend, using a brush, but offers the least amount of coverage. This is best used for small blemishes and under eye circles.


Another way of using concealer is using colour corrective concealer. This takes the idea of a colour wheel, using opposite colours to counteract any skin problems. For example, if have any redness in your skin, you would use a green colour corrector, to neutralise the redness, making it less noticeable.

A basic guideline to follow is:

  • Beige - this will conceal flaws and shadows, while also brightening the under eye area
  • Green - neutralises any redness caused by acne, rosacea, or just red skin tones. If you have a significant problem with this, it may be worth investing in a green based primer, that is designed to go all over the face, rather than pinpoint application
  • Yellow - conceals bluish bruises, under eye circles and dark spots
  • Purple - neutralises yellow coloured imperfections such as sallow complexions and yellow bruises. It can also help to conceal very dark under eye circles on darker skin tones.


When applying colour corrector, you should first apply the colour corrector that you need where you need it, and then apply a concealer the same shade as your skin over the top of it. You should then apply your foundation as normal.

I hope that this helps, and has answered some questions you might have had. Feel free to leave me a question you have that you want me to answer at beautybeginner13@gmail.com


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