How to Buy Concealer

You might be surprised to learn just how many different types of concealer you can purchase. Concealer, when properly applied, can brighten your eyes (by concealing undereye circles), and give you a real confidence boost. Before you buy concealer for the first time (or buy concealer again), you may want to consider some or all of the following tips.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. One popular type of undereye concealer is a solid concealer “stick” which you apply directly beneath the eyes (or on any blemishes that you would like to conceal). By the way, if you use concealer to cover blemishes in addition to using it to cover undereye circles, just be sure that it is hypoallergenic and non-acnegenic, because you don’t want to use a product that will clog pores. (Note also that some people feel that stick concealers provide greater coverage than liquid or cream concealers.)

2. You can also buy concealer (such as MAC Studio Finish concealer) that is creamy in consistency, comes in a jar, and that you apply with your fingertips or with a special makeup brush that is specifically intended for applying concealer.

3. Still other people prefer to buy undereye concealer that is liquid (rather than solid or cream) and that is applied with a wand. Liquid concealer is closer in consistency to liquid foundation. Whether you buy concealer that is solid or liquid or cream is simply a matter of personal preference. You may want to buy one of each.

4. Most concealers come in various flesh tones. However, it’s worth noting that concealer is also available in a light green shade. (Some people with acne or rosacea or very red cheeks like to use green concealer in order to conceal or counteract the redness.)

5. You can also buy undereye concealer in a yellow shade (as opposed to a flesh tone), or with yellow undertones, because yellow covers the purplish hue of some under eye circles.

6. Of course, you can certainly buy concealer at department stores, where it is typically on the expensive side, or you can buy concealer from the cosmetics aisle of your local pharmacy. The fact is that many of the less expensive brands of undereye concealer (Cover Girl, L’Oreal, Revlon, Almay, Neutrogena, etc.) that are typically sold in pharmacies (like CVS) and discount stores (like Target) are often just as effective at concealing as the more expensive brands of concealer available at the makeup counters of department stores. So if you are interested in saving money, consider buying your concealer from pharmacies or discount stores instead of department stores.

7. Before you buy a particular type, shade, and/or brand of concealer you will probably want to test it out to make sure that it looks good on you, matches your skin tone nicely, is a pleasant consistency, and is not too light or too dark for your complexion. (For this reason, you may not want to buy a particular type of concealer online until after you have already tried it at least once, and you know that it is the right shade and consistency for you.)

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t wear too much undereye concealer or it can look obvious and/or caked on. A little concealer blended properly typically goes a long way. After all, you don’t want people to be aware that you are wearing any concealer at all. Like the name “concealer” implies, you want it to conceal or hide, not announce itself to the world. You will want to rub your concealer thoroughly into the skin so that it blends in well with the rest of your makeup. However, don’t rub too hard when rubbing the delicate skin beneath your eyes, because you don’t want to damage your skin.