If You Know Who Milli Vanilli Are, Stop Doing Your Concealer Like a Youtuber
by Audie Metcalf
There are some universal truths.
One of which is that our skin, post 40, just isn’t what it was when we were 25. Because life isn’t fair.
But at 25, most of us were flailing around dating douchebags named Xavier, so we take the good with the bad.
So, we all know that the skin around our eyes is the thinnest on our face. Of course we know this. This means this skin gets wrinkled, shows more veins, shows more signs of general wear and tear from life, more than other areas on our face. I feel like there’s this great makeup conspiracy that if you just throw enough light colored makeup on this area, it will erase, it will cover, it will turn back time.
But in fact, it can do the opposite on aging skin.
Here’s a few “rules” to commit to memory. And yes. Of course ignore all rules if you have zero issues with your concealer and feel you have mastered it but then also why are you reading this article?
Do not: Spread a thick concealer under your eyes, and whatever you do don’t extend it beyond your eyes to your temples, if what you’re trying to erase are lines and wrinkles. This process will only ever exacerbate wrinkles.
Do This: Figure out the goal of why you’re using concealer. Look at your face and really investigate if you need it. Once you’ve applied your foundation or cc cream or tinted moisturizer, don’t just pile on concealer because you’re “supposed” to. If you still see darkness under your eye, darkness in the corner of your eye, redness and veins, these are concealer-to-the-rescue kinds of issues.
How To: Find a brightening but not cakey concealer, and first try dabbing it in the corner of your eye (and use THESE in that area first, for maximum smoothness), where your tear duct meets your nose. Blend by tapping the color in until melted. Then step back and see if that’s all the brightening you need.
If you still feel like you look as though you haven’t slept since the Reagan administration, try ONE dab, and I mean one, on the outside of the eye and blend by patting. Sometimes this area is just ruddy and discolored and needs just a hint of brightness. Because you’re not smearing it everywhere, you don’t risk it sinking into lines and wrinkles and making you look like the crypt keeper by 3pm.
Here’s handful of the best concealers we’ve ever tried for 40+ skin. They won’t crack, they won’t cake.
1. Rms “Un” Cover-up Concealer
This concealer is both buildable yet sheer. It is opaque yet dewy. It contains soothing coconut and jojoba oils that make it pliable, and never, ever cakey. Our oily-skinned comrades will want to lightly set it using our favorite powder on earth.
Dab a dot under your eyes, near your tear ducts, and on the outer corner of your eye, and blend out with more tap tap tapping, et voila. Bright. Blended. Not makeupy.
Find out more about why we love it here.
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2. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish Color Corrector
Dabbing on a bit of color corrector, not concealer, can sometimes be the best answer to covering up the dark bits near your tear ducts.
3. YSL Touch Eclat High Cover Radiant Concealer
If you suffer from dark undereye circles, a sheer, serumy formula like this might be the answer to your prayers.
4. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer
Easily buildable to cover dark spots or blemishes, but sheer and light enough to wear under the eye without the aforementioned horrors above. There’s a reason it has over 43,000 reviews aggregated on google, most of them glowing.
Find out more about why we love it here.
5. By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Concealer
Two words: hyaluronic acid. Aka, this one HYDRATES while it conceals. Bless.
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6. Kosas Revealer Super Creamy + Brightening Concealer
Sheer, dewy, but with magically intense coverage. A witches brew? Perhaps.
7. Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer SPF 27
Not for undereyes. Much too thick. But STAGGERINGLY great for blemishes, redness under the nose, any veins you want to banish. A bit pricey but this tube will last you a year. Minimum.
Pro Hack 1: Anything that’s a “light” color will be brought forward on your face. So for example, if I load a light-colored concealer on my eye bags, they will be all anyone sees. If underneath your eyes is not where you want people focusing, but rather on your eyes themselves, try loading up on mascara on your upper lashes only. Your under eyes will not be the focal point, your lashes and eyes will be.
Pro Hack 2: You need to own a concealer for around your eyes, and a concealer for spots, redness around the nose, pimples, etc. THESE CONCEALERS SHOULD NOT BE THE SAME FORMULA OR COLOR.
Pro Hack 3: I have purposely avoided the phrase “color correcting” until now because I KNOW it gives you hives. It gives everyone hives. The truth is, color correcting is effective for people who have a lot of darkness or redness. The sad part is, no one knows how the hell to match their undertone or know when to use peach instead of red or purple instead of orange. It’s all a nightmare. The only way to step a toe into this water is to enter Sephora, trembling, and explain the exact problem you have with darkness and to ask for her/him to explain if color correction will help, and if so, which one, and then have her/him put it on your face while you watch with a mirror. Explain to her/him that you read in an article on the internet that you’re not supposed to load up concealer on the under eyes, which she/he will respond to with a cock of the head and a narrowing of the eyes and a cheerful “Um? I think it really depends on the person?” but you and I know the truth.
And lastly, because who cares about all these words when watching a video would have been a lot easier for both of us.
Here’s a great example of a gorgeous gal, loading up on concealer in a way that makes her look like some kind of impossibly glowing angel, while the same technique and products would make me, perhaps us, look like out of work birthday-party clowns:
And here’s a more practical/pragmatic video about concealer placement:
When shopping for makeup generally, Sephora and Ulta are less stressful, because if you go to a department store like Nordstrom, most everyone works for only one brand, versus knowing the entire store’s brands, like they do at Sephora and Ulta. So if you approach someone and they HAPPEN to work with Mac, well then, you will be talked into how some thick, gloopy, white, wrinkle-exacerbating concealer PASTE is totally going to be your “new best friend.”
But it won’t be. Because life is a scam.
Girl, you know it’s true.
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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