Easy steps to perfect concealer

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Hiding blemishes, dark circles and wrinkles is easier than you think. The secret to not looking your age is not a surgeon’s knife. Instead, it’s a rather innocuous make-up tool – the concealer. Many women leave concealers out of their daily make-up routines, deeming it an unnecessary and sometimes unreasonably time-consuming step. But any good make-up artist will tell you that a concealer, if used properly, can banish the most pesky imperfections with laser-light precision. Follow these easy steps to perfect concealer.

Do your prep
When we say camouflage, we don’t mean make-up inches thick. Your goal should be to get your skin to a level where you need minimal make-up, applied well, and that means establishing a really great skincare routine first.

Cleanse twice a day with a non-drying cleanser suitable to your skin type such as L’Oréal’s Ideal Balance Foaming Gel, $11.95, a gentle soap-free cleanser that’s boosted with vitamins and minerals. In the morning, treat your skin with a luxurious moisturiser, enriched with essential elements such as antioxidants and an SPF factor of at least 15. We recommend Clinique’s Superdefense Triple Action Moisturizer, $90, which contains antioxidants and an SPF 25 sunscreen. Night-time is the best time to rehydrate or soothe dry or stressed complexions. Try using an anti-ageing serum and night cream on mature skins or those showing signs of premature ageing.

No matter what brand of skincare you choose, Tayaba Jafri, international make-up artist for Laura Mercier Cosmetics, recommends you treat your face and eyes separately. “The skin on the eyes is completely different from the skin on the face,” she says. “There are no oil glands or major hair follicles around the eye and this skin is the thinnest skin on our body.”

Tayaba says applying face cream around the eyes, instead of a proper eye cream, can also have side effects including tiny white pockets or bumps around the eyes. She recommends using a gentle eye cream with healing botanical extracts, such as Decléor’s Hydra Floral Eye Contour Cream Gel, $75, which is formulated with an ultra-fine cream-gel texture that will create a perfect base to apply concealer to.

Scrub up
Besides moisturising the skin on your face and eyes, don’t forget to exfoliate once a week – nothing spoils a perfect make-up look like dead, dry skin flakes. Try an exfoliating system such as Lancôme’s Resurface Peel, $230, a complete exfoliating system that gently abrades the skin to improve texture and clarity. (Or try Lancôme’s Resurface Starter Kit – at just $65 it’s a worthwhile investment if you want to improve your skin’s appearance.)

Before you apply either concealer or foundation, apply a primer such as Laura Mercier’s Foundation Primer, $62. “Primer provides a barrier between skincare and make-up,” says Tayaba. “Like cement between bricks, it fills in all the ridges on the skin to create the smoothest surface on the face for foundation. This helps make-up to look incredibly natural and makes it last and last all day long.” Primers also prevent your foundation colour from altering due to your skin’s natural oils. And some primers contain light-reflecting ingredients that can actually help diminish the appearance of small flaws.

Colour and texture
Concealer hides everything your foundation doesn’t – broken capillaries, under-eye circles, age spots and any skin discolourations. The first step is to choose a concealer with the right texture for your skin. Generally speaking, dry and creamy concealers are good for normal to oily skins while liquid concealers are better for drier skins. No matter what skin type you have, the best concealers are loaded with pigment, so you can apply a tiny amount and still get great coverage. Try Estée Lauder’s Disappear Smoothing Crème Concealer, $42, which is a budge-proof formula available in three different shades.

In terms of shade, choose a concealer that matches your foundation exactly, or a tone lighter (in natural light an exact match is best, but a lighter shade at night can make your eyes stand out). Most Caucasian skin tones are enhanced by a concealer with a yellow base – particularly if you’re aiming to cover up the brown of age spots, the purple of under-eye circles, or any red in the complexion. Asian skins can also opt for yellow or a deep orangey tone.

Apply yourself
Make-up artists differ as to whether concealer should be applied under or over foundation. Make-up artist Robert Jones, the author of Makeup Makeovers (Fair Winds, 2005) believes concealer should be applied over foundation to cover up everything except under-eye circles. “To cover under-eye discolouration, prepare the area underneath the eye by applying eye cream and letting it soak in for two or three minutes,” he says. The next step is to blot away any excess with a sponge or tissue then Robert says you should take a brush and apply concealer along the area where the discolouration begins. “Extend the concealer up and over the discoloured area with a brush. Then take your finger and, using a dabbing motion, pat the concealer along the line of demarcation to blend it in.” When you apply foundation, be sure to stipple or pat it over the concealed area so as not to undo your good work.

The secret to concealing pigmentation or marks is applying concealer to the discoloured skin only. Concealer applied to blemishes, broken capillaries, rosacea or pigmentation should also be carefully blended with your fingertips. For acne scars, which can create texture variation, you may want to avoid concealer altogether and apply a creamy foundation and a good dusting of loose powder instead, says Robert. All concealer and foundation should be set with a dusting of translucent powder. Try Clinique’s Blended Face Powder and Brush, $48, which is designed to optically correct complexion irregularities.

Now you’re ready to apply eye shadow, lipstick and blush on a perfect canvas – turn the page for our best concealer picks.

Camouflage toolbox

• Eye cream.
• A light moisturiser.
• A large powder brush.
• A small make-up brush.
• Colour-correct foundation.
• Colour-correct concealer in two textures – wet and dry.

Words: Nikki Goldstein. Photography: Steven Chee. Hair & make-up: Laura Dominique.