All about concealers

Hi everyone, 

Today's post is all about concealers. I was recently chatting with my friend Sam from Into The Gloss and their best concealers article, and it got me thinking about writing a post about my thoughts on concealer. I personally love a good concealer. I suffer with acne and lets face it, concealer is a lifesaver. I know what you must be thinking, "come on Zoe a concealer is so basic, what's there left to know". But there is so many mistakes people make with it, you would not believe me. This ranges from the actually purchasing the product to the application. I know this post wont be for everyone but I hope if you do stick around and give it a read you will learn something new. So what I am planning on talking about today is two major points when purchasing a concealer and once you have purchased it. These are Choosing a shade and Technique of application. So lets get on with it.

Choosing a shade:

Now this is that daunting stage when you are in the shop looking at all the concealers. They are all claiming amazing benefits but all look the same. You then find that dream concealer you want to try and it looks perfect. It says everything you want to hear. Next you look closer and all these names of shades/colours are springing out at you. This is that exact moment where panic sets in. Your mind goes into overdrive. Are you light? Are you tanned? Are you in-between? If you are what shade even is that? Wait does that say warm, cool or neutral? What even does this mean? These are just some of the questions that have filled your mind. Causing you to go from confident about this product to out of your depth.



First off before you start cementing your face in different coloured swatches of concealer. Yes I bet we have all been there. Take a minute to breath. Picking the right shade is vital but taking that into consideration you need to work out your basics first. 



Two things we must consider when picking out that perfect concealer is complexion and skin tone. I know what you are thinking, "she really expects us to know this". So lets take it slowly.

Lets start with complexion. This is if you have a light, medium, tan or dark skin. I know this one is hard to decide but really think about it. I personally am light. I still use the same concealer even if I have tanned as I still find it works best for me. If you are very fair skinned but tan I advise you would stick to more of your natural skin colour. As you may find just going up to a medium can make a worlds of difference. The last thing you want is to see you concealer shining through you foundation. When deciding what your complexion is my one tip is be realistic. Don't go for the shade you "think" you are, go for the shade you really know you are.

So next up is skin tone, this one may be a bit trickier. When we talk about skin tone we are talking about the undertones to your skin. The different types of undertones you can have are as followed:

Cool: Pink, red, blue undertones

Warm: Yellow, golden undertones

Neutral: Mix of both cool and warm 

From what I have said above you now need to decide what you think your undertones are of your skin. My skin personally is pink in some places and yellow mostly over the rest. This puts me with a Neutral skin tone. Which is what I use in terms of concealer shades.

Now when it comes to trying shades of concealer on some brands they may specify if they are certain tones. If they don't you may need to try all the ones for your complexion and see what suits you best. When you are testing out concealers I can not stress enough that they should be tested on your jawline. Please never test a concealer on the back of your hand. If you do a little test here and put your hand up to your face when you are wearing no makeup. My guess is its not the same colour.

If you are still struggling to decide what colour is best go to a makeup counter. They are always more than happy to help and will match you up perfectly.

Saying what I have just said you can purchased concealers lighter than you need and darker. As these make excellent products for contouring and highlighting. Using concealer to contour and highlight is great for a night out as this will have more staying power than using a powder. Just make sure you set it in place. Also don't over do it, there is a fine line between it looking good and it being done to a poor standard. You don't want zebra strips on a night out.

Morphe concealer palette 

 Another type of concealer you can purchase is coloured concealers. These all work to separate concerns that you may have. Below are the colours you can purchase and their concerns.

Green: Redness

Purple: Yellow tone

Pink: Under eye bags on fair skin

Yellow: Under eye bags on tan skin

Picture: http://www.shefinds.com/2015/a-beginners-guide-to-color-correcting-concealer-how-to-use-each-shade/

Technique of application:

So now we are on to the techniques we can use to apply a concealer. There are so many ways to do this from simply using your fingers to using a brush and blending out with a sponge.

I personally like to apply using a flat concealer brush and then either blending out with a pointed foundation brush or a fluffy brush. I do this just because I think this is how I can achieve my best look. You may find that this doesn't work for you, its all about trying things out. Like for instance I have never used a sponge to blend out my concealer, this is because I have never owned one. So I cant give my opinion on this but is a massive popular tool to use to blend. Below I am going to list some of the ways you can apply your concealer.

 Fingers: Apply and blend with your fingers. This is quick, easy and gets the job done.

Brush blended using fingers: You get more precision applying with the brush but if you are still in a hurry just blend out using your fingers. It does the job every time.

Brush and blend out with a brush: This is for the person with a bit more time to spare.

Brush and blend using a sponge: Again this one is for the person who wants to take their time. Or is apply a heavier concealer.

The brushes I use: Morphe large flat concealer brush, Real Techniques deluxe crease brush, Morphe pointed foundation brush, Real Techniques expert face brush  

When it comes to concealers you will find you can purchase thicker and runnier ones. A thicker concealer is fantastic for covering up those blemishes as they are higher coverage. Whereas the more liquid concealers are great for smaller imperfections and under the eyes. As it doesn't sit so heavy on the skin.

If you are planning on using a concealer as a highlight or contour there are rules to follow as to where you place it. Like I said earlier you don't want the zebra on a night out look, you want it to look to a high standard. If you look at the picture below it shows the good place to use your lighter and darker shades. Once you have put in all your lines all that is left to do is blend it all out.

Picture: http://fabfashionfix.com/beauty-how-to-highlight-and-contour-your-face-with-makeup-like-a-pro/

I personally apply my concealer under my foundation, but it is up to you which way you do it. I just finds this works best for me and then if I have to add a bit more after foundation I do.

So that's everything about concealers I have to tell you. If you liked this post please leave me a comment letting me know. I am sorry it was such a long one, I just wanted to get everything in. If you know anything about concealers that I didn't mention leave it in the comments I would love to hear. Also if you liked this post I would love if you went over to Into The Gloss  and checked out their post called The Best Concealers. It is well worth a read. Now you know all the tips and tricks for picking and applying your concealers. You might as well learn what concealers are the best.

I hope you all have an incredible week. Keep your eyes peeled there will be more blog posts this week to come.

Love

Zoe x