What type of concealer should I use

The term concealer refers to a range of different flaw correcting techniques. To make matters more confusing, concealers are marketed with hundreds of different names, and trying to choose the one you need can create a thought jumble.

Do I need a  a pore-refining redness reducing, eye priming, color correcting age defying super cream or a illuminating match perfecting derma blend.

First you need to know what it is you're trying to acheive with your concealer.

As a makeup artist, I use concealer for three bottom-line reasons;

• for Coverage
• for Highlighting
• for Color-correcting.

Coverage

These are creams, look for a zinc-like texture

Use matte creams for issues such as ruddiness on the cheeks, redness around noses, broken capillaries, pigmentation and age spots.The thicker you go, the more coverage, but the less is more natural.

Highlighting

Highlighter pens, aka illuminators, 'light-reflecting proprieties'

Used for highlighting the brow bone and reflecting light in the under eye area
Light reflecting qualities are like very very fine tiny shimmers which reflect the sunlight and will fill-out areas and highlights things you want to show off like the cheek bones or brow bones, but you certainly won't want an illuminating concealer on a pimple! Plus a camera flash will bounce off an illuminator so be careful to keep it localised so you don't look shiny.

Color correcting

Use Green concealers

Used for very red ruddy cheeks the green corrects the red in the skin. Color correcting doesn't guarantee coverage, but if you only have a redness issue then you don't really need coverage. Or you can use a bit under a medium to thick foundation which is give you the coverage.

Picking the right type for the right job

Under eye area

The mistake made here is to think that more coverage will fix tired eyes. A thicker coverage will only add more weight to an area that is so delicate and can crease so easily. If you just have a purplish darker skin under your eye then a soft cream coverage will do the job. In many cases, this won't work alone.  That's because often the under eye shadow is just that, a shadow. So more coverage can't change the way light acts. If the suns above you, the shadow will always be there. This is where illustrators or a light colored cream (because light colors naturally reflect light) will reflect the sun and reduce the shadow.  It's not perfect though so don't beat yourself up if you still have a little shadow there, your face is 3D.

Pimples

There are two things that show off a pimple, the little shadow it creates and the redness. So the redness is easy, you can just use a color corrector or a thick cream and that will hide the redness. The bump however may not be hidden quite so well. A makeup artist can of course use a range of techniques to hide a pimple pretty well. Otherwise, I have found that a very good quality mineral powder will hide that bump. This is due to the very delicate and subtle illuminators in a good mineral makeup.

Pigmentation

Pigmentation can be very hard to cover. The more natural you want to look, then the more sheer your foundation will. Rather than option for a heavier coverage, use a thick heavy concealer, but dab it on very gently and keep it very localised to the spots you need to cover.  Make sure you are using a matte concealer too, as illuminators won't have enough coverage in them.