When using concealer to disguise dark circles, just dab a little on your under-eye area before applying foundation. You can then add another light layer on top of your foundation to help brighten that area even more.
Apply your foundation first, then use concealer to spot-treat any problem areas. However, if you have more widespread issues such as acne scars or dark circles, then concealing those areas before applying foundation will give you the best results. Foundation will help to blend everything together.
Which is exactly why some makeup artists always apply foundation before concealer. “If you have blemishes or pigmentation on the skin, you're going to want to put your base on first,” explains Lenny. “If you do your concealer first, you'll just end up covering or disrupting the work you did.
Foundation should be one of the first steps in your makeup routine order to give your makeup look a beautiful-looking canvas! Once you've applied your colour corrector, apply your foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer and highlighter. Then, you're ready to create your supermodel brows!
Here's a quick cheat sheet on which color-corrector shade to use: For redness: Neutralize red and pink tones with a green color corrector. For dark circles and dark spots: Use a peach color corrector if you have fair skin, or a deeper orange shade if you have medium to dark skin.
The reason concealer alone cannot address dark circles is that it often creases and makes the issue much worse. Moisturizing and applying color corrector can help minimize the look of dark circles.
In order to cover under-eye circles, use the opposite color on the color-wheel (shown above). For example, find the purple on the wheel, and look opposite it and you will see yellow. Therefore, buy a warm (yellow) under toned concealer to cover purple/pink under-eye discoloration.
"I would say 90% of the time, I'm able to achieve flawless and perfect coverage with just foundation—and then I'll layer the concealer over if necessary. This allows for a softer, lighter, and more natural finish while still concealing blemishes."
Concealer to cover imperfections
To hide imperfections and blemishes, concealer should match your skin tone and undertone, seamlessly blending into the skin. To reduce the appearance of dark circles, though, apply a concealer that is 1 shade lighter than your skin tone.
"I apply foundation on the larger areas of the face first, like the cheeks and forehead, then I go in and tweak around the nose and the chin area," says Linter. "Then lastly, I'll apply concealer, plus maybe a touch of foundation under the eye area."
Consider applying your eye makeup first, then cleaning up your undereye area and applying your concealer and foundation afterward. This helps prevent eyeshadow fallout from disrupting your base makeup.
Make Dark Circles Disappear
First, you want to use a fluffy concealer brush to apply a cream peach- or orange-based concealer, like Cover FX Correct Click Under Eye Circles, or MAC Studio Fix Conceal and Correct Palette on hydrated undereye areas.
If you're working with a powder foundation, it generally makes more sense to apply concealer first. If blemishes, dark circles or dark spots are more prominent, you could apply concealer before foundation and then reapply it in the same area after foundation. This creates extra coverage but still appears natural.
Laser therapy or chemical peels can be helpful to some people. Injectable fillers can smooth the hollows that cause shadows. Other options are platelet-rich plasma injections and surgery to reduce puffy lids.
Both look good, but the pink looks brighter and more natural. The yellow covers dark circles better but doesn't do anything dimensionally because it's too close to your foundation shade. Yellow, pink is too pale. The pink gives you a chance to add more warmth to the face with bronzer and blush.
If your concealer is making your under eyes go green, or you're finding that it's not covering your dark. circles, you may be going too light too fast.
Best Overall: Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Concealer
This past Beauty of Beauty winner is super thin and lightweight—so it layers nicely without creasing—but also pigmented enough to mask dark circles and redness in one go.
HOW TO FIND A CONCEALER SHADE FOR UNDER-EYE CIRCLES? To conceal dark under-eye circles, choose one shade lighter than your foundation shade match.