The Beauty Diary by Beck Sullivan: Best concealers for covering up dark circles, undereye bags and pimples
We’ve found a brilliant new product that will help make you look less tired and everyone wants to get their hands on it.
January is the month when concealer needs to work the hardest.
Holidays are officially over. The crash back to reality is real — and it’s majorly depressing.
We’re all back at work pretending we know how to do our jobs properly. We can no longer break up the day with an afternoon nap or pop a bottle of Champagne at 2pm.
Throw in a bout of post-summer skin flare ups and you’re looking at a full-blown existential crisis.
A few weeks of sun, sweat and sunscreen, combined with too much alcohol and too few vegetables, can wreck havoc on our skin.
So while we figure out how to fix all the breakouts, dullness and dark circles caused by our bad decisions in the past couple of weeks, we have concealer to cover up those mistakes.
January marked the launch of two new highly-anticipated American concealers into the Australian market — Tarte’s Instagram-famous Shape Tape and Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r concealer. They’ve both been hyped all over the internet via multimillion-dollar marketing budgets, but are they actually as good as they claim?
Their arrival is the perfect excuse to bring you this list of nine fantastic concealers ready to work overtime for your this summer.
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FENTY BEAUTY PRO FILT’R INSTANT RETOUCH CONCEALER
Price: $38
Available from: Sephora
Rihanna’s own beauty line never disappoints. Now she’s finally released a creamy, medium coverage concealer to accompany her very popular matte Pro Filt’r foundation. Don’t ask me why it’s spelled that way — I have no idea why Rihanna felt the need to replace a perfectly decent “e” with an apostrophe.
Fenty is famous for bringing some much-needed diversity to the beauty industry. They were the first brand to introduce 40 foundation shades at launch — something that was very rare at the time, but is now considered the industry standard. Now they have expanded their shade range to 50 colours and loads of other brands have followed suit.
Head into any Sephora store at the moment and you’ll find a dozen trendy teens hovering around the Fenty counter, ranting and raving about their products while testing out absolutely everything. The cult following is real and I honestly don’t blame them.
I expected this concealer to be very matte and full coverage, but it’s actually quite creamy and buildable. The little wand applicator makes it easy to apply on the go. I always blend out concealer with fingers and a Beauty Blender (available from Sephora for $30), but you can use fingers or a brush if you like. There’s no right or wrong way and it’s purely personal preference.
Like many concealers on the market, this one claims to be “crease-free”. While it certainly doesn’t create fine lines, it’s impossible for a concealer to be crease free. We all have lines in our under-eye areas and it’s very normal for concealer to settle in those creases, even if you’re in your early 20s.
The best way to eliminate these is to get your finger and tap gently on the area. The warmth and oil from your finger will smooth the product out. Some people like to set the area with powder to avoid creasing too.
TARTE SHAPE TAPE CONTOUR CONCEALER
Price: $37
Available from: Sephora
Every second beauty blogger on YouTube has been using Shape Tape for ages, and now it’s finally launched in Australia.
It’s a full coverage, matte concealer. If you want your concealer to work super hard for you and you like that full coverage look, this is perfect.
It’s also great to use as a base product when you want to forgo foundation. Just put a little bit under the eyes and around the nose, chin and mouth where you get redness and blend with a Beauty Blender.
Tarte also markets this concealer as a contour product. They say you can buy another concealer in a few shades darker than your skin tone to create a cream contour. Personally, I think this is just a smart marketing move to get you to buy two concealers.
The reality is most people are terrible at contouring and powdered products are much more idiot-proof. Most of us should just stick to bronzer to carve out the face.
But if your contour skills are on point and you know exactly what you’re doing — go for it.
RIMMEL WAKE ME UP CONCEALER
Price: $14.95
Available from: Woolworths, Coles, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse
If this concealer didn’t come in an ugly orange tube, you’d think it was a high end product.
It’s lightweight, creamy and easy to blend. I use it for under eye circles but sometimes when I’m lazy I also use it on pimples.
RIMMEL MATCH PERFECTION CONCEALER
Price: $13.95
Available from: Woolworths, Coles, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse
This is a light to medium coverage concealer that comes in a little wand similar to YSL’s Touché Eclat.
It hides under eye bags super quickly and blends really nicely.
MAYBELLINE INSTANT AGE REWIND CONCEALER
Price: $19.95
Available from: Woolworths, Coles, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse
This product is a little more matte and full coverage. The bouncy sponge applicator feels super soft and lovely on the delicate under eye area.
If you’re finding it difficult to find your correct shade in the supermarket or chemist, remember it’s always better to go lighter with an under eye concealer. Even if it’s a bit too light, that colour difference will create a nice brightening effect under the eyes.
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MAYBELLINE FIT ME CONCEALER
Price: $16.95
Available from: Woolworths, Coles, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse
This thick, pigmented concealer is excellent for covering up pimples and retouching your base in the cab on the way to drinks after work.
MAKEUP FOREVER HD CONCEALER
Price: $48
Available from: Sephora
The tiny tube may look underwhelming, but this concealer is extremely pigmented, so it’s great for covering up breakouts. A little really does go a long way, so although it’s pricey, you do get your money’s worth.
I first tried this product at work when a giant blind pimple decided to rear its head halfway through the day. A colleague generously offered me a tube of this concealer to cover it up, and with one tiny dab the little crater was covered.
CLINIQUE AIRBRUSH CONCEALER
Price: $40
Available from: Clinique online, Myer, David Jones, Mecca, Sephora
Clinique Airbrush is a favourite of British celebrity makeup artist and the best beauty guru on YouTube, Lisa Eldridge.
It has a similar brush applicator like the YSL Touché Eclat and Rimmel’s Match Perfection Concealer.
The formula is very creamy and brightening — perfect for the delicate under eye area.
RMS BEAUTY “UN” COVER-UP CONCEALER
Price: $52
Available from: Mecca Cosmetica
It’s very hard to find natural concealers in a good shade range that actually work, but natural beauty brand RMS delivers.
Un Cover-Up contains a blend of natural oils, with coconut oil as the main ingredient. The coverage is very light, hydrating and dewy.
A good dupe is Glossier’s Stretch Concealer, if you’re lucky enough to be heading to the US anytime soon.
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