Your concealer should be the same shade as your foundation for blemishes to hide them seamlessly, but one to two shades lighter for brightening under-eye circles to illuminate the area, while a darker or peach/orange shade can be used as a color corrector for deep pigmentation before matching with your skin tone concealer. It depends on your goal: match for coverage, go lighter for highlighting, and use specific tones (peach/orange/green) for color correction.
The rule of thumb for picking your concealer shade is based on your foundation shade. Beauty experts advise that everyone should have two shades of concealer in their arsenal, one lighter and one darker since daily sun exposure means your skin tone shifts slightly all the time.
Your concealer doesn't look good because you are using either too much OR the wrong color. Too light means your creases will look dark and enhance wrinkles. Too much and you look cakey.
Using the Wrong Shade
If your concealer looks too obvious or off in photos, your shade might not be quite right. Under-eye circles usually need something just a touch lighter than your skin tone, while blemishes or redness are better matched exactly.
Most people use a peach color corrector for dark circles in your eye area or a green color corrector neutralize redness, as well as hyper-pigmentation. First, you need to choose the right color correcting formula.
If your under-eye area turns grey after applying concealer or your foundation makes your base look dark, you're likely making two common mistakes: Either your foundation or concealer shade isn't the right match for your skin tone, or you're not using a color corrector to cover light pigmentation or dark circles.
The Vein test
A brush lays down the product with precision; a sponge comes in to blur the edges. Reach for my Foundation Brush 103 when you need to be exact, and the Blending Sponge when you want to blur, buff, and perfect. The result? A complexion that feels impossibly flawless.
How To Apply Concealer
Primer → Foundation → Concealer should be your go to order of application. Clarins beauty experts recommend that you start with a clean face and apply the primer. Then, you usually apply foundation and finish up with a concealer.
While you don't want to apply concealer all over your face, you can use it in place of foundation, but only in small quantities. It might seem logical that the more concealer makeup you apply, the more you're able to cover up imperfections, but that's not the reality of how concealer works.
I chose the wrong shade, what should I do? (tinted serum, concealer) If you picked the wrong shade, you can opt for one or two lighter shades and mix them to create your custom shade. Later, you'll be able to confidently choose the right shade.
To apply color corrector. Yellow and peach are my secret to remove dark circles. Yellow cancels out any purple and brightens all skin tones. Peach cancels out blue.
Concealer should be lighter than foundation to effectively mask discolouration without appearing ghostly. One shade lighter than your foundation is recommended, as going too light can create an ashen appearance.
Use stick formulas for precise coverage on blemishes or spots, and liquid for blending out under the eyes or over larger areas. Powder lightly. A delicate layer of translucent powder secures concealer without making your skin appear rough, textured, or dry.