If your under-eye concealer looks thick and heavy, apply it last.
Yes, I realize that this goes against what some makeup peeps suggest, and it might sound weird, but give it a try! Apply the rest of your makeup first. Do your eyes, your base, lipstick, blush — the whole nine yards — and do your under-eye concealer as your last step.
I’m serious! Do it *after* mascara, too. If you’re anything like me, you’ll subconsciously use less concealer without even realizing you’re doing it, and your under-eye area will look much more natural than it does when you conceal as one of your first steps.
Why?
Honestly, I can’t say for sure! But I don’t care. ? All I know is that when I’ve got my full face on with foundation, powder, blush, lipstick, ad infinitum, I have some context to work from, and it’s just easier to figure out how much or how little concealer to use… Actually, how little you need to wear.
It’s the same idea as applying red lipstick before blush. How much blush should you use? Base it on the brightness/boldness of your lips.
In almost every case when I do my under-eye concealer FIRST, I use more concealer than I need, and the less concealer I wear, the lighter and better it looks.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Karen you talked about how to apply concealer many moons ago and I’ve doing that ever since !
?Hoppy Easter ?
I’ve been doing this for years! Glad I’m not the only one. I’ll never forget reading a bio about Katie Holmes and her makeup tips and applying concealer after foundation was one of them. The reason she said is because you’re basically wiping off and erasing wheat you just did trying to put foundation on top. I’m like wait that totally makes sense so I tried it and it worked wonders!!!
It’s worth giving it a try. I would still put a color corrector on before my eye makeup and base, but I find I always add more undereye concealer after I finish everything anyway.
Be well and have a Happy Easter. I am making a Passover Seder the first night for our friends. Zack leaves for Finland & The Baltics for his school Choir trip on Monday. Ithought the driving was stressful!
I’m going to try this tip. Not happy with how Shape Tape concealer looks too heavy under my eyes. I don’t wear foundation and always wondered if that’s why I struggle with concealer so much. Next time I’ll put on my concealer last.
Hi Denise,
The thing with Shape Tape is it’s *super* concentrated, so you need only the tiniest bit — like just a drop. You could probably even thin it out with a moisturizer or face oil. I tried it a few times and had a hard time with it, but reducing the amount of product helped a lot.
I’ll try this! I just ordered a peachier concealer for undereye because my ride-or-die concealers that match my skin for redness and blemishes (Nars Radiant Creamy and Soft Matte in Chantilly) aren’t quite right for my undereyes – my undereyes are so blue/purple that it looks ashy to use my normal colors LOL!
WOW. It’s like a lightbulb just went off. I’m trying this. It seems brilliant. I don’t use foundation because my skin is pretty good, just a CC cream. I have dark undereyes and always feel like things start to look too thick after I apply my concealer and setting powder – even with the best products and formula. But I always feel like I need extra coverage. If this works, this tip ALONE was worth me reading your blog for the past 7+ years!! Not to mention all the other amazing tips and reviews. Thank you Karen!
I totally agree with this concealer tip. I’ve actually done it a few times, and it does look better. I just wear some powder, no foundation. I find if I put the powder on after my concealer, it wipes part of my concealer off, which really annoys me. I’m so excited to hear that someone else does this too!!
Hi Sherry,
How do you apply the powder to the area where you’ve got concealer? There’s a way to do it without wiping it off!
I actually pat the powder on, with a puff. It’s actually a foundation in powder form, so I just use it as my powder, because I’m not crazy about liquid foundation. It’s the Lancome Dual Finish Powder/Foundation. Sometimes when I’m patting it on, it makes my under eye area look darker again. I only wear concealer under my eyes. I’m probably applying the powder incorrectly.